Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic - the 'Big Three' of men's tennis - took a step closer to the pointy end of the tournament with second-round wins at Roland Garros on Thursday.
Federer, playing in just his third event of 2021, overcame former world No.3 Marin Cilic in four sets while Djokovic completed an efficient 6-3 6-2 6-4 win over Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas.
In the night match at Court Philippe Chatrier, Nadal stretched his winning head-to-head record over Richard Gasquet to 17-0; his 6-0 7-5 6-2 victory means he has won 29 consecutive sets at Roland Garros.
Defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek thumped Rebecca Peterson 6-1 6-1 to take her place in the third round, where she was joined by Sloane Stephens, Coco Gauff, Jennifer Brady, Sofia Kenin and Elina Svitolina.
However, the tournament lost its top seed when Ash Barty succumbed to injury in the second set of her match against Magda Linette.
READ MORE: Injured Barty out in second round
Men’s legends continue to impress
Drawn in the same half of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic – who have combined for 58 major singles trophies – continued to impress in Paris.
Federer improved his head-to-head record against Cilic to 10-1 with a 6-2 2-6 7-6(4) 6-2 win to progress to the third round in Paris for the 14th consecutive time.
He was followed onto Chatrier by Nadal, whose win over Gasquet set up a tasty third-round clash with in-form Brit Cam Norrie, who earlier beat Lloyd Harris in four sets.
At Court Suzanne Lenglen, Djokovic’s defeat of Cuevas was helped by 10 aces and moved the world No.1 through to a meeting with Ricardas Berankis.
Djokovic and Federer remain on track for a quarterfinal meeting, although Marco Cecchinato – who stunned Djokovic in the 2018 quarterfinals, and who beat Aussie No.1 Alex de Minaur in four sets on Thursday – looms as a potential fourth-round opponent for the Serb.
DRAW: Roland Garros men's singles
Ninth seed Matteo Berrettini was the first man into the third round in the top half of the draw, continuing his impressive clay-court form thanks to a 6-3 6-3 6-2 win over Federico Coria.
Resurgent 10th seed Diego Schwartzman, who arrived in Paris on a four-match losing streak, brushed Aljaz Bedene aside 6-4 6-2 6-4.
Swiatek storms into third round
Swiatek’s dominance in the French capital is starting to resemble that of her idol Nadal.
Her 61-minute win over Peterson extended her Roland Garros winning streak to nine matches – all of which she has won in straight sets.
The 20-year-old next plays No.30 seed Anett Kontaveit, who was similarly dominant in a 6-2 6-0 victory over former top-10 star Kristina Mladenovic.
Former finalist Stephens turned back the clock with an impressive 7-5 6-1 win over No.9 seed Karolina Pliskova, and will take on AO 2021 semifinalist Karolina Muchova – a straight-sets winner over Varvara Lepchenko – for a place in the last 16 for the seventh time in Paris.
Jennifer Brady and Coco Gauff set up an exciting third-round clash between seeded Americans, and there will be another between Sofia Kenin and Jessica Pegula, after they notched straight-sets wins.
Three-time quarterfinalist Svitolina was a point away from trailing 5-2 in the second set before rebounding to beat Ann Li 6-0 6-4, and will next take on last week’s Strasbourg champion Barbora Krejcikova, who dropped just five games against 32nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Upset of the day
Aslan Karatsev, the No.24 seed, has been enjoying a magnificent season, beginning with his run to the AO 2021 semifinals and continuing with his first career title at the ATP 500 event in Dubai.
Improving his season win-loss record to 25-8 with his first-round victory over Jenson Brooksby, he was looking to set up a third-round clash with Schwartzman, a player he had already beaten twice in 2021.
But Philipp Kohlschreiber had other ideas.
The German 37-year-old had played just seven singles matches this year prior to Roland Garros and had not won a tour-level match on clay in 2021.
Yet he surprised Karatsev 6-3 7-6(4) 4-6 6-1 to advance to the third round in Paris for the first time in seven years.
Stat of the day
Teenagers were the toast of the day in Paris, with Carlos Alcaraz, Lorenzo Musetti and Jannik Sinner all progressing to the last 32 of the men’s draw.
The 18-year-old Alcaraz’s straight-sets thumping of No.28 seed Nikoloz Basilashvili sees him become the youngest man to reach this stage at Roland Garros since Andrei Medvedev in 1992.
A dazzling debut ✨
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 3, 2021
18-year-old @alcarazcarlos03 defeats Basilashvili 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the 3R of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career. #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/odD52IGTzp
The Spaniard is also the youngest man to appear in a Grand Slam third round since countryman Nadal at Australian Open 2004.
With Musetti beating Yoshihito Nishioka in straight sets and fellow Italian Sinner ousting Gianluca Mager in four, it is the first time three teenagers have advanced to the French Open third round since 2001, when it was Federer, Andy Roddick and Tommy Robredo.
Tweet of the day
No.13 seed Jennifer Brady advanced to the third round at Roland Garros for the first time in five attempts with a thrilling 6-4 2-6 7-5 win over French favourite Fiona Ferro.
My cutest fan ? thank you for cheering for me today ? ?? https://t.co/lSakHmVCTm
— Jennifer Brady (@jennifurbrady95) June 3, 2021
Quotes of the day
“I don't know how to explain it to you, but sometimes people still think clay is slow. It's not that slow. It's actually mostly faster than hard courts nowadays unless you go to Cincinnati and Shanghai potentially and a couple of indoor events. If you're playing on a day where it's actually quite warm, clay can actually be somewhat on the faster side.”
- Roger Federer tips conventional tennis wisdom on its head.
“When I was on the court, I just felt the ball perfectly. I felt like I could do anything with it.”
- Iga Swiatek
“If I have lost that one point I would be already at home, it makes things a little bit different in way. I am still here. ‘Mental boost’ it's a big word, but it can give you, for sure. I am here to play the third round, and I'm not thinking anymore back.”
- Jannik Sinner, who saved a match point in his first-round win over Pierre-Hugues Herbert, is into round three.
“It's not that I have this strong feeling inside me that I'm coming into a Grand Slam believing that I can win it, but this time I feel really good. I believe anything is possible.”
- Marta Kostyuk beat Zheng Saisai to advance for the first time to the third round at Roland Garros, where she will meet Varvara Gracheva.
“It's really nice to see all of the Italians. It's something we are not used to it. Nobody is used to it. And I think it's really great.”
- Matteo Berrettini, one of five Italian men to advance to the last 32 in Paris.
Day 6: Ones to watch
Incredible women’s matches headline the schedule on Friday, beginning with a star-studded clash between Victoria Azarenka and Madison Keys on Court Philippe Chatrier.
That will take place around the same time No.3 seed Aryna Sabalenka does battle with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova – a rematch of their recent Madrid semifinal – while later in the day, Serena Williams takes on Danielle Collins in an all-American affair.
ORDER OF PLAY: Roland Garros Day 6
But there are also highly-anticipated match-ups on the men’s side, most notably when No.2 seed Daniil Medvedev and fifth seed Stefanos Tsitispas take on big-serving Americans Reilly Opelka and John Isner respectively.