RG LIVE - Friday May 22

Bye for now...

That wraps things up for Day 5 of Opening Week. Remember to look on the site for information about Yannick Noah Day which takes over Roland-Garros on Saturday and check out Sunday's order of play, the opening day of main draw tennis, which will be released on Friday evening. We'll be back Sunday as the men's and women's singles events burst into life on the opening day of 15 at this second major of the year. See you Sunday at 11am...

A ticket to tennis paradise

It’s a stunning day here at RG and the grounds are buzzing as temperatures hit a steamy 29c.

Lee escaped Blog HQ for a bit to get a sense of why a ticket on the Friday of Opening Week is one of the best value passes in tennis.

➡️ Read Lee's piece here

Herbert gets it done

Pierre-Hugues Herbert booked a 10th singles main draw appearance at Roland-Garros with victory over Switzerland's Leandro Riedi on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

Riedi had threatened to disappoint French fans, forcing a tie-break and saving match point in the second set, but it was not to be and Herbert, a two-time doubles champion here in Paris, is through.

Fun fact: While he was out with injury in 2020, Herbert coached Riedi for a short time.

Beware the undercooked Djokovic

On his 39th birthday, Novak Djokovic spoke to the media ahead of this year's Roland-Garros campaign, talking about his preparations and aspirations for the tournament.

Chris Oddo gives us his take on what the 24-time Grand Slam winner had to say.

➡️ Read Chris' piece here

When in France... 🥐

There was an outsized boulangerie bonus for world No.8 Mirra Andreeva during her pre-tournament media duties.

We don't know whether she ate it all - but she did offer it around...

Riedi fights back on Lenglen

The crowds are being treated to a thriller in the sunshine on Court Suzanne-Lenglen as 35-year-old French favourite Pierre-Hugues Herbert takes on Swiss No.17 qualifying seed Leandro Riedi.

We've had two hours of action already - Herbert took the first set 6-4 but Riedi dug in, forced a tiebreak and saved a match point with a well placed drop shot to even things up.

Herbert is a break up in the third, but you don't need us to tell you that anything can happen...

Happy Birthday Novak!

🎂🎈🎁

No stopping Liu

Matching the blazing hot day at Roland-Garros - Claire Liu is on fire 🔥

The American is through to the main draw with a 6-1, 6-0 dismantling of qualifying No.5 seed Lulu Sun.

It was the second of the three qualifying matches that Liu wrapped up in under an hour, and the one game she lost against Sun was just the sixth she's dropped in this qualifying campaign.

R1 - beat Brazil's Laura Pigossi - 6-1, 6-1
R2 - beat Polish No.26 seed Katarzyna Kawa - 6-3, 6-0
R3 - beat Sun 6-1, 6-0

➡️ Read more: Liu is finding clarity - and her best tennis - in Paris

Keep an eye out for who Liu will meet in the first round...

Gael & Friends: The best moments

As the French fan favourite plays out his final competitive season, family, friends, players and special guests gathered last night on Court Philippe-Chatrier to celebrate Monfils' impressive career, raising more than €300,000 for charity in the process.

Going the distance

After more than two hours on Court 7, it's a set apiece in the all-Spanish match-up between Guiomar Maristany Zuleta De Reales and No.27 qualifying seed Kaitlin Quevedo.

Both are aiming for a first main draw appearance in Paris - only one of them will be able to claim that honour.

There's little to choose between them at the moment...

Practice, practice, practice…

There are only two days to go until Day 1 of main draw action, so Friday is a big day for practice across all the courts at Roland-Garros.

Coco Gauff was out early on Chatrier, and Aryna Sabalenka, Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and Gael Monfils will all be on the main court for open practice sessions in front of ticket holders.

The smaller courts offer fans a more intimate experience of watching the stars get ready for a major and some of the names scattered around the grounds on Day 5 of Opening Week include Mirra Andreeva, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula and Stan Wawrinka.

To find out who’s hitting where and when look at the court-by-court practice schedule here.

Result

Switzerland’s Susan Bandecchi is through to her first RG main draw, taking less than an hour to record a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Slovakian Viktoria Hruncakova. 

Hruncakova beat No.25 seed and former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in the second round of qualifying, but it is Bandecchi who heads into the main draw. 

Not long to go now

Yesterday, players already in the main draw found out who they'll be facing once singles action starts on Sunday. 

As ever, the occasion threw up some intriguing and mouthwatering match-ups that have got us all excited for play to start. 

➡️ Chris Oddo takes a look at the men’s draw - and gets his thoughts around what it might take for Jannik Sinner to take the title here in Paris. 

➡️ Alex Sharp gets into the details of the women’s draw - and how Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff have landed in the same half. 

➡️ And get the popcorn ready 🍿 - Chris picks his top five men’s matches of the first round, while Dan Imhoff selects his top five from the women’s draw. 

Tails from Paris

It looks like everyone's excited to be at Roland-Garros today 🐶

In case you missed it

Thursday was a busy day here at Roland-Garros. Qualifiers celebrated main draw spots, the singles draws were revealed and in the evening Gael Monfils and lots of his friends delighted the crowds on Chatrier. 

➡️ Lee was across the lot and sums it all up here 

The talented Roland-Garros photographers were also out and about around the grounds on Thursday.

➡️ See some of the top pictures from the practice courts
➡️ Check out these pictures from qualifying

Bonjour from Roland-Garros!

The sun is out and the day is warming up already ☀️

Play is getting underway across the grounds as qualifying matches continue. First up on Court Suzanne-Lenglen is home hope Harmony Tan who faces Linda Fruhvirtova.

➡️ Alix Ramsay picks out three match-ups for today that we like the look of

We'll keep you posted on all the results throughout the day so keep checking back.