There were only three Frenchmen left in the running at Roland-Garros after Gaël Monfils retired with a wrist injury. And, like yesterday, the day was gloomy.
Diane Parry (79th in the world) opened hostilities with the Habs and Russian Mirra Andreeva, 16 (143rd), 6-1, 6-2. But, opposite, there was this nugget, announced as the future star of world tennis. As proof, the Russian teenager has not lost a single set at the Porte d’Auteuil, his three qualifying rounds included. In the first round, Andreeva had not even needed an hour to get rid of the American Alison Riske-Amritraj (85th) 6-2, 6-1. On the Simonne-Mathieu court, Thursday afternoon, it did not last long either (1 h 17 min).
A few hours later, it was Océane Dodin (122nd) who entered the court. But there, the French faced one of the best current players in the person of Ons Jabeur (7th). And the hierarchy was respected: 6-2, 6-3 for the Tunisian, in 1h 12min. He will therefore have to wait until next year to pass this second round which he lacks. “She plays very hard, so it was necessary to vary a lot, do drop shots… In addition, the public was really with her, so I did my best”, commented Ons Jabeur, who will face Serbian Olga Danilovic (105th) in the third round.
Arthur Rinderknech (78th) was no more successful. He lost to American Taylor Fritz (8th) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. He will however have maintained hope by winning the first set. But his opponent was stronger than him, so he bows logically. The Frenchman was however loudly supported by the spectators. Several Marseillaises were sung and the public did everything possible to destabilize Fritz, without worrying about the remonstrances of the referee. To the point that once the match point was won, Taylor Fritz made a long sign to the public to be quiet with his finger on his mouth… which only had the effect of increasing the boos tenfold. “The public was so great, they encouraged me so much that I absolutely wanted to win”, he quipped to the only question asked by Marion Bartoli on the court.
