Rafael Nadal has also won, beating Jack Sock in four sets. Which means that he will meet Novak Djokovic in the last eight on Wednesday. That should be all right, I suppose. Something to look forward to. I’ll leave you with that thought. Thanks for reading today. Bye.
Novak Djokovic wins 6-1, 6-2, 6-3
This has been so one-sided. Disappointingly so. Gasquet just doesn’t have the game to bother Djokovic. He’s not physical enough and a thudding Djokovic forehand brings up two match points. It’s a surprise it’s taken this long, to be brutally honest, and Djokovic skims a drop shot over the net to seal a victory that was never in doubt.
Third set: Djokovic 6-1, 6-2, 5-3 Gasquet* (*denotes server): Djokovic breaks! I’ll level with you, I was on the wrong channel. It’s been a long day.
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Third set: Djokovic* 6-1, 6-2, 4-3 Gasquet (*denotes server): Gasquet has an inkling of a chance to breathe life back into the match when a stumbling Djokovic wonks a forehand wide to give the Frenchman three consecutive break points. Djokovic saves the first two, though, and the third when Gasquet flays a backhand down the line wide. He went big. He gets a fourth opportunity though - and this time he finds his range with the backhand down the line! Gasquet breaks for the first time in the match!
Third set: Djokovic 6-1, 6-2, 4-2 Gasquet* (*denotes server): Gasquet clings on. He holds.
Third set: Djokovic* 6-1, 6-2, 4-1 Gasquet (*denotes server): Djokovic will be pleased to hear that Nadal has a break in the fourth set. They’re poised to collide on Wednesday. How exciting! Excited?
Third set: Djokovic 6-1, 6-2, 3-1 Gasquet* (*denotes server): Gasquet is digging in, saving break points, trying to give the crowd something to cheer about. But he can only withstand the barrage for so long. Djokovic earns a third break point and Gasquet, his goose cooked, hits long.
Third set: Djokovic* 6-1, 6-2, 2-1 Gasquet (*denotes server): Djokovic holds to love. Meanwhile Stan Wawrinka is preparing for his quarter-final against Roger Federer tomorrow.
Maybe I can represent both of us tomorrow @rogerfederer ?! 🙈🗿🇨🇭 #WhereIsRoger pic.twitter.com/7OSWp7ZFWZ
— Stanislas Wawrinka (@stanwawrinka) June 1, 2015
Third set: Djokovic 6-1, 6-2, 1-1 Gasquet* (*denotes server): From 30-0 up, Gasquet allows Djokovic to win three straight points. Break point. He’s lucky that Djokovic’s forehand lets him down. Then, confronted with another break point, he comes up with an ace - and he holds!
Third set: Djokovic* 6-1, 6-2, 1-0 Gasquet (*denotes server): Djokovic holds to love. The order of play is out for tomorrow. You can see it here.
Novak Djokovic wins the second set 6-2; he leads 6-1, 6-2
But not that much of a fight of it. At 15-30, Gasquet runs around a forehand. He’s full of so much hope, so many dreams. He scrambles the forehand miles wide. Oops. Ah. Two set points. And to the sound of silence, Gasquet then slaps a forehand into the net.
Second set: Djokovic* 6-1, 5-2 Gasquet (*denotes server): Gasquet is starting to make more of a fight of it in this set. A lovely dipper confounds Djokovic at the net and earns Gasquet a 15-30 lead. The game goes to deuce when Djokovic flails a forehand wide and Gasquet then earns a break point when a forehand skips off the baseline and fools Djokovic. He’s had a few break points and he hasn’t converted any of them. This one is frittered away too and, of course, Djokovic holds.
Second set: Djokovic 6-1, 4-2 Gasquet* (*denotes server): Blimey. I had assumed that Rafael Nadal had already won. Think again. He’s just dropped the third set against Jack Sock, although he still leads 6-3, 6-1, 5-7. Follow all the action here.
Second set: Djokovic* 6-1, 4-1 Gasquet (*denotes server): Djokovic holds to 15 thanks to an ace. He’s so comfortable.
Second set: Djokovic 6-1, 3-1 Gasquet* (*denotes server): Gasquet has decided it’s time to change his approach. He’s not going to beat Djokovic from the back of the court, so he wins this game with some canny volleying. No one wins 10 games in a row against Richard Gasquet!
Second set: Djokovic* 6-1, 3-0 Gasquet (*denotes server): Just as I was in danger of nodding off, Gasquet produces one of the shots of the tournament at 30-all! Djokovic thought the point was over after a smash into the corner but Gasquet located something strange and foreign within himself - something that looked weirdly like spirit - and he ran to his right and somehow curved a forehand down the line and past Djokovic. Djokovic looks peeved, but he saves the break point with a serve-volley combo; then, facing another break point a few minutes later, he salvages the situation with an accurate backhand volley. Gasquet hasn’t played his break points with much conviction. Djokovic has never looked in danger of losing them. In the end, he holds this game thanks to a dreamy drop shot.
Second set: Djokovic 6-1, 2-0 Gasquet* (*denotes server): It’s like watching a lion cuffing a mouse about the place. Gasquet saves a couple of break points to kick the game to deuce, but Djokovic doesn’t show any mercy when he ekes out a third, stepping in and crushing a backhand from left to right.
Second set: Djokovic* 6-1, 1-0 Gasquet (*denotes server): Djokovic wins a game, which arguably no longer counts as news.
Novak Djokovic wins the first set 6-1
Gasquet, despondent and already looking thoroughly beaten and stripped of belief, sends a forehand long on set point. That was over a bit too quickly. Oh, Richard!
First set: Djokovic* 5-1 Gasquet (*denotes server): It’s so easy.
First set: Djokovic 4-1 Gasquet* (*denotes server): This is in danger of turning into a non-event. An unspeakably lame drop shot from Gasquet plops into the net and Djokovic has two break points. Gasquet tries to increase the pace and intensity of his hitting, but in the end he’s grateful that Djokovic misses an attempted forehand winner by an inch or two. 30-40. But that’s about as generous as Djokovic is willing to be. He skelps a backhand down the line and Gasquet nets a forehand. This set is more or less over.
First set: Djokovic* 3-1 Gasquet (*denotes server): Djokovic consolidates the break, holding to 15 with a smooth, effortless forehand winner. Can anyone see Gasquet winning this?
First set: Djokovic 2-1 Gasquet* (*denotes server): Two more break points go begging with Djokovic, who misses two backhands at 15-40. You won’t see that happen too often. Deuce. But Djokovic gets a third chance when Gasquet flashes a backhand wide - but Gasquet, so brave, screeches a backhand down the line to save it, the ball just landing on the line. Another break point comes Djokovic’s way when Gasquet double-faults. Surely he’ll take this one? No! A forehand flies long. So how about this one? No! Gasquet slashes an ace down the middle. This one, then? No! Gasquet reads a Djokovic drop shot and then enjoys a slice of luck with a net cord. But ... what about this break point? Yes! At last. Gasquet approaches the net and Djokovic picks him off with a backhand pass down the line. There’s the break. The pressure tells. It’s fair to say that it had been coming.
First set: Djokovic* 1-1 Gasquet (*denotes server): It would be quite funny if we had a Gasquet-Sock quarter-final on Wednesday, rather than a Nadal-Djokovic one. But that’s probably not going to happen, is it. That said, a lame backhand from Djokovic here gives Gasquet an early break point. Well, then. Djokovic saves it, but this is a bit of a loose game from him, an errant backhand hand presenting Gasquet with another chance to break. And Gasquet will be wondering how he’s not ahead. He dominated 99.9% of this rally - and then Djokovic suddenly turned it upside down with a gorgeous lob, defence turned into attack in the blink of an aye, and that allowed him to ping a backhand winner into the corner. From there, he holds.
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First set: Djokovic 0-1 Gasquet* (*denotes server): It’s Richard Gasquet to open the serving. It’s not been a good day for the French, with Andy Murray quelling Jeremy Chardy and Gael Monfils sent packing by Roger Federer, so can Gasquet restore Gallic pride? I’m going to go with no. Djokovic quickly skips into a 15-40 lead, two break points. Hmm. Gasquet could do with about dropping serve in the very first game. But to his credit, he stays positive and wins the next four points to claim the game.
You know what time it is? It’s morphin’ time!
I mean it’s tennis time!
Tok! Tok! Tok! Djokovic and Gasquet are knocking up.
I’ll be back in 15 minutes or so with game-by-game coverage of Novak Djokovic versus Richard Gasquet.
Serena William wins 1-6, 7-5, 6-3
Crisis? What crisis? A limp backhand into the net gives Williams her first match point. She then jumps into a second serve and overpowers Stephens with a cross-court backhand return, Stephens only able to whack another backhand into the net.
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A chance for Stephens in the eighth game of the third set, as Williams plonks an awkward forehand long to give up a break point. Stephens needs this. But Williams has other ideas, a timely ace getting her out of table. Williams then defends wonderfully at the net and holds to lead 5-3.
Williams leads 4-3. Some of the pep has disappeared from Stephens’s game since losing the second set.
Stephens crams a forehand into the net and Williams breaks for a 3-2 lead.
Williams and Stephens have both had chances to break, but the third set remains stubbornly on serve. Stephens leads 2-1.
There’s a strange atmosphere on Philippe Chatrier. It seems so lacklustre. Not much of a spark. But Serena Williams is geeing herself up after winning the second set 7-5, Stephens wafting a slice long. They’re heading for a third set.
The 17th seed, Sara Errani, reaches the last eight with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Julia Goerges on Court 1.
Williams breaks! She’s heaving a little, gathering her breath after crunching a backhand into the corner for a 0-40 lead, but she won’t care too much. Stephens knocks a dismal backhand wide and Williams has a 6-5 lead. She’ll serve for the second set.
You can follow Rafael Nadal v Jack Sock here. Niall McVeigh is your man.
Williams, serving to stay alive, starts with a double-fault. A murmur around Philippe Chatrier. But Stephens tightens up and three tight shots allows Williams to take a 40-15 lead. She holds with some solid serving. It’s 5-all.
And now allow me to dash over to Philippe Chatrier, where Serena Williams is about to serve to stay in the French Open. Williams had a 4-3 lead in the second set but Stephens broke back immediately and held just now for a 5-4 lead. It’s finely poised.
“I felt like I played a good match today,” Murray says. “I needed to play well to win today. Obviously it gets tougher with each match. I’m going to have to play fantastic tennis to beat him [David Ferrer], because he’s a tough player.”
“He’s a very tough player, he’s incredibly powerful, big serve and he was hitting his backhand very well today,” Murray says. “I just managed to be a little more solid in the third and fourth set.”
Andy Murray beats Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
An entertaining match, but it’s been too erratic and unpredictable from Jeremy Chardy, who makes three unforced errors to give Murray three match points. He can’t take the first, stabbing a backhand wide, and Chardy saves the second with a forehand at the net. It’s not quite over yet. But it is now. Murray wrongfoots Chardy with a clever forehand and despite not playing as well as he can, he’s through to his 17th straight grand slam quarter-final. David Ferrer is waiting for him.
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Fourth set: Murray 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 5-2 Chardy* (*denotes server): Chardy has an easy volley to win this game, but he hangs in head in shame after planting into the net. What a miss. It’s followed by a wild forehand on a break point and Murray, without having had to too much in that game, will serve for the match and a place in the quarter-final. Meanwhile Serena Williams has broken for a 4-3 lead in the second set against Sloane Stephens, who won the first set 6-1.
Fourth set: Murray* 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-2 Chardy (*denotes server): Hang on a minute. Chardy rattles a forehand winner down the line and grabs a 0-40 lead, Murray’s focus dropping. Murray saves one break point, but not the second, his drop shop game deserting him again, and that’s one of the breaks back for Chardy. Murray still has a bit of work to do.
Fourth set: Murray 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-1 Chardy* (*denotes server): Chardy is desperately searching for the inspiration that allowed him to win the second set but Murray has his foot on his throat. He presses down by ramming a forehand return down the line to break again. The last eight is in sight.
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Fourth set: Murray* 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 3-1 Chardy (*denotes server): Murray holds to 30. The momentum is on his side now. Amelie Mauresmo and company look a bit more relaxed now.
Fourth set: Murray 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 2-1 Chardy* (*denotes server): Murray’s landing a few blows with his backhand and they’re starting to leave a mark. This game goes to deuce and a double-fault from Chardy hands Murray a break point. It’s followed by outstanding defence from Murray. He drives Chardy mad with some outrageous gets - the way he adjusts his weight and keeps his balance is so impressive - and eventually the ball is blasted into the net. Murray breaks. That could be crucial.
Fourth set: Murray* 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 1-1 Chardy (*denotes server): Chardy has a look at a second serve at 30-all. He likes what he sees and is able to take control of the rally. Murray slips a few yards behind the baseline and that leaves the court open for Chardy to earn a break point with a forehand volley. These are dangerous times for Murray. But his response, a delicate backhand drop volley that leaves Chardy stranded at the back of the court, showcases his extraordinary depth of skill. Chardy must have thought he had done another with his backhand pass. Not so - and Murray holds when Chardy just misses with a backhand down the line.
Fourth set: Murray 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 0-1 Chardy* (*denotes server): A good start to the fourth set from Chardy, who holds to love. He’s not out of this yet, especially if he stumbles upon another hot streak.
Serena Williams walks listlessly to her chair after yawning an aimless backhand past the baseline. Stephens wins the first set 6-1. Everyone looks a bit perplexed over on Philippe Chatrier. There’s been a real lack of energy from Serena.
On Philippie Chatrier, young Sloane Stephens is making all the running against Serena Williams. Stephens leads their all-American affair 5-1 in the first set.
Andy Murray wins the third set 6-3; he leads 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
Chardy blows hot and cold. And when he’s hot, he’s hot, which he proves by winning the first point of this game with a thermometer-busting forehand down the line. 0-15. Chardy then cracks a forehand into the net, but he’s clutching a 15-30 lead when Murray goofs a drop shot. Murray has to call upon hi famous reserves of grit here. Chardy is on the charge. He pulls Murray into the right corner with a great forehand. But Murray is so quick. He forces Chardy to play one more shot - and what a howler it is! Chardy, on the run, thrashes a dismal drive volley wide! That’s ended up in the River Seine! 30-all becomes 40-30 and set point when Murray puts a smash away, but Chardy is granted a reprieve when Murray hits his first double-fault of the match. Deuce. Yet Murray is stubborn, Chardy more prone to blink at crucial moments. Murray earns another set point when Chardy nets a forehand and this time he goes for the kill by pinging a muscular backhand from left to right. The French fans are whistling. Murray has doused Chardy’s fire. For now.
Third set: Murray 6-4, 3-6, 5-3 Chardy* (*denotes server): Before the start of this game, there’s a slight delay as the increasingly exasperated umpire waits for a few stragglers to take their seats. They’re taking their sweet time about it. Don’t they know there’s tennis going on? Some mighty fine tennis. This is cooking nicely now. At 0-15, Chardy creams a special forehand down the line and he’s on the attack on the next point, but some terrific defence from Murray, scampering across the baseline, covering every angle, forces the Frenchman into an error in the end. Then Chardy skews a slice wide; 15-40 and two break points for Murray. This could be a pivotal moment in the match. Chardy saves the first, just, breathing a huge sigh of relief when a forehand that looked to be heading out lands just inside the line and Murray, taken by surprise, nets a forehand on the run. But then Chardy double-faults. Oh. Oh dear. Murray breaks and will serve for the third set.
Third set: Murray* 6-4, 3-6, 4-3 Chardy (*denotes server): Chardy punches a forehand volley long on the first point, to the disappointment of the crowd, who liven up when a sliding Murray nets a low forehand. Two errors from Chardy gives Murray a 40-15 lead, though, and that’s enough for him to hold.
Third set: Murray 6-4, 3-6, 3-3 Chardy* (*denotes server): Chardy wins three straight points for a 40-0 lead. The French fans are loving this, cheering wildly whenever he hits a winner. Murray mistimes a forehand return on the final point and Chardy holds. This set could go either way.
Third set: Murray* 6-4, 3-6, 3-2 Chardy (*denotes server): A sumptuous backhand pass from Murray brings him to 40-0. That should soothe him a bit. Chardy fights back to 40-30, but Murray polishes off the game with a commanding forehand winner.
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Third set: Murray 6-4, 3-6, 2-2 Chardy* (*denotes server): “What are you doing?” Murray shouts at himself. He’s just whacked a forehand wide at 15-all. He’s tetchy and breaking a string in his racquet on the next point doesn’t exactly help his mood. Chardy holds to 30.
Third set: Murray* 6-4, 3-6, 2-1 Chardy (*denotes server): Murray bellows at himself after netting a forehand on the first point. He’s not entirely happy out there at the moment. He’s feeling even grumpier when what would have been a forehand is called out. It was in and the point has to be replayed. What a nuisance. Fortunately for the line judge, Murray wins the point and then goes up 30-15 with an outrageous flicked stick-shot, somehow blocking a backhand past his opponent after a stonking forehand return from Chardy. Murray holds to 30.
Third set: Murray 6-4, 3-6, 1-1 Chardy* (*denotes server): At 15-all, Murray draws Chardy to the net with a drop shot. Chardy dabs a forehand down the line and Murray tries one of his favourites, the backhand lob; Chardy, reaching backwards, slams a smash into the net and then spins a forehand wide to give up two break points. Chardy has lost focus all of a sudden and he hands the break straight back with a scratch forehand into the net.
Third set: Murray* 6-4, 3-6, 0-1 Chardy (*denotes server): Murray is in trouble! Chardy changes direction in a rally brilliantly, totally wrongfooting, and he breaks in the first game of the third set! The Frenchman is inspired at the moment and the home fans are loving it. The winner of this match will play David Ferrer. He’s just beaten Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.
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Jeremy Chardy wins second set 6-3 to level the match!
A strange set. Andy Murray battered Chardy in the first three games but failed to make the most of his dominance and the Frenchman has hit a spectacular purple patch since then. Murray drags a backhand wide and the French fans come alive on Suzanne-Lenglen!
Roger Federer beats Gael Monfils 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1!
That’s it! Gael Monfils has simply not turned up today. He drifts a forehand long and the game is up. Roger Federer can look forward to a quarter-final with Stan Wawrinka.
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Gael Monfils saves a match point with a glorious touch at the net. Too little, too late, sadly.
Chardy holds for a 5-2 lead. Murray’s level has dipped. He’s making a few errors now.
Roger Federer has come out fizzing and firing today. He breaks again for a 4-1 lead in the fourth set against Gael Monfils, who must be wondering about what might have been if his momentum had not been disrupted by bad light last night.
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Here’s Simon Cambers on Lucie Safarova’s stunning victory over Maria Sharapova.
But on Phillipe Chatrier, it’s looking grim for the home favourite. Federer has broken for a 2-1 lead against Monfils in the fourth set. He can spy a quarter-final against Stan Wawrinka in the distance.
Chardy slammed the door shut. Then he nipped upstairs, opened a window and tipped a bucket of cold water on Murray’s head. He breaks for a 3-1 lead in the second set. Murray will be kicking himself.
Murray is hammering on the door. It’s almost off its hinges, but Chardy, slipping and sliding and straining and pushing back with all his might, is just about managing to keep it shut. Murray has two break points at 15-40. Chardy knuckles down and the door is slammed shut in Murray’s face. Chardy leads 2-1. Though you fancy it won’t be long before Murray is back.
Roger Federer wins the third set 6-4; he leads Gael Monfils 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
A peachy forehand from Federer leaves him poised for a comfortable hold and a poor return from Monfils offers up two break points. He saves the first but Federer will not be denied. Monfils pushes a return into the net and the third set is Federer’s. How costly does that careless showboating from Monfils in the first game look now?
Monfils holds. Federer leads 5-4 and will serve for the third set in a minute or two.
Monfils is attempting to impose himself on Federer. But he’s a break down in the third set and he can’t be turning down break points when they come his way. That’s what he does here and Federer holds to lead 5-3.
Murray spurns another break point in that epic game at the start of the second set against Chardy. He really should have settled the issue with a backhand, but instead he wonked it miles wide. Eventually, after 15 minutes, Chardy holds when Murray plonks a drop shot wide. Chardy leads 1-0 in the second set.
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David Ferrer is playing some sublime clay-court tennis. Pity poor Marin Cilic. Ferrer leads 6-2, 6-2 and he is surely heading for another quarter-final at Roland Garros.
Murray steps into a forehand and brutalises it down the line to earn a break point in the first game of the second set. He’ll be disappoint to net a backhand return, though, and Chardy has a chance to win the game when Murray whistles a backhand long. But Chardy nets a forehand, so we go back to deuce. This game has lasted a while, more than 10 minutes. Both men have seen opportunities come and go. Chardy can’t shake Murray off his back and a double-fault hands Murray a gift of a break point. But Chardy saves it with a massive forehand and a smash.
A crucial hold for Monfils. He was staring down the barrel of a gun, but Federer failed to pull the trigger despite holding three break points, and Monfils clambered back to win the game. Federer leads 3-2 in the third set.
On Court 1, David Ferrer is up a set and a break against the US Open champion, Marin Cilic. Ferrer had a very tough match against Simone Bolelli on Saturday and was in a world of trouble after the third set, but he fought back to beat the Italian and he’s looking in good nick against Cilic today.
Andy Murray wins the first set 6-4!
Serving for the first set, Murray wallops a backhand down the line for a 15-0 lead, before Chardy then drags a backhand wide. Murray drops the next point, netting a forehand, but he’s clenching his first when Chardy knocks a defensive forehand long to give Murray two set points. He only needs one, a forceful serve down the middle forcing a stretching Chardy to send his return well past the baseline. “Come on!” Murray cries.
Chardy holds and trails 5-4. The French fans boo when Murray peers inquisitively at the line, wondering whether a Chardy ace at 30-all was in. They’re such charmers.
Murray loses the first point on serve but he roars back to win four straight points and hold for a 5-3 lead. Chardy will serve to stay in the first set.
Gael Monfils has the capacity to veer from the sublime to the ridiculous and then back to the sublime and then back to the ridiculous and so on and so forth, for the rest of eternity, all within the space of a few points. Serving at the start of the third set, he takes a 40-0 lead. But then an ill-advised spot of showboating allows Federer back into the game and soon Monfils is facing a break point after Federer wins four consecutive points. Monfils saves it, but Federer carves out another and shows no mercy this time, waiting for the right moment to punish a huge cross-court forehand away for a 1-0 lead.
Hello! I’ve just been recording Football Weekly and I return to see that Nick Miller has ensured that Andy Murray has made a fine start against Jeremy Chardy. Murray holds to lead 4-2. Over on Philippe Chatrier, Gael Monfils and Roger Federer have resumed their tussle.
Now it’s time for Jacob Steinberg to take you through the rest of this one. Here he is.
Murray gives the impression that Ferrer’s luncheon might be with him, racing into a 0-40 lead on Chardy’s serve, and despite a couple of massive belts from the Frenchman drawing it back a little, a backhand into the tramlines gives Murray another break, with nobody seeming terribly keen on the idea of holding serve in this match.
Murray then holds to love with four first serves and the absolute minimum of fuss. Meanwhile, over on Court Unnnnnn Ferrer may well have an urgent luncheon appointment, because he has fair raced to the first set, beating Cilic 6-2 in that one. And meanwhile again, Monfils and yer man Federer are out and will begin their encounter shortly.
That first game is starting to look quite weird. Some decisive shots by Chardy and some fearsome hitting give him the hold and the third game.
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Murray falls 0-30 down, drags it back to 30-30 but puts an inside-out forehand wide to give a break point back....which Chardy converts with a superb point, pulling Murray all over the court before nailing a cross-court forehand past the Scot. 1-1 in the first, two breaks already.
We’re straight into Murray v Chardy, and it’s a calamitous start for the Frenchman, offering Murray a break on the shiniest of silver platters, sending down two double-faults to donate the game to the Scot.
Lucie Safarova beats Maria Sharapova 7-6, 6-4
Sharapova serves to stay in the match, but Safarova comes out swinging, playing some impressively aggressive tennis as she tries to get this one done as soon as. Sharapova digs herself out of some trouble with a couple of brilliant serves, but offers up a match point with a desperate double-fault. Safarova passes up that one by netting a massive looping lob that landed on the baseline - some of the crowd thought that was the match.
Safarova then sets up another one by clinging on in a rally by her very fingertips then whipping a magnificent cross-court forehand past Sharapova...and then repeats the trick to win the match and knock the defending champion out! Scenes! Safarova will play Garbine Muguruza in the next round.
Murray and Chardy are knocking up, so here’s Kevin Mitchell’s preview, including the possibility of some delicious beef between the two players.
Not only does he respect the artful tennis of the would-be actor and former Wimbledon junior champion – a contemporary just three months older than him – but he has been handed extra incentive to win by Chardy’s comments about Murray withdrawing in Rome, after beating him in his only match, on the grounds that he needed rest.
“Everybody is tired,” Chardy said on Saturday night. “So I was a little bit upset when I see he retired because of tiredness. But it’s his choice and, for the moment, he’s doing well. If he wins Roland Garros, everybody will say it was a good choice. If he loses, it will be wrong.”
But Safarova holds to love, with her own steely glare in full action.
Sharapova holds serve then has a little swear and a fist-clench to herself. There’s a steely look in her eye which makes the fist-clench much more convincing than, say, Tim Henman or Theo Walcott.
Other games are starting now, and David Ferrer isn’t hanging around - he’s already broken Marin Cilic in the first game over on Court Un.
Still, Safarova’s head isn’t completely gone, as she holds to 15 to edge ahead 4-3 in the second set.
The Sharapova comeback/charge is still on, but she’s pretty lucky. A botched challenge and a massive top-edge puts her in some trouble, but Safarova doesn’t so much let her off the hook as rip the hook from the wall and plumps up some cushions for Sharapova to sit on, after putting an absolute sitter of an overhand from a loopy lob into the tramlines. Sharapova closes out the game and it’s 3-3 in the second set, Safarova 1-0 up. If she loses from here, that may well be the key moment.
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And there it is. Quite the comeback from the Spaniard Muguruza, holding serve to take the set and match over Pennetta, winning five games on the spin. Murray v Chardy will be on next on the Suzanne Lenglen court.
And Muguruza breaks again. She’s now serving for the match, having been 3-0 down in the second set....
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Now then. Sharapova appears to have woken up, sending Safarova hither and thither with some outstanding shots, and eventually secures the break with a pretty limp double-fault. 3-2 now in the second. Is the charge/comeback on? It’ll have to be bloody sharpish.
Muguruza has indeed drawn level, now 4-4 with Pennetta over on Suzanne Lenglen. Meanwhile Sharapova has some heart from a relatively straightforward service hold.
If you can tell anything from the purpose with which a player walks back to their chair, Safarova is going to win this one with ease, marching from baseline to bag and towels at military pace. Her assurance is well-merited too, having gone 3-0 up in the second with an absolute tracer bullet of a cross-court forehand. Sharapova is floundering in this one.
Muguruza strikes back! Which is a pleasing collection of words to say. Give it a try. Maybe not if you’re with people, though. Or if you are with people, explain yourself first. Or just trust me on this. Anyway, she’s broken Pennetta and is now serving to draw level in the second set, having won the first.
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Oi vey. Bad news for Sharapova, who is broken in the second game of the second set by Safarova...or maybe more accurately by herself, with some iffy errors capped by a double-fault on break point. 2-0 to the Czech in the second.
Despite a brief scare and a double-fault, Safarova holds in the first game of the second set. Pennetta is 4-2 up over the way.
Meanwhile, never mind all this actual tennis guff - Rafa Nadal is playing a man called Jack Sock later, which simply cannot be the real name of a real person. It sounds more like a euphemism for something ghastly. Still, despite all plausibility and sense, it seems he’s duped enough people into thinking he’s a bona fide human, to the extent that the ATP have ranked him 37 in the world.
Here’s a piece about the boy Sock by Stephanie Myles. He’s got a forehand and a half, apparently.
Over on Suzanne Lenglen, Pennetta is roaring back against Muguruza, taking a breaking to take a 3-1 lead in the second set, having lost the first.
Safarova shows some ruthless efficiency in the breaker, one double-handed backhand winner in particular leaving Sharapova chasing her tail. The Russian attempts a cute drop shot but gets too much air on it and Safarova darts in to slice a winner. Sharapova claws a couple of points back, but Safarova serves it out, forcing the defending champion to hit a cross-court forehand into the tramlines. The first set goes to the 13th seed over the second.
Safarova holds serve to stay in that one, so we’re into a tie-break on the Philippe Chatrier court.
Morning all. Nick here for a bit while Jacob does Other Things. Other work things, obviously. Nothing untoward. Which you probably weren’t thinking until I brought it up. Sorry everyone. Sorry Jacob.
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Action is of course already underway at Roland Garros, with Lucie Safarova currently serving to stay in the first set against Maria Sharapova, while Garbine Muguruza has taken the first against Flavia Pennetta. Murray v Chardy will be on after that latter match, while following the former is Monfils v Federer, then Serena Williams v Sloane Stephens.
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