Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz both moved into the third round and tournament organisers embraced Day 3's criticism over the constant scheduling of the men in the night session match with ... more men in the night session match.
Hold the line
Men's 10th seed Holger Rune from Denmark against the world number 137 Emilio Nava from the United States was deemed the night match of Day 4. Rune boomed. It ended 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 and was all over in two hours and 20 minutes. Gael Monfils and fifth seed Jack Draper will provide the skirmishes in Day 5's night session.
Office life
When quizzed on the issue last year, Iga Swiatek said she wasn't a fan of playing a night match. The Pole, who has lifted the women's singles title in four of the past five years at the French Open, likes to get the job done during the day. What she did to Emma Raducanu during their second round match on centre court is likely to give the 22-year-old Briton nightmares. The 6-1, 6-2 demolition of the world number 41 raised a few eyebrows especially since Swiatek wrote off her chances of a fifth title following her elimination in the third round at the Italian Open in Rome earlier this month. "I played two good matches in Paris," Swiatek said in her post match chinwag with reporters. "But I can't expect that it's all going to be easy now," she added. "You always need to be on your toes and ready for what life brings you. One day it's going to be good, one day it's not going to be so easy." Over to you Emma. Emma? Emma? Are you back with us?
Working life
"It was a really difficult match," Raducanu said. "Iga played really well. Yeah, it was tough." Raducanu made history in 2021 at the US Open in New York when she became the first player to advance through the three matches in the qualifying tournament for the main draw and then lift the women's singles trophy seven matches later. Since then she hasn't won another title and has struggled to live with the circuit's top players for sustained periods. "I think in the beginning of the match against Iga it was pretty tight," she recalled of the 13 or so minutes before Swiatek detached herself from the encumbrance. "But as it went on I think she grew in confidence. I just felt a bit exposed. So yeah, it was a difficult one."
That's entertainment
Showman incarnate Gael Monfils came from two sets down to win and wow the partisans in the Day 3 night session just a few hours after Ons Jabeur had scolded tournament organisers for mainly putting on men's matches. During the daylight hours on Day 4, Carlos Alcaraz was unloading whizzers from his box of tricks during the four-set victory over Fabian Maroszan. "Most of the time I have fun and I try to think about enjoying the fact that I'm playing tennis on a beautiful court," said Alcaraz just after the disconsolate Maroszan had trudged away from the jamboree. The full, full, full of frills and thrills approach has yielded bounty. The 22-year-old Spaniard boasts two Wimbledon crowns, a US Open trophy and lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires here in Paris last year. Another dozen or so glittering ATP championship baubles bedeck his rafters. "I just try to show good tennis and make people happy to watch my match and go away with a smile on their face," he beamed. "That's the way I want to play my tennis."
Young Canadian
After the exploits of Mirra Andreeva and Joao Fonseca on Day 3, another 18-year-old has feats on clay to recount. Victoria Mboko came through the French Open qualifying tournament and the Canadian reached the third round of this her first Grand Slam tournament following a victory over the world number 59 Eva Lys. Mboko beat the 23-year-old German 6-4, 6-4 in 79 minutes. Her next opponent, the eighth seed Qinwen Zheng, might be a tad trickier. "I mean, she's top 10," chirped Mboko. "So that's already a big thing. She has beaten so many great players. She's also an incredible athlete." Mboko's a mean mover too. Declaring herself forewarned and forearmed, she added: "I'm expecting a big fight. I'm going to bring out a big fight against her. Yeah, I think it's going to be a very hard battle for me." Juicy ingredients then for a Day 6 night session, no?
