French Open 2024: Tsitsipas, Alcaraz, Jabeur in action before Swiatek v Osaka – live | French Open 2024

Altmeier is in the zone here, and Tsitsipas is fully stretched to avoid dropping to the floor. But for now, he fends off the onslaught, holding for 4-4 in the third, while Kenin handles beautifully, going up 4-3 30-0 and forcing Garcia through deuce to avoid the double break.

Kenin consolidates to love for 4-2 and begins to impose itself from behind.

Altmeier is having fun now, forces another break point with a ferocious forehand and a no-look return… for all the good it did him, Tsitsipas saved it and held for 6-3 6-2 2-2. Garcia, meanwhile, struggled to hang on in a 10-minute match, missing various volleys then, in the open court, hitting a forehand that Kenin shouldn’t have sniffed, but somehow got back. And that affects Garcia, too; she loses the serve with an error, then drops the game with another, so Kenin will now serve at 3-2 in the first.

Garcia makes a break point but Kenin returns with a serve out that is too good; another first serve gives her the edge and then a cross court forehand winner secures a 2-2 hold. Altmeier, meanwhile, is now getting to work, winning a break point…quickly extinguished with a big serve…and although he hangs in there, Tsitsipas’ forehand is too much, eventually leveling the game. He leads 6-3 6-2 1-1.

Garcia leads Kenin 2-1 on serve, players still settling. Kenin leads the head-to-head 2-0, but she has had a poor season, so she may not react well to the pressure.

Rain advantage: Calve Betton is out, so he can report for Ben Shelton. “His raws are great, but his backhand is garbage,” he says. “But I don’t think he wins a slam. There’s some crazy stat that if you make him play BH on the first hit of the rally, he only wins 15% or something. He is a top 15 player as his serve and forehand are huge, but I don’t think he goes much higher. He defends a lot of points and doesn’t beat the best players.”

This is a very nice performance by Tsitsipas, who wins the second set and leads 6-3 6-2. I’m still not sure his backhand is good enough to hold up against the best, but this is the best I’ve seen him play in ages.

Kenin and Garcia started on Chatrier, and I wonder if this match will be decided by the second serve or the first return.

Strong tracksuit game from the young man.

Altmeier is on board in the second set, trailing Tsitsipas 6-3 5-1, and we’ve just been told there will be no outdoor court play before 12:30pm BST.

And here they come. It should be a great race, with an atmosphere to match.

At least we will have a second match soon with Altmeier 3-6 0-4 Tsitsipas, because Kenin, the Aussie Open 2o20 champion and French Open Championship runner-up, Chatrier has to face Caroline Garcia, the home favorite and No. 21 seed.

So I guess now is a good time to round up the results around the courts: Nakashima leads Hurkach 6-5 on serve; Arnaldi leads Muller 5-3; Fernandez leads Wang 5-3; Gian leads Sonego 4-3 with a break; and Korda leads by kwon 5-4 with a break.

Tsitsipas is having fun now, with a powerful forehand down the line from off the court and he breaks again to lead 6-3 3-0. Elsewhere, Vondrousova also failed again – Volinec is perhaps the only happy person on the court it rained terribly again, score 6-0 1-4. At 7 it’s Shelton 5-5 Nishikori, but they’re gone, of course.

Vondrousova woke up, broke and consolidated for 0-6 3-0. You get the feeling that Volynec should do it in two, but women’s tennis remains the least predictable sport in the world, so.

I really like how Tsitsipas plays here – the weight of the shot is huge – and when making it 15-40 at 6-3 0-0, Altmeier aces an out before scoring. Or, in other words, if his submission doesn’t do much to secure the point, he has a problem.

Still on serve on Court 7, Shelton and Nishikori are locked at 4-4. Shelton seems more likely, but if the set – and the match – goes to a point here and there, the wily veteran will enjoy himself.

Vondrousova is on board, holds in the first game of the second set as Tsitsipas takes the first set from Altmeier 6-3.

So Volinec went and beat Vondrousova only in the first set, and honestly, it’s been steadily improving over the past few years. She competed in the second round of that competition in 2022, then the third round in Melbourne a year later and, at 22, is already settling into her style. She does very well to hang on in long rallies – Vondrous is not known for her power – and she looks for winners when she can.

Elsewhere, Sonego leads Can 2-1, Korda and Luon are 2-2. and Shelton, hitting winners, leads Nishikori 3-2 on serve.

Jesus, Volinec is now 4-0 up against Vondrousova. I’m not sure how, since there’s no commentary and I mostly had my eyes elsewhere, but I just saw Volinets find a lovely angle at the end of a long layup – the kind of angle I’d expect her opponent to create.

Tsitsipas strikes Lenglen hard, but it’s a slump that seems to have given him 0-30. But Altmeier does superbly to run around a lob that wasn’t clean enough, hitting a forehand cross winner that his opponent blocked at the net. Tsitsipas sticks with it though, gets right back there and when he picks up two break points, a backhand in the lane means he only needs one. Altmeier 1-3 Tsitsipas.

Can Ben Shelton seriously contend for majors? We’ll need our resident coach Calve Beton to make a decision on this one, and one of his guys, Luke Johnson, is playing in the men’s doubles right now, so we’ll have to wait on him. But I really like what I see, physically, technically and mentally – him believes. He leads Nishikori 1-0 on serve, while Volinec breaks Vondrousova – who I think is a serious threat here – in the first game.

I’m watching too Ben Shelton (15) vs. Kei Nishikori and Katie Wolinetz vs. Marketa Vondrousova (5) – so far.

Throw in Lenglen and it should be a decent game – Altmeier defeated Yannick Siner in last year’s competition and, at 25, is around his peak, while Tsitsipas is improving with every clay match.

Preamble