French Open 2023 Day 5 wrapIga Swiatek and Casper Ruud ease into Round 3, Jannik Sinner ousted

By India Today Sports DeskUsual suspects Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Casper Ruud were among the most impressive ones that were on show on Day 5 of French Open 2023. 8th Jannik Sinner was ousted in the 2nd round while 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva continued her dream run at Roland Garros.

In men’s singles, Casper Ruud showed signs of a return to form as last year’s finalist came up with a strong show in the men’s singles second round to beat Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 at the Philippe Chatrier on Thursday, June 1. Ruud was made to work hard after he dropped the third set by the impressive 21-year-old, but the World No. 4 was quick to bounce back and avoid going the distance.

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek put on a strong show as she decimated Claire Liu of the USA in her women’s singles second-round match. The Polish star, who has been on terrific form on the claycourts of Paris, continued her love affair with bagels as she outclassed Liu 6-4, 6-0 to storm into the third round and make a statement of intent. Swiatek picked up her 30th win of the year by defeating Liu in an hour and 29 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier. Swiatek surpassed the legendary Steffi Graf (10.7%) in terms of the percentage of sets in women’s singles Grand Slams won with a 6-0 scoreline, at 11.1%.

It was no surprise when Swiatek said she was not partying on her 22nd birthday, the eve of her 2nd-round win at Roland Garros.

“For sure I wasn’t partying. Every year, I’m just trying to keep it cool. I’m enjoying the gifts and the small things I get from my team. It’s mostly about getting the feeling and thinking a little bit more about what happened the past year but I’m not a party person!” she said after rolling into the 2nd round.

GAUFF TO FACE RUSSIAN WUNDERKIND

Meanwhile, last year’s finalist Coco Gauff laid down an early marker as she outclassed Austria’s Julia Grabher in straight sets to roll into Round 3.

In the 3rd round, Gauff will meet an inspired 16-year-old in Mirra Andreeva, who became the youngest woman to reach the third round at Roland Garros since a 15-year-old Sesil Karatantcheva made the quarter-finals in 2005.

Mirra has not dropped a set yet so far in 5 matches after having entered the main draw through qualifying. The 16-year-old has an incredible 22-2 win-loss record in this year.

JANNIK SINNER STUNNED

The biggest shock of the day came when 24-year-old Daniel Altmaier stunned 8th seed Jannik Sinner in a men’s singles second-round match.

World No. 79 Altmaier did not have a crowd cheering for him when he reached the fourth round at Roland Garros in 2020. The German youngster played in front of empty stands due to the pandemic, 3 years ago in his best-ever Grand Slam showing, but on Thursday, June 1, the Suzanne Lenglen crowd was chanting his name after the heroic show in a match that lasted 5 hours and 26 minutes.

Altmaier held his nerves and played one of the best defensive games of the tournament sending Sinner packing 6-7(0), 7-6(7), 1-6, 7-6(4), 7-5. Altmaier saved 2 match points when Sinner was serving for the match at 5-4 in the 4th set.

Altmaier did not find closing the match out easy as he fluffed 5 match points in the final set and played a 12-minute final game before serving it out with an ace in his 6th match point. It was the first time since his Roland Garros debut in 2020 that the German has gone past the 2nd round of the clay-court Grand Slam.

Meanwhile, Croatian Borna Coric was made to work hard by Pedro Cachin before the 15th seed prevailed 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 but it was a day to forget for Australian 18th seed Alex de Minaur who fell to a 6-3 7-6(2) 6-3 defeat by Tomas Martin Etcheverry.

American 12th seed Frances Tiafoe beat Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev 3-6 6-3 7-5 6-2.

JABEUR, RYBAKINA PROGRESS

Meanwhile, World No. 7 Ons Jabeur defeated France’s Oceane Dodin 6-2, 6-3 in a match that lasted just 71 minutes to move on to the round of 32 in the French Open. The Tunisian has made an incredible comeback since her calf injury that forced her out of the Madrid Open.

4th seed Elene Rybakina came up with a dominant show to clinch a 6-3 6-3 victory over rising Czech teenager Linda Noskova in the 2nd round.

With a complete show, she signaled her intentions for the big prize in what seems to be a hotly-contested women’s singles field.