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Sloane Stephens beats Karolina Pliskova [16] 6-0 6-4!Stephens moved nicely but Pliskova didn’t, so couldn’t plant feet and unleash her power. Stephens meets Gracheva or Galfi next.
Norrie holds, so at 5-2 Paire will serve for set three…
De Minaur now leads Ivashka by two sets to one, having taken the third 6-1; Shapovalov is uo 6-4 7-5 3-4 on Nakashima; and on Mathieu, Auger-Aliassime and Fognini are under way.
On Chatrier, Pliskova breaks and Stephens breaks back for 6-0 4-4; on Lenglen, Paire secures his double break for 4-1 in set three; and on Court 9, Draper breaks back for 3-4 againdst Etcheverry.
Puffs of clay indicate the wind is kicking up but Paire, whose face looks twice as long with his beard, isn’t bothered, consolidating to love too. He’s playing nicely here and looks properly focused, whole Norrie is struggling a little, schlepped from deuce to advantage and back again as he fights for his hold trailing 3-1 in set three.
Photograph: Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP/Getty ImagesPliskova has got herself moving, 2-2 with Stephens in set two having lost the first 6-0. Shje’s got a brace-type thing on her knee and I wonder if it takes her a while to loosen up – she’s not as smooth a mover as her opponent. Oh, and on Lenglen, Paire has 0-30 on the Norrie serve at 1-1 and 1-1 … then takes a return early, monstering a forehand down the line, and when Norrie goes long, he cements the break to love!
I’m buzzing to see how Draper does because he’s got a lot of the right stuff, both physically and mentally – he expects to succeed. He has, though, been broken early doors, Etcheverry leading 3-1.
Madison Keys [20] beats Kaia Kanepi 6-1 3-6 6-1!She meets Kayla Day next, Day having beaten Mladenovic 7-5 6-1.
Zapata Miralles has won a breaker to lead Schwartzman 6-1 7-6(5) while, on Court 9, Draper and Etcheverry are away. I’ll start watching that one now because…
At 30-all, Norrie is well in the rally, but he guides a drop just wide (and nets the get anyway), then Paire flows a backhand down the one with opens the court for the put-away! That’s one set apiece, and Lenglen goes wild!
Paire’s never taken a set off Norrie but has 5-3 0-30 in set two and when Norrie wins three straight points, a drop brings him to deuce. Norrie, though quickly closes out, meaning Paire must now serve for the set; elsewhere, Stephens now leads Pliskova 6-0 1-0, Keys leads Kanepi 6-1 3-6 5-0, and Ivashka has levelled his match with De Minaur at one set all.
Hold tight Madison Keys! She now leads Kanepi 4-0 in the decider, and it’s great to see her playing with such conviction. She’s been steadily improving over the last year or so, though she did contrive defeat to Azarenka in Melbourne having won the first set 6-1. I didn’t see that match, but Wikipedia tells me she made 39 unforced errors in that match, which sounds pretty par.
Stephens bagels Pliskova, who had a break point in the first game. Clay isn’t her surface, but I’m surprised she’s taking a beating of this severity, dangerous though an in-form Stephens is.
Stephens now leads Pliskova 5-0 while Keys has broken Kanepi at the start of their decider.
Typically, Paire is soon facing two break points after stumbling coming in; he saves the first with a big serve … and the second with a serve-volley. Then, on advantage, he Air Jordans a slam, and quickly closes out from there. Paire 5-7 3-1 Norrie
A bit of Paris.
Go on Benoit Paire! On 30-40, he comes in and smokes a backhand return down the line to trail 5-7 2-1. He skips, leaps, and Lenglen is up! On Mathieu, though, Day has taken the first set off Mladenovic 7-5.
Shonuff Norrie rushes to 0-30, and though Paire retrieves the situation, on deuce he nets a forehand. As he often does, he’s struggling on that wing, but he finds a first server when he needs one and eventually closes out for 5-7 1-1, to the crowd’s delight. Out on Court 14, Kanepi has levelled her match against Keys, taking set two 6-3 – but Keys is still playing fairly well – and on Chatrier, Stephens leads Pliskova 3-0.
This is now a test for Paire, who is not, shall we say, renowned for his indefatigability when things go against him. Norrie holds to love, and don’t be surprised if he breaks immediately.
And there it is! Norrie saved seven out of eight break points in that set, then Paire fades a forehand over the sideline looking for an oblique angle. Paire 5-7 Norrie
As you might imagine, I’m no longer on Shapovalov v Nakashima because I’ve switched to Pliskova v Stephens. I love watching Sloane when she’s playing well, she moves and strikes the ball with such flow. But back on Lenglen, Norrie has two set points at 15-40…
Another intense game on Lenglen, Norrie repelling break point with a wrong-footing forehand. Paire does then whip a terrific backhand down the line to earn another go, but Norrie finds big serves when he needs them to make 6-5. Meanwhile, Pliskova and Stephens are away on Chatrier, Shapovalov leads Nakashima 6-4 0-1, Pera leads Kontaveit 7-6(6) and Mladenovic will soon serve for a breaker against Day.
Kanepi has woken up, breaking for 2-0 after losing set one 6-1 and consolidating to 30, while Norrie forces Paire through deuce for 5-5. Shapovalov, meanwhile, has taken the first set off Nakashima 6-4.
Another break point, this time saved by Norrie, and when he makes advantage we see the germ of a complaint about his ball-tossing. Norrie has aggravated opponents before by throwing, catching and going again – Holger Rune was sure he was doing it on purpose, serving just as time was running out – but the umpire disagreed. Norrie leads 5-4.
Looking around the courts, Shapovalov leads Nakashima 5-3, Day and Mladenovic is 3-3., De Minaur has taken the first set off Ivashka 6-1, Vekic leads Yastremka 6-2 and Zapata Miralles is 5-1 against Schwartzman.
So far it’s Paire playing the big points better, and he averts a further breaking opportunity with a clever drop that Norrie can’t get under. But when he goes again, Norrie chases it down and help from the net-cord takes the ball away and over the sideline, then a forehand loops long and we’re back on serve at 4-4.
Keys booms an ace down the T and it means a 6-1 set; she’s playing nicely, but Kanepi has’t got going at all.
Keys now leads Kanepi 5-0, while Shapovalov is up a break on Nakashima at 3-2. Oh and have a look, a gorgeous lob from Paire gives him 0-30 on the Norrie serve. He then makes his way to 30-40, gets a decent return back, and after some baseline slugging, Norrie hooks wide! the crowd love that and this is building into a real fun ruckus. Paire leads 4-3.
Norrie gets himself to 0-40, but Paire guides a nice slice deep into the forehand corner that’s good enough to save the first break point, then a service winner then a wrong-footing volley – mishit – and we’re at deuce. The crowd absolutely love it, all the more so when Paire eventually seals the hold with an ace, and that’s 3-3.
Order of play: show courtsChatrier
KA Pliskova [16] v Stephens
Djokovic [3] v Kovacevic
Garcia [5] v Wang
Sinner [8] v Muller (night session)
**
Lenglen
Paire 2-3 Norrie
Avanesyan v Bencic [12]
Alcaraz [1] v Cobolli
Kvitova [10] v Cocciaretto
**
Mathieu
Day 3-2 Mladenovic
Auger-Aliassime [10] v Fognini
Svitolina v Trevisan [26]
Fils v Davidovich Fokina [29]
In this era of majors being won by so many different players, it’s almost a surprise that Keys doesn’t have one, because her best level is a very serious level. Sadly for her, though, she froze in the one final she reached, in New York against her mate Sloane Stephens in 2017. But she remains extremely dangerous, and has broken Kanepi for a 2-0 lead.
Right, everything is working well enough, though Paire slipped during the first game. We’re on serve though, at 1-1, and i’m also watching Kanepi v Keys – Keys leads 1-0 on serve – and Nakashima v Shapovalov – Nakashima leads 1-0.
The crowd are behind Paire already and the court is half shade, half sun. Play!
Norrie and Paire are knocking up. This should be a fascinating battle of angles, spins and lengths.
OK, I’ve a minor technical issue, but I’ll be with you properly in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.
PreambleMorning all and welcome to day two of Roland-Garros 2023!
We’ve got an almost indecent amount of joy for you today. We begin with the mercurial hands and teenage attitude of Benoît Paire, who meets Cameron Norrie, and at almost the same time Karolina Pliskova takes on Sloane Stephens, the 2018 finalist.
Then, in the afternoon, Novak Djokovic joins proceedings, likewise Felix Auger-Aliassime – his match against Fabio Fognini could be a goodun – after which Carlos Alcaraz, the number one seed, makes his bow, along with Caroline Garcia and Petra Kvitova.
And that’s just the show courts! Elsewhere, there’s Kaia Kanepi v Madison Keys and Stan Wawrinka v Albert Ramos-Vinolas, while Dominic Thiem, Jelena Ostapenko and Francis Tiafoe also begin their campaigns.
On y va!
Play: 11am local, 10am BST