French Open day three: More Brits crash out as Novak Djokovic coasts through
Novak Djokovic is safely through to round two at the French Open but there was more British anguish as Dan Evans and Katie Boulter completed a clean sweep of defeats.
There was (another) tearful goodbye as France’s Alize Cornet followed Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal and said au revoir to Roland Garros after her 20th and final appearance.
Here, the PA news agency looks back at day three at the French Open.
Picture of the day
Match of the day
Énorme match de Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard qui ne passe pas loin de s'octroyer sa première victoire à Roland-Garros. Il s'incline en 5 sets face à l'expérimenté David Goffin 👏#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/z5CpO54M6D
— FFT (@FFTennis) May 28, 2024
David Goffin is no stranger to a five-setter and the 33-year-old Belgian came through a three-and-a-half-hour epic against towering French wild card Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
Quote of the day
Fun family fact of the day
Some belated Ruud family revenge after two-time finalist Casper Ruud beat Brazilian qualifier Felipe Meligeni Alves in straight sets. In the final of the 1995 Swedish Open in Bastad, Meligeni Alves’ uncle Fernando Meligeni beat Ruud’s father Christian to win the title. “It was worth the wait, I guess,” said Ruud.
Fond farewell III
Merci Alizé 🧡 #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/Oe2RgzMMcR
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 28, 2024
Sales of tissues must have rocketed in Paris after the departures of Murray and Nadal were followed by another tear-jerker. Cornet, who first played in the French Open aged 15, was well beaten by Qinwen Zheng but there was not a dry eye on Chatrier as she said goodbye for the last time.
Stat of the day
Alizé Cornet, take a bow 👏
She highlights our Stat of the day by @Infosys #RolandGarroswithInfosys #ExperiencetheNext pic.twitter.com/CfyIdzNFix
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 28, 2024
Brit watch
Katie Boulter loses out in a three-set battle#BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 | #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/PBOrBVXjwH
— LTA (@the_LTA) May 28, 2024
Evans was beaten in straight sets by Danish hot-shot Holger Rune and Boulter lost a tight three-setter to former world number two Paula Badosa. With Murray, Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie and Harriet Dart all out it is the first time no Brits have reached round two in singles since 2020.
Fallen seeds
Women: Sorana Cirstea (28)
Men: Adrian Mannarino (22)
Who’s up next?
Order of play for Round 2 is here 🔥
Check out the full order of play for tomorrow 👉 https://t.co/sgvI3Z61mi#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/T1rXZncNTC
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 28, 2024
Former world number one Naomi Osaka’s second-round match against current top-ranked woman Iga Swiatek headlines day four. Men’s two and three seeds Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are also in action.