Key events
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Norrie beats Medvedev 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, 7-5
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Zverev beats Tien 6-3, 6-3, 6-4
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Gauff defeats Gadecki 6-2, 6-2
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Medvedev wins the fourth set against Norrie 6-1
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De Minaur defeats Djere 6-3, 6-4, 7-6; Medvedev wins third set against Norrie 6-4
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Baptiste stuns No 23 seed Haddad Maia 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
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Norrie wins the second set 6-3 against Medvedev
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Andreeva advances 6-4, 6-3
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Norrie wins the first set 7-5 against Medvedev
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Today’s order of play on the main courts
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Preamble
I should, while we’re here, set up what’s coming. Andrey Rublev meets Lloyd Harris – they shouldn’t be too long as the match prior is in its final set. And we’ve also got Corentin Moutet, tenniser and rapper; another of our faves, Karolina Muchová; what looks like a jazzer, between Hubie Hurkacz and Joao Fonseca; Marin Cilic v Flavio Cobolli; Sonay Kartal v Erika Andreeva; and the match of the day, Mattia Bellucci v Jack Draper. It’s not a bad old life.
I was sad to see another blog fave depart earlier today. Bia Haddad Maia has lots of talent and ridiculous power, but at this point – she’s 28 – it seems unlikely she’ll grow into anything more than an occasional second-week presence. I’m pleased for Hailey Baptiste, of course, but she’s not what we might consider a blue-chip prospect.
It does look minging out there – I’m glad two girls in the crowd have found a use for a disgraceful maroon leather jacket, now draped over the heads – but in typical Djokovic style he follows bellicosity with a break and leads McDonald 4-2.
Frech makes Jabeur toil for her first hold, but she gets there in the end and we’re level at 1-1 in the first. I really, really hope Oor Ons, a long-time favourite of this blog, gets her Jana Novotna moment; I can’t imagine how poorly she must feel every time her itinerant subconscious reminds that she lost a Wimbledon final to Marketa Vondroussva, and it’s not easy to see in what circumstance she might get that close again. But we can hope.
Whoever had 19 minutes in the “How long will it take Djokovic to gripe at the umpire” sweepstake is a winner. He wants the roof closed, not without good reason – it’s cold. windy and drizzly – but this is an outdoor tournament, so every effort should be made to keep it thus.
While I’m doing that, Muller and Mensik reach 5-5, then a gorgeous backhand into the corner hands the former set point … and at the end of a long rally, he flips a terrific top-spin forehand winner! We’re level at a set apiece, and this has the feel of an epic.
Djokovic leads McDonald 2-1 on serve, while Mensik lashes a forehand that earns him an immediate mini-break. But a long backhand followed by a hold means we’re back level at 2-2, it’s soon 3-3, and these two are very well matched. Mensik, though, is only 18 and is, according to better judges than me, going to the top.
Back on Lenglen, Pegula breaks again to lead Todoni 4-1, and I’m going to switch that match off to watch Frech 1-0 Jabeur.
A brilliant point from Muller, booming backhand then forehand, gives him 30-40 and set point; what does Mensik have under pressure? Er, enough, a brutal serve out wide that’s too good. Oh, and then another, then an ace; not bad, and we’ll now get to enjoy a breaker..
On Court 14, Mensik is serving at 7-5 5-6, and Calvin Betton, our resident coach, messages on this match as follows: “You’d have to imagine Mensik comes through that. Muller is solid but Mensik has got the weapons, serve and forehand – he’s gonna be a top-10 player before long. Oh, and Muller is sponsored by Only Fans, which I find funny.”
Maybe he likes the articles.
Righto, Djokovic and McDonald have begun, while Pegula has broken Todoni in game one. She’s a funny one, really, in that way worse players than her have won Slams, but it’s hard to see her taking one herself, partly because Swiatek, Gauff and Sabalenka are around now but partly because she lacks a major weapon. She’ll stick at it, though.
And we’ve got so, so much to come it’s faintly ridiculous. On Chatrier, Mackenzie McDonald and Novak Djokovic will soon get going; Anca Todoni and Jessica Pegula have just begun; and Magdalena Frech and Ons Jabeur soon will.
I’m going to watch the first two matches, because I wonder if Todoni can give Pegula grief, along with Alexandre Muller 5-7 5-4 Jakub Mensik.
Thanks Katy and bon après-midi tout le monde. What a morning dig!
Right, after nearly four hours of that, I’m off to lie down. Here’s Daniel Harris to take you through the next hour of play …
“It was a crazy match,” says Norrie as he’s asked on court about his improbable victory. “Unreal. I deserve a diploma for beating Medvedev after losing to him four times.” Norrie adds that playing Djokovic in Geneva last week helped him to prepare for this. “Merci beaucoup,” he says as he waves to the crowd and walks off court. And next he has a very winnable match against the lucky loser Federico Gomez.
Norrie beats Medvedev 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, 7-5
What a huge point at 30-all on Medvedev’s serve. Will it be game point Medvedev or match point Norrie? Game point Medvedev, as he pulls off a gutsy winner for 40-30. But Norrie, seemingly out of court, comes straight back at him for deuce! And here’s a match point! A sentence I never thought I’d be typing a few games ago. An absorbing rally plays out, which Norrie eventually wins when Medvedev hoiks long! Somehow Norrie has come from 5-3 down in the final set to take it 7-5 and take out the 11th seed, who suffers a sixth first-round exit at Roland Garros.
Zverev beats Tien 6-3, 6-3, 6-4
Norrie holds to edge in front in this deciding set, for the first time since the opening game. It’s 6-5. Just as Zverev, with his neon yellow highlighter look, completes a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Tien. A convincing opening win from last year’s runner-up.
“I think I played as good as I could in the conditions,” Gauff says. “I’m from Florida, so I’m used to the wind, but it was tough. Honestly it felt like two different matches depending on the side of the court.”
She’s then asked about her rackets. “As long as I’ve been on tour my coaches put my rackets in my bag. I go on the court and realise I have no rackets. I’m blaming it on my coach!”
Gauff defeats Gadecki 6-2, 6-2
Gauff, though, has got the job done, with an efficient, business-like 6-2, 6-2 victory over Australia’s Gadecki. The former finalist dealt with the windy conditions well; the biggest mis-step was her forgetting her rackets at the start of the match.
Plenty of ooohs and aaahs and Norrie is waving his arms in the air after a game of cat and mouse on the first point, with Medvedev serving for a place in round two at 5-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 5-4. 0-15 becomes 0-30 and here’s a glimmer for Norrie. Which becomes a huge opportunity at 0-40! And Norrie breaks back on the second break point!
Zverev and Gauff are close to finishing too, with Gauff 6-2, 5-1 up on Gadecki and Zverev 6-3, 6-3, 5-4 ahead, with the break, against Tien. Norrie, meanwhile, decides now is the time to throw in his second underarm serve of the match, but again it doesn’t come off. He does, at least, hold though, forcing Medvedev to serve this out.
This is the end game for Norrie, with Medvedev 4-3 and 30-0 up in the decider. Which is soon 40-0 after another winner. Though the Russian does throw in an awful first serve that nearly landed on the baseline. It doesn’t matter, though, he holds to love from the second serve and it’s 5-3. Norrie must serve to stay in the match.
James Duckworth is out, beaten 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 by Alexander Bublik, so there won’t be an all-Aussie battle with Alex de Minaur in round two.
Tomorrow’s order of play is out. Emma Raducanu v Iga Swiatek is third on Philippe Chatrier.
After that 11-minute hold for Norrie, Medvedev puts the pressure straight back on the Brit with a hold to love in 80 seconds. And then breaks to 30 with a passing winner after a lengthy rally. Another ridiculous winner from Medvedev and it’s 3-1. This looks like the beginning of the end for Norrie.
Sad news on Court 6, where Dimitrov has been forced to retire with a leg injury when leading Quinn, the young American qualifier, 6-2, 6-3, 2-6. It’s the 34-year-old’s fourth mid-match retirement already this year, but for Quinn he now has a great chance of reaching round three on his debut, because up next is the lucky loser Alexander Shevchenko.
Meanwhile on Philippe Chatrier, Gauff takes the first set 6-2 against Gadecki in what feels like the time it took Norrie to win just that one game. The second seed was delayed at the start though when she somehow managed to forget her rackets. Maybe Kenin’s speedy victory in the match before caught her off guard.
As the clock ticks over eight minutes for the first game of the fifth set, Medvedev fires groundstroke after groundstroke at Norrie, before changing it up with a deft drop shot that has Norrie scrambling in vain on the red clay. Break point Medvedev. Norrie saves it. Another break point Medvedev, his fourth of the game, and this time Norrie gets in on the drop shot act too. Deuce No 7. And Norrie holds after an 11-minute war of attrition! I wonder how crucial that could prove to be.
Make that 6-3, 6-3 to Zverev, as the third seed finishes off an 11-shot rally on set point with a booming forehand.
As for Zverev and Gauff: Zverev, who was a set away from winning the title last year and is regaining confidence after also falling short in the Australian Open final this year, leads Tien 6-3, 5-3, while Gauff, a former finalist at Roland Garros too, has grabbed an early break against Gadecki and is 4-2 ahead in the opening set.
Medvedev wins the fourth set against Norrie 6-1
Norrie, serving to stay in the fourth set at 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 0-5, does at least stop the rot by holding from deuce. But it’s probably only delaying the inevitable. A few British fans in the crowd are using their flags as blankets given how chilly it is in Paris. Wise, given they haven’t got much reason to wave them. Medvedev gets away with a dodgy drop shot for 30-all, then brings up set point, and Norrie can’t get the serve on set point back into play. They’re going to five.
Ouch. Norrie is broken to love. And Medvedev holds again to love. That’s 13 points in a row for the Russian. This is getting away from Norrie horribly quickly. Medvedev leads 5-0 in the fourth set.
Make that 3-0 to Medvedev, with his second successive hold to love. Norrie has never beaten Medvedev, and I wonder if that’s on his mind right now. Does the Brit have the belief to pull this off? Both have been in their own slumps – Medvedev, the former US Open champion, hasn’t won a tournament in more than two years, while Norrie has dropped down the rankings from a high of world No 8 to a current position of No 81. Losing from two sets to love up here would be another big blow to the Brit’s brittle confidence.
An inauspicious start from Norrie in the fourth set, as he double faults and is soon broken. It’s Norrie 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 0-2 Medvedev.
De Minaur defeats Djere 6-3, 6-4, 7-6; Medvedev wins third set against Norrie 6-4
De Minaur, leading 6-3, 6-4, is trying to wrap up victory against Djere in a third-set tie-break. But here are two set points for Djere at 6-4 in the breaker after the Serb chases down the drop shot! And here’s a set point for Medvedev as Norrie fluffs his serving lines at 4-5 … where to look? … and Norrie’s shot whistles wide! Medvedev takes the third set 6-4 having lost the first two, just as De Minaur does what De Minaur does, battling, scrapping, and from 6-4 down he wins the breaker 8-6 and the match 6-3, 6-4, 7-6.
Baptiste stuns No 23 seed Haddad Maia 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
While Quinn is on the ropes, the US has an unexpected winner in Hailey Baptiste. The 23-year-old world No 70 has beaten Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, a semi-finalist here two years ago, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. So a surprise victory for the Americans after Taylor Fritz’s and Emma Navarro’s shock losses yesterday.
The lucky loser Alexander Shevchenko has won, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 against Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic, and he’ll face most likely Grigor Dimitrov, who’s nearly two sets to the good against Quinn, leading 6-2, 5-2.
Look here, Medvedev has two break points at 3-2 in the third set. The umpire is out of his chair after the second – the French Open is now the only slam that doesn’t use electronic line calling – and confirms Norrie’s shot did land on the line, so it’s deuce. From there Norrie holds for 7-5, 6-3, 3-3. The umpire is again called to court to check a call at the beginning of the next game – he’s getting as much of a workout as Medvedev, who’s pulled all over the place as Norrie grabs two break points of his own – but Medvedev holds firm and it’s 4-4.
Kenin, the 2020 runner-up, is taking the applause of the smattering of spectators on Philippe Chatrier, as she wraps up a convincing 6-3, 6-1 victory over Gracheva. Next up there is Coco Gauff v Australia’s Olivia Gadecki.
A brief pause in Medvedev’s chattering and chuntering as he takes a medical timeout to get his finger bandaged up. It’s 2-2 in the third set, which the Russian must win to avoid a sixth first-round exit at Roland Garros.
Could Azarenka be a contender here? The 35-year-old is now down at No 75 in the world, and hasn’t reached a slam final since 2020, but can still be dangerous on the right day. She’ll likely next face Kenin, who’s now 6-3, 4-1 ahead, but then it could be Madison Keys, the Australian Open champion, in round three. Keys plays Britain’s Katie Boulter in round two, who is still very much finding her feet on clay.
Fun fact: Azarenka’s 6-0, 6-0 walloping of Wickmayer earlier means she’s the first player to secure a double bagel win at a grand slam in three different decades this century (2000s, 2010s, 2020s).
