(Paris) It wasn’t easy, but Germany’s Daniel Altmaier managed to oust eighth seed Jannik Sinner 6-7 (0), 7-6 (7), 1-6, 7- 6 (4), 7-5 after five and a half hours of play, Thursday, in the second round of the French Open tennis tournament.
Sinner had two match points as he served for the 5-4 victory in the fourth set, but was unable to convert a single one. Altmaier, 79th player in the world, then seized his chance and crowned his comeback with an ace at 178 km/h on his fifth match point.
“I don’t know if it’s a historic game,” Altmaier said, wiping the tears from his cheeks, “but I think it will be remembered for a long time. »
Alexander Zverev, ex-N.2 in the world today 27th, for his part successfully set foot on the Center Court of Roland-Garros, a year after having seriously injured his right ankle there, dominating 6- 4, 6-2, 6-1 the Slovak Alex Molcan (86th) in the second round of Roland-Garros on Thursday.
A year ago, the German left the same court leaning on crutches after seriously twisting his right ankle in the middle of the semi-final against Rafael Nadal. This injury had kept him out of action for the rest of the 2022 season.
“Despite what happened last year, I still love this place, I still love this court,” he added. I’m incredibly happy to be back and winning again on this court. »
For a place in the round of 16, Zverev will face the world No.12, American Frances Tiafoe, on Saturday.
Casper Ruud (no 4), Frances Tiafoe (no 12) and Borna Coric (no 15) all triumphed as well.
Coric needed five sets, while Ruud and Tiafoe got the job done in four sets.
For his part, Australian Alex de Minaur gave in to Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3.
Earlier in the day, Elena Rybakina showed that she is increasingly comfortable on clay as she got rid of another young Czech player en route to the third round of the women’s draw.
The Wimbledon champion, seeded fourth at Roland-Garros, beat 18-year-old Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-3 on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
You might think she has always been comfortable on clay after winning the Italian Open, but the six-foot Kazakh instead draws her confidence on this playing surface from her imposing size.
“It’s my weapon of choice,” she said. But at the same time, it is not easy to move on clay. I always have to anticipate my movements and, of course, be patient during the exchanges. »
The Australian Open finalist slammed 30 winners, against 16 for Noskova, and the two players committed 26 unforced errors.
“I had trouble with my service,” admitted Rybakina, who was born in Moscow.
Rybakina, who defeated Brenda Fruhvirtova in the first round, will now find Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo on her way.
Elsewhere, Mirra Andreeva continues to turn heads at her first career Grand Slam tournament.
The 16-year-old Russian ousted France’s Diane Parry 6-1, 6-2 in the second round. Andreeva conceded just six games in the first two rounds.
She will now face 2022 French Open runner-up Coco Gauff, who beat Julia Grabher 6-2, 6-3. Gauff, a 19-year-old American, is the sixth seed and made a name for herself by knocking out compatriot Venus Williams en route to the fourth round of Wimbledon at the age of 14.
Andreeva and Gauff have already trained together, but that won’t mean anything on Saturday.
“A practice and a match are two very different things, so maybe I will play in a different way,” explained Andreeva, 143rd in the world. I don’t know. Who knows ? »
He was also asked at a press conference on Thursday what explained his recent successes at such a young age.
“Maybe, as my trainer puts it, I shouldn’t act like a diva. I must always remain humble, ”said the one whose older sister, Erika, bowed out in the first round in Paris.
Meanwhile, 20th seed Madison Keys committed an impressive 74 unforced errors en route to a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 loss to fellow American Kayla Day on Simonne-Mathieu Court.
Day, a 23-year-old player who won the junior title at the U.S. Open in 2016, is ranked 138th in the world and had to break through the qualifying bracket before making it into the main program. She defeated the French Kristina Mladenovic in the first round.
The elimination of Keys adds to the many surprises that have happened so far among the ladies in Paris. Bernarda Pera notably dismissed Donna Vekic, the 22nd seed, in three sets of 3-6, 6-4 and 6-3.
The logic was however respected for Iga Swiatek (no 1) and Ons Jabeur (no 7), who prevailed in consecutive sets.
Next to try her luck against Swiatek will be China’s Xinyu Wang, 80th in the world. The Polish won the French stage of the Grand Slam in 2020 and 2022.
