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Svajda shocks Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3
Francisco Cerundolo, cap backwards, is sauntering around the back of the court like he’s still in the opening set rather than having just saved two match points. A member of the Argentinian’s team left his box earlier in the match, by the way, saying the 25th seed was behaving so badly he couldn’t watch any more. I’m not sure if he came back. But Cerundolo’s attempted comeback from two sets down falls short, as Svajda serves it out from deuce to seal the biggest win of his career! The 23-year-old world No 85 had very little success on clay before this Roland Garros, but now he’s into the last 16 of a slam for the first time, where he’ll face Cobolli.
Osaka is asked if it was one of her best ever matches on clay. “Probably,” is her reply. “Honestly today I was a lot calmer than my first few matches. I think in slams the further I get the calmer I am, as it’s such a privilege to be here. I want to thank everyone for watching, I know it’s really hot, so please be careful for your health.” The on-court interviewer Fabrice Santoro then asks tennis’s biggest fashion icon if she can help him to look younger, but Osaka isn’t too obliging. She’s got a potential fourth-round encounter with Aryna Sabalenka to think about.
Osaka beats Jovic 7-6, 6-7, 6-4!
There’s some scoreboard pressure on Jovic, as she serves to stay in the match at 5-4. A slice of net cord luck for Osaka and it’s 30-all. Will it become match point or game point? Jovic pins Osaka deep to the left corner and then attempts to pull the trigger by going to Osaka’s right … but Jovic misfires! It was the right tactic, she just couldn’t quite execute it. Match point. And an absorbing match ends when Jovic disappointingly prods long. Osaka is through to the French Open fourth round for the first time, but she was made to work so hard for it by an opponent who we will no doubt see much, much more from in the future.
Shnaider and Cobolli reach round four
There’s unsurprisingly no handshake on Court 7, where the Ukrainian Oleksandra Oliynykova will be rueing a missed set point in the first set after losing 7-5, 6-1 to Russia’s Diana Shnaider. There’s a warmer exchange on Philippe Chatrier, where Cobolli’s clay-court craft was just too much for Tien, with the highest-ranked Italian left in the draw sealing a classy 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 victory. The 10th seed will play the winner of Francisco Cerundolo v Svajda, with Cerundolo, having worked so hard to come back from two sets to love down, serving to stay in the match at 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 2-5.
After the tightest of first and second sets, the decider between Osaka and Jovic is no different, with Osaka serving at 3-3, 30-all. This is high-quality stuff, with neither player deserving to lose and both players reaching for their own personal history: for all of Osaka’s career achievements, victory would put the 28-year-old in the French Open fourth round for the first time, and the 18-year-old Jovic is attempting to break new ground by reaching the last 16 too. Osaka holds from egalite.
Tomorrow’s order of play is out, and it’s no surprise to see Joao Fonseca and Casper Ruud will duke it out under the lights in the night match on Philippe Chatrier:
COURT PHILIPPE CHATRIER 11am (10am BST)
Marta KOSTYUK (UKR) [15] v Iga SWIATEK (POL) [3]
Elina SVITOLINA (UKR) [7] v Belinda BENCIC (SUI) [11]
Jesper DE JONG (NED) v Alexander ZVEREV (GER) [2]
Not before 8.15pm (7.15pm BST)
Casper RUUD (NOR) [15] v Joao FONSECA (BRA) [28]
COURT SUZANNE LENGLEN 11am (10am BST)
Sorana CIRSTEA (ROU) [18] v Xiyu WANG (CHN)
Rafael JODAR (ESP) [27] v Pablo CARRENO BUSTA (ESP)
Mirra ANDREEVA (RUS) [8] v Jil TEICHMANN (SUI)
Jakub MENSIK (CZE) [26] v Andrey RUBLEV (RUS) [11]
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A quick whizz around the grounds: Cobolli has ripped through another set to lead Tien 6-2, 6-2. The Polish qualifier Chwalinska is on her knees and now the tears are flowing after completing her comeback victory, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, against the former world No 3 Sakkari. Francisco Cerundolo has reduced his arrears to 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 4-3 with the break against Svajda, while the Russian 25th seed Diana Shnaider has claimed the first set 7-5 against Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova. It’s a match inevitably marked by the war between their two countries, and Oliynykova has previously been very vocal in criticising Shnaider’s alleged support for Vladimir Putin.
Jovic takes the second-set tie-break 7-3 against Osaka
Jovic represents the US but has a Croatian mother and Serbian father, and has already received advice from the most famous Serb of all, with Djokovic tipping the 18-year-old as a future grand slam champion and world No 1. Jovic shows maturity and composure beyond her years to advance to 5-1 in the tie-break, make that 6-2 and four set points! Jovic nets on the first. But Osaka hoiks into the tramlines on the second! This is her first third round appearance at French Open (and only her second visit to Roland Garros), and she’s taken the four-time grand slam champion to a decider.
There’s absolutely nothing to separate Osaka and Jovic in this absorbing second set, which appears to be heading for another tie-break, with Osaka serving at 5-6, 40-0. It looks as if Jovic thinks Osaka’s backhand is going wide, but it doesn’t, and the teenager is rooted to the clay as the ball drops in. So we’ve got ourselves another breaker!
Iga Swiatek was quite vocal yesterday about player safety after her third-round win, with several players having collided with hoardings and rain covers at the back of courts this week, and the organisers have listened and made changes today. Not that it’s helped Maria Sakkari, who has just slipped and done the splits, which just about sums up her current luck, having let a commanding lead slip to fall 6-1, 3-6, 1-4 down against Swiatek’s fellow Pole Maja Chwalinska.
Meanwhile if you’re still digesting Novak Djokovic’s defeat last night at the hands of the 19-year-old with the nuclear forehand, Joao Fonseca, here’s Tumaini’s take on the match:
As Novak Djokovic limped back to his chair four hours into a tennis match that had descended into hell, the 24-times grand slam winner did not have much more to give. A two-set lead had unravelled and his 39-year-old body had hit a wall against a shining opponent 20 years his junior. Having reached the umpire’s chair, Djokovic vomited into the red dirt.
Still, nobody has mastered the art of finding victory from a miserable position quite like Djokovic, so everybody inside Court Philippe-Chatrier knew he could always conjure a path through.
It took the most courageous, headstrong performance from João Fonseca to refuse his legendary opponent a way back. The 19-year-old Brazilian held on for a career-defining victory, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5, after 4hr 53min.
While Fonseca is still a teenager this victory was a long time coming considering his talent and the attention that has been on him. Fonseca was asked about the self-belief that underscored the victory during his on-court interview. “I just played,” he said. “I just enjoyed being on court. What a pleasure it was.”
The plaudits were led by his opponent: “I think he, without a doubt, was the better player in important moments in those crucial fourth and fifth,” Djokovic said.
“Some amazing exchanges and points. Yeah, he just found incredible shots, lines. It was just amazing from his side. Obviously not great for me to be facing a player playing in such level, but yeah, I don’t think I’ve done too much wrong with my game. It’s just that he was better.”
This is just the second time Djokovic has lost from two sets up, the other occasion coming in a 2010 French Open quarter-final against Jürgen Melzer. One day earlier, Jannik Sinner’s astounding defeat by Juan Manuel Cerúndolo had transformed the tournament. All eyes turned to Djokovic, who had been waiting for this moment: a grand slam event without Sinner or Carlos Alcaraz.
But Djokovic was simply not in good enough shape to take advantage. He has been injured for much of this year since his epic run to the Australian Open final and although his level here was high for nearly five hours, it was not enough: “Considering I was injured for three months and trying to come back and then, going pretty much straight into a grand slam on this surface that is very demanding and, for me, takes more time to get used to, to find my groove,” he said. “Taking everything in consideration and all the circumstances, I think the level was really good.”
You can read the rest of Tumaini’s report here:
Meanwhile another rising American, Learner Tien, is getting plenty of advice from his coach, the 1989 Roland Garros champion Michael Chang, having been absolutely dominated in the first set against Flavio Cobolli, the Italian 10th seed who has far more experience on clay. Cobolli has charged into a 6-2, 2-0 lead.
Jovic absolutely obliterated her fellow American and the former world No 8 Emma Navarro in the previous round, and rediscovers some of that form under extreme pressure here, reeling off seven points on the spin to cancel out Osaka’s early break in the second set. The 18-year-old holds with her first aces of the match and nudges ahead for 6-7, 3-2.
Today's singles order of play
A quick rundown of the latest scores and what’s coming up on day seven:
COURT PHILIPPE CHATRIER
10-Flavio Cobolli (Italy) v 18-Learner Tien (US) 5-2
Diane Parry (France) v 6-Amanda Anisimova (US)
4-Coco Gauff (US) v 28-Anastasia Potapova (Austria)
4-Felix Auger-Aliassime (Canada) v 31-Brandon Nakashima (US)
COURT SUZANNE LENGLEN
17-Iva Jovic (US) v 16-Naomi Osaka (Japan) 6-7, 1-1
1-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) v Daria Kasatkina (Australia)
Moise Kouame (France) v Alejandro Tabilo (Chile)
Jaime Faria (Portugal) v 19-Frances Tiafoe (US)
COURT SIMONNE MATHIEU
Maria Sakkari (Greece) v Maja Chwalinska (Poland) 6-1, 3-6, 0-1
Matteo Berrettini (Italy) v Francisco Comesana (Argentina)
9-Victoria Mboko (Canada) v 19-Madison Keys (US)
COURT 14
25-Francisco Cerundolo (Argentina) v Zachary Svajda (US) 3-6, 4-6, 1-2
22-Anna Kalinskaya (Russia) v Camila Osorio (Colombia)
Matteo Arnaldi (Italy) v Raphael Collignon (Belgium)
COURT 7
25-Diana Shnaider (Russia) v Oleksandra Oliynykova (Ukraine) 2-4
Juan Manuel Cerundolo (Argentina) v Martin Landaluce (Spain)
Francisco Cerundolo was upstaged in the second round by his younger brother Juan Manuel, who of course took out an ailing Jannik Sinner, and he’s being totally upstaged by the 23-year-old Californian Zachary Svajda today, trailing now by two sets to love, 6-3, 6-4. Svajda’s dad died last autumn and he didn’t pick up a racket for a while after, but he’s found a way to channel his grief this year and, on his French Open debut, needs only one more set for a first appearance in the last 16 of a slam.
Osaka wins the first-set tie-break 7-5 against Jovic
… Jovic surrenders another point on serve to trail by a possibly insurmountable 5-2, which turns into 6-3 – so another three set points for Osaka, to add to the two she had in the previous game. Jovic saves the first in style, with a stinging serve out wide. The teenager thinks she’s nailed an ace down the T on the second SP, but it’s out. Osaka absolutely jumps on the second serve … but then thwacks into the net on her next shot. She still has one more SP though … and drills an inside-in forehand down the line! Osaka secures an absorbing first set and is a set away from what would remarkably be her first appearance in the French Open fourth round.
With a flurry of fans fluttering in the stands (the hand-held kind I should stress, not the people), with temperatures already approaching 30C in Paris on the final day of the heatwave, Osaka takes the opening point of the breaker. The former world No 1 then grabs the first mini-break for 3-1, and backs it up with the quickest serve of the match for 4-1. They change ends at 4-2 …
One of the most intriguing questions going into today was how Osaka would deal with the precocious talents of the 18-year-old Jovic, and right now the answer is very well. Osaka brings up her first set point at 6-5 and advantage on Jovic’s serve … but a rare backhand error follows. A second set point soon arrives … this time Osaka’s forehand misfires. From there Jovic escapes with a hold. So it’s tie-break time!
Apologies for the sparse updates for the past hour – I’ve been having technical issues so Niall kindly added a couple of entries while spinning several other plates. So … what’s the state of play? Jovic is serving to stay in the first set against the Eiffel Tower sorry Osaka, trailing 6-5; Cerundolo is a set down, 6-3, but 3-2 up on serve in the second; and Sakkari is zooming through against Chwalinska, leading 6-1, 2-1.
Osaka breaks back to level the first set at 4-4, while Sakkari has wrapped up the first set against Chwalinska, winning it 6-1.
Elsewhere, another men’s seed in trouble as Francisco Cerundolo (No 25) trails US player Zachary Svajda by a set. Coming up shortly on Chatrier, it’s 10th seed Flavio Cobolli against Learner Tien.
Iva Jovic v Naomi Osaka is under way on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, and it’s the former with an early break, leading 3-2 in the first set. Maria Sakkari has also opened up an early lead; she’s 4-1 up on Poland’s Maja Chwalinska.
Preamble
Bonjour et bienvenue au jour sept de notre couverture de Roland Garros 2026!
After Novak Djokovic’s departure in the match of the tournament against the 19-year-old Brazilian sensation João Fonseca last night, opportunity knocks louder than ever before for the remaining men, with a first-time grand slam champion guaranteed next Sunday.
Today the players in the top half of the draw get the chance to underline their credentials, and with a huge Jannik Sinner-sized hole in that section, along with the exits of Ben Shelton, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Bublik, the highest-ranked man in action is Félix Auger-Aliassime, and the fourth seed doesn’t play until tonight.
It means Sinner’s conqueror Juan Manuel Cerundolo gets another day in the sun, as does his brother Francisco, but a bigger buzz surrounds the 17-year-old overnight, hometown hero Moise Kouame, who will have Roland Garros rocking when he takes on Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo. The 10th seed Flavio Cobolli against the rising American Learner Tien could be tasty too, while Frances Tiafoe and the resurgent Matteo Berrettini are also in third-round action.
The leading names today are undoubtedly on the women’s side, which is still stacked with slam champions past and present: Coco Gauff continues her title defence, Aryna Sabalenka plays the former semi-finalist Daria Kasatkina, while Naomi Osaka and Madison Keys will be hoping to avoid the same fate as Djokovic when they take on the stupendously talented teens Iva Jovic and Victoria Mboko respectively. Amanda Anisimova plays too.
L’action commence: 11h à Paris/10am BST. Allons-y!
