French Open: Coco Gauff triumphs after a marathon of waiting

Coco Gauff believed she was about to go onto the court for her French Open second-round match. The previous year’s runner-up at Roland Garros would remark, “I was probably about 70% done with my warmup.”

eighth seed On June 1 on Court Suzanne Lenglen, Jannik Sinner was up 5-4 in the fourth set and served for the victory against Daniel Altmaier. Sinner was just a point away at that time. He failed to take advantage of that match point, however. He had the chance to make an overhead putaway but instead threw the ball almost directly at Altmaier, whose forehand in response struck the top of the net tape and went by Sinner.

After a further 1 hour and 43 minutes of play, Altmaier eventually converted his own fifth match point with a 111 mph ace through the centre to seal the victory with scores of 6-7(0) 7-6(7) 1-6 7-6(4) 7-5.

Altmaier cried hysterically as she said, “A great turnaround,” after the roughly 5 1/2 hour marathon. “The emotions were crazy.” So how did Gauff fill his time? Watching Sinner vs. Altmaier is one option. She also had a fruit salad made by her father with cantaloupe, pineapple, and watermelon as a snack. And unwinding, of course.
After the delay, the American youngster beat Julia Grabher in 1 hour, 8 minutes, 6-2, 6-3. Gauff will next compete against 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva on Saturday in the third round.

Some of the top athletes in the world will be playing on Court Philippe Chatrier as the tennis tournament’s third round comes to an end: Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka, and Jessica Pegula. On Lenglen, No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2021 French Open runner-up, will face Diego Schwartzman, while No. 7 Andrey Rublev will play Lorenzo Sonego. The No. 9 seed Daria Kasatkina, a semifinalist from the previous year, will be contested by Peyton Stearns, a 21-year-old American who represented the University of Texas in the NCAA championship match last year.

The top-ranked Iga Swiatek continues to defend her title. The second-time French Open champion, who has not yet faced a test, will play Xinyu Wang in the third round. Elena Rybakina, the No. 4 seed and Wimbledon champion, also won with ease. And 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva made another progress in her debut Grand Slam match. Casper Ruud, the fourth seed and last year’s runner-up to Rafael Nadal, has progressed to the third round of the men’s competition.