Edouard Roger-Vasselin from France and Laura Siegemund from Germany won the mixed doubles title. And there were few surprises as Iga Swiatek marched into a fourth final where she will meet Jasmine Paolini.
Good timing
There was something for the partisans to cheer. Edouard Roger-Vasselin from France and Laura Siegemund from Germany claimed the mixed doubles crown. They beat the Anglo-American duo Neal Skupski and Desirae Krawczyk 6-4, 7-5. Ten years ago, Roger-Vasselin won the men's doubles at the French Open with compatriot Julian Benneteau. "It's very special for me to win at home," said Roger-Vasselin. "Laura said yes to me, like, two hours before the deadline to register and at the end of the week we have the trophy."
Out but not over
Top seed and defending champion Iga Swiatek dispatched third seed Coco Gauff from the singles tournament following a 6-2, 6-4 victory on Court Philippe Chatrier. It was Swiatek's 11th success in 12 matches against the American. But Gauff was not too gloomy. "I have the doubles," said the 20-year-old American who has lost to Swiatek three times at the French Open including a straight sets mauling in the 2022 final. "I have a great partner and I feel like we have a good shot to win so I'm focused on that. One thing I learned from the singles final two years ago was I had to play a doubles final the next day and I think I let the negativity of my loss the previous day spill over into another Grand Slam final. Same scenario now basically: singles semi-final, doubles semi-final. I just want to start on a clean slate, try my best to do what I can do to help my teammate."
A musical reference with only a few days to go. Iga Swiatek hasn't lost a set since her hiccup against the former world number one Naomi Osaka in the second round where she had to save a match point. Swiatek's lost eight games in the three matches before the semi-final against the third seed Coco Gauff. Under those circumstances, the 20-year-old American can feel right proud to have pushed the defending champion to 6-2, 6-4. Especially since Swiatek now has the conditions she prefers rather than the dreary damp that reigned during the first week. "Well, with the roof open and the sun, the ball bounces a little bit higher," Swiatek explained. "Also, it's a little bit drier in the air, so the ball goes faster. It just makes my shots more heavy. So the early rounds with different conditions were just a bit more tricky."
Raindance
Twelfth seed Jasmine Paolini had better start hoping for rain then. She will be competing in her first final at a Grand Slam tournament when she takes on the sun-loving Iga Swiatek in the women's singles final on Day 14. Paolini, 28, has lost to the Pole on the two occasions they have met. But as the underdog, she'll have the crowd with her partly because they'll want to see a good match and also because of her wonderful warm smile.
No dancing for a while
The men's top seed Novak Djokovic left the French Open party on Tuesday with a knee injury aggravated during his five-set victory over the 23rd seed Francisco Cerundolo. Djokovic, 37, had surgery on his right knee in Paris and says he wants to be back playing as soon as possible. His target is understood to be the tennis tournament at the Olympic Games in Paris. Arena for those Olympic matches? Roland Garros stadium. I feel me a redemption story a-coming.
