Possibly all of it originates with the fantastic Burnt Sienna color of the terre battue, however so many issues are accomplished with panache at Roland Garros, giving it a singular standing among the many Grand Slam tournaments.
Above is an image of the Suzanne Lenglen statue exterior the stadium bearing her title. She was the grande dame of girls’s tennis within the late 1910s into the Twenties. The relocating of Wimbledon to Church Street in 1922 might be traced to the demand for a bigger stadium created by crowds determined to see in particular person the balletic, athletic and theatrical Frenchwoman.
The ladies’s recreation has come a great distance since Suzanne however there’s nonetheless an argument to be made that she was the best ever if impression on the sports-world and distinctiveness of favor are among the many predominant standards.
On Court docket No. 11 behind Court docket Suzanne Lenglen on Wednesday, issues didn’t go nicely for Carol Zhao in opposition to Sara Bejlek (serving above) of the Czech Republic.
The 17-year-old took a fast 4-1 lead within the opening set however Zhao was in a position to near 4-5 with an opportunity of night the set with the rating standing at 30-all within the tenth recreation. However a missed volley into an open court docket and a double fault and Bejlek had wrapped up the primary set.
An lively lefthander, she took a 3-0 lead within the second set earlier than ending off the hour and seven-minute match 6-4, 6-1.
Bejlek is simply 5-foot-1½ however what she lacks in dimension she makes for in her motion, moxie and what she has referred to as “being sturdy within the head.”
She’s under no circumstances just like the taller 17-year-old who defeated Katherine Sebov on Tuesday with an influence recreation based mostly in heavy floor strokes. That was Petra Marcinko of Croatia. Bejlek is extra of a grinder.
The No. 177-ranked Zhao has to remorse not with the ability to discover something close to her finest recreation on Wednesday. She had 9 winners and 23 unforced errors to twenty winners and 15 unforced errors for Bejlek, who gained the Czech Nationwide junior (under-18) title at 14. She is now within the third spherical of qualifying attempting to succeed in her third Grand Slam predominant attract a row after success in each the 2022 US Open and 2023 Australian Open qualies.
Bejlek was personable in a short interview in English after the match saying, “I’m actually glad as a result of I used to be feeling good from the beginning of the day. I performed good and, in fact, I had somewhat little bit of luck. We’ll see tomorrow the way it will go.” Within the last spherical she performs a Slovak rival, No. 136 ranked Victoria Hruncakova, 25.
THE DRAW DRAWS CLOSER
The future of the gamers within the 2023 French Open comes into tighter focus at 2 p.m. on Thursday (8 a.m. ET) when the primary attracts ceremony takes place at L’Orangerie, a stately reception corridor situated close to the location’s Court docket Simonne-Mathieu.
Iga Swiatek, the defending champion, and Carlos Alcaraz would be the high seeds.
From the Canadian standpoint, there will likely be three girls within the discipline – No. 41-ranked Bianca Andreescu, No. 51 Leylah Fernandez and No. 79 Rebecca Marino. The principle-draw males are No. 10 Félix Auger-Aliassime and No. 31 Denis Shapovalov – and each will likely be seeded.
The unseeded standing of Andreescu and Fernandez will add a component of drama and anticipation to the ladies’s draw as a result of each are extensively perceived to be higher than their present rankings and thus a hazard to anybody who would possibly meet them early within the occasion. Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion, and Fernandez, the 2021 US Open finalist, have a current pedigree unrivalled by most unseeded girls.
Probably among the many different most threatening ‘floaters’ is perhaps one other nationwide (Czech Republic) duo – No. 56 Linda Fruhvirtova, 18, and 2019 Roland Garros runner-up No. 57 Marketa Vondrousova, 23.
It’s a mug’s recreation to attempt to predict who could also be the obvious “dangermen,” as British tennis correspondents used to name them, among the many males. However three to look at could possibly be No. 43 Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland and No. 46 Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina. An outsider is perhaps the No. 70 ranked Zhang Zhizhen of China. He reached the quarter-finals in Madrid, beating Shapovalov within the Canadian’s opening spherical. However he then misplaced within the first spherical of qualifying in Rome to No. 182 Francesco Maestrelli of Italy.
Extra on the attract Thursday’s weblog.
FRENCH SAVOIR-FAIRE
Within the entrance to the tv compound at Roland Garros is a map illustrating all of the nationwide broadcasters carrying the French Open – together with TSN and RDS in Canada.
Paying homage to the late Gérard du Peloux, the long-time chargé d’affaires of the press part at Roland Garros, this portrait of the previous Le Figaro journalist is now distinguished within the media centre.
