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World number one Ashleigh Barty succumbed to an ill-timed hip injury as she pulled the plug on her French Open campaign in the second set of her second-round clash with Magda Linette.
The big three in the top half of the men’s draw all made it through, with birthday boy Rafael Nadal extending his record to 17-0 against Richard Gasquet, Novak Djokovic seeing off Pablo Cuevas and Roger Federer putting a row with the umpire behind him to defeat Marin Cilic in four sets.
Defending champion Iga Swiatek raced to a 6-1 6-1 success against Rebecca Peterson while Britain’s sole remaining singles representative, Cameron Norrie, defeated Lloyd Harris to set up a date with Nadal.
Picture of the day
Marin Cilic plays a backhand at full stretch during his loss to Roger Federer
(AP)
Stat of the day
Svitolina bossing it
Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils are the most high-profile couple in tennis. The pair got engaged earlier this year and, asked about the dynamics of their relationship after her victory over Ann Li, Svitolina said: “He always has to agree with me because I’m the boss in the house.”
At her press conference later, she added: “That was a joke, because I’m going to get told off after he gets off the court that I said that.”
French misery
Gael Monfils was among the French players to depart the tournament on Thursday
(AP)
While Norrie continues to fly the flag for Britain, this has been the worst Roland Garros in history for the home country. Remarkably, of the 29 French players in the men’s and women’s singles, not a single one has reached the third round.
Fallen seeds
Women: Ashleigh Barty (1), Karolina Pliskova (9), Ekaterina Alexandrova (32)Men: Gael Monfils (14), Alex De Minaur (21), Aslan Karatsev (24), Nikoloz Basilashvili (28), Taylor Fritz (30)
Who’s up next?
Serena Williams will hope to power her way into the fourth round
(AP)
Serena Williams takes on fellow American Danielle Collins as the third round gets under way on Friday.
Victoria Azarenka and Madison Keys kick off the day on Court Philippe Chatrier while Stefanos Tsitsipas will probably be happy to play in the cooler conditions of the night session against big-serving John Isner.
Second seed Daniil Medvedev takes on another giant American in Reilly Opelka while third seed Aryna Sabalenka will look to reach the fourth round in Paris for the first time when she faces Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
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