Simona Halep doesn’t look too pleased but she’ll be delighted with the way she bounced back after that dire first set. The world No1 is through to the second round after blitzing Alison Riske 2-6, 6-1, 6-1.
Elina Svitolina will be pleased with her progress. The fourth seed has dispatched Viktoria Kuzmova, dismissing the Slovakian 6-3, 6-4. All very professional from the Ukrainian, who is a major contender here. As for Simona Halep, she’s 4-1 up in the final set on Philippe-Chatrier.
This is punishing from Halep, who is exacting full revenge for that first set. Vicious groundstrokes see her march ahead in the third set. She leads Alison Riske 2-6, 6-1, 2-0 and surely won’t be stopped now.
Simona Halep returns the ball to Alison Riske. Photograph: Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty Images
While Halep grabbles with Riske, Elina Svitolina is merrily skipping along. She’s up a set and a break against Viktoria Kuzmova. Elsewhere Anett Kontaveit, the 25th seed, took the first set 7-5 against Alexandra Dulgheru.
Alison Riske avoided the bagel but she hasn’t been able to stem the bleeding. Simona Halep stomps off with the second set, winning it 6-1, and a match that has been going for just over an hour is heading into a decider.
Pablo Carreno Busta, the 10th seed and a nifty mover on clay, has snatched the first set against Federico Delbonis on Court 7. The Spaniard won an epic tie-break 9-7.
Simona Halep is on fire now. Not literally. Only in tennis terms. She’s stormed into a 4-0 lead in the second set. What a strange match. This is more like it from the world No1.
Naomi Osaka is cruising; she’s taken the first set 6-4 against Zarina Diyas on Court 18. Barbora Strycova is also feeling good after bagging the first set against Ekaterina Makarova on Court 3. Simona Halep, meanwhile, is channelling her anger in the right way, breaking to love in the first game of the second set. Is this the start of the comeback?
Naomi Osaka stretches for a return. Photograph: Christophe Ena/AP
Simona Halep looks stunned. Alison Riske is overpowering her and the Romanian has no answers. Riske pummels another winner away and that’s enough for her to take the first set 6-2 in 39 minutes. The world no1 is in trouble.
Elina Svitolina, the fourth seed, is up and running on Suzanne-Lenglen. The first set is hers. She’s taken it 6-3. Viktoria Kuzmova is being outplayed.
Simona Halep is all over the place at the moment. Alison Riske, who’s showing no fear, breaks again to lead 4-0 against the world No1. On Court 8 Mihaela Buzarnescu, the 31st seed, has taken the first set 6-1 against Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson.
Simona Halep is struggling early on and, sure enough, she drops her first service game. Alison Riske, the outsider, lands the first blow. Meanwhile Naomi Osaka, the exciting young talent from Japan, is looking dominant against Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas.
Alison Riske is striking the ball cleanly on Philippe-Chatrier and the American holds in her first game despite being taken to deuce by Simona Halep. Elsewhere Petra Kvitova is looking ominous. The Czech has broken twice to lead 3-0 against Lara Arruabarrena.
Alison Riske smacks a return back to Simona Halep. Photograph: Pascal Rossignol/Reuters
There’s likely to be a lot of interest on Court 9. Yes, it’s a match between the world No190 and the world No72. But it’s a match featuring road-tripping lucky loser Marco Trungelliti, who is a favourite with grandmas around the world at the moment. The Argentinian, who travelled from Barcelona to Paris with his family in tow after Nick Kyrgios’s late withdrawal handed him a reprieve, became a social media sensation after his wife documented their journey and his new-found celebrity rocketed even higher after he beat Bernard Tomic. He’s in action against Italy’s Marco Cecchinato now. But it’s the Italian who’s on top early on, breaking to lead 2-0.
Play is underway. On Court1, former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is in action against Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena, whose surname contains too many vowels for your humble live blogger.
Another cloudy day in Paris and there are plenty of empty seats on Philippe-Chatrier. But the players are out, they’re knocking up and it’s almost time for tennis! Highest on our agenda at the moment is Simona Halep versus Alison Riske.
Hello. Day four of the French Open and the world No1, Simona Halep, is finally going to get on court. A combination of the scheduling and the weather has meant that she’s had to wait but the Romanian’s turn has arrived at last. She’s first on Philippe-Chatrier, where she faces the USA’s Alison Riske, and where she was beaten in last year’s final by Jelena Ostapenko. Halep’s still waiting for her first grand slam title, having blown her latest chance when she lost the Australian Open final to Caroline Wozniacki, and will be determined to banish a few demons this morning.
Halep will be eyeing another strong effort at her favourite tournament, although the tag of favourite might not apply to her. Instead, we turn to Elina Svitolina, the fourth seed, who was triumphant in Rome and excellent in her first-round match against Alja Tomljanovic. Svitolina is first up on Suzanne-Lenglen. Slovakia’s Viktoria Kuzmova will be keeping her company. Elsewhere Wozniacki faces Georgina Garcia Perez, a Spanish qualifier, and that’s followed by Britain’s Cameron Norrie taking on France’s Lucas Pouille, the 15th seed.
Norrie and Pouille are fourth on Philippe-Chatrier but there’s plenty of intrigue elsewhere in the men’s draw, with Novak Djokovic facing Jaume Munar, the world No155, Dominic Thiem meeting the exciting young Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex Zverev taking on Dusan Lajovic.
All that and we haven’t even got round to talking about Petra Kvitova, Kei Nishikori, Grigor Dimitrov, Sloane Stephens or Madison Keys. Let’s just hope the rain stays away.
