Day 2 Diary: Bestie brilliance, Sinner's great escape

An unconventional post-match hang

If Iga Swiatek and Kaja Juvan had their wish, they wouldn't have met in the first round. But since the fast friends were paired up in round one action on Monday at Roland-Garros, they made the most of their quality time. After the defending champion polished off her 6-0, 7-5 victory, cameras caught the two breaking down their performances together at the net in a rarely-seen show of on-court camaraderie between Grand Slam opponents.

"I was kinda nervous in the beginning," Juvan tells a sympathetic Swiatek, who is just starting to catch her breath. "Yeah, the second set was good."

"You were playing great," Swiatek replies.

They continued for another 15 seconds as if they were catching up on gossip outside of homeroom at secondary school.

Loyal pal Juvan remained on court as the Chatrier faithful serenaded Swiatek with birthday wishes - an excellent way to close an eighth consecutive Roland-Garros match-win.

An unconventional pre-match hug

Before the tournament Swiatek talked about the difficulties of facing her best friend on the tour.

"It's not easy to play against your best friend. It wasn't like nice to see that, because one of us is going to lose," she said. "I'm just trying to, as well, find a distance to that. We are friends, but on court everybody is equal. I am actually good at, you know, forgetting that I'm playing against my best friend and just, you know, just playing tennis and just hitting the ball."

Regardless of the tension Juvan made sure she was one of the first to give Swiatek a birthday hug on Monday. Cameras caught the special moment.

Sinner's great escape

A quarter-finalist on his Roland-Garros debut in 2020, Italy's Jannik Sinner found himself in dire straits on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, facing match point against Pierre-Hugues Herbert at 4-5 in the fourth set. Against the double whammy of the zoning Frenchman and the boisterous French faithful, Sinner somehow doubled down his focus to pull through the game, the set, and eventually the match.

"I think today that was the key: trying to stay there mentally," Sinner said after the match. "I think at the end I can be proud of today."

Another year, another Italian teen making waves in Paris

Lorenzo Musetti continued his assault on the ATP's elite on Monday as the 19-year-old Italian, playing in his first Grand Slam main draw, toppled 13th-seeded David Goffin, 6-0, 7-5, 7-6(3) to make it six victories in his last nine matches against top-20 opposition.

Musetti joins his compatriot Jannik Sinner (19) and Carlos Alcaraz (18) as the three teenagers to reach the second round in Paris.

"I think this is the proof that I have the level," Musetti said, adding that he felt loose on Monday because he believed the pressure was on the World No.13. "For sure I am playing better when I'm without pressure because today, I was playing really relaxed. Of course, it was not easy to win even if I was relaxed. When you play against the 13 in the world, is not the same thing of playing one worse than you with the ranking."

Last year, Sinner enjoyed a breakthrough Roland-Garros debut, marching towards the quarter-finals, and incidentally, also bouncing Goffin in the first round. Will Musetti follow in his compatriot's footsteps this fortnight?

Bianca's silent serve

Today's relatable moment happened to Canada's Bianca Andreescu out on Court 14. Andreescu, hasn't played much tennis on the road to Roland-Garros - which might explain why she had a little rust to knock off from the service stripe. Here we see Andreescu completely whiffing on a first serve during her first-round tilt with Slovenia's Tamara Zidansek. But never fear, Andreescu's a fast-learner. She delivered an ace on the next ball.

Kostyuk delivers milestone win

18-year-old Marta Kostyuk's Grand Slam journey began in 2018 in Melbourne when she reached the third round as a 15-year-old.

Despite a two-year push up the rankings that has taken Kostyuk to No.81 in the world, she hadn't cracked the code on the clay of Paris - until today!

Kostyuk played a near perfect match to knock off 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza on Court Simonne-Mathieu. She cracked 16 winners to just nine for Muguruza to earn her first top-20 win at a Slam.

The Ukrainian, who handed Muguruza her first ever first-round loss at Roland-Garros, believes there are more big victories where that came from.

"I'm trying to make this win not such a big deal, first of all, because I believe there are going to be many wins like this in the future," she said. "Obviously I'm really, really happy with my performance today. I'm just trying to focus on the next one. The work doesn't stop so, let's go!"

Mager gets a surprise, and a win

Gianluca Mager, the 26-year-old Italian who will face Sinner in round two, had to be resourceful on Day 2.

He was expecting to find John Millman when he arrived to play his match on Court 8, but the Aussie was a late pullout due to a back injury, not long before the match was called.

Surprised to see Germany's Peter Gojowczyk across the net from him at the coin toss, the determined Italian took care of business nevertheless, notching a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory to claim a main-draw victory at a major for the first time in four tries. His reaction to the win says it all.

Alcaraz takes first big step at RG

Did we just witness the first Roland-Garros victory of the next great Spanish talent? It remains to be seen, but many are high on the abilities of 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz.

The qualifier, coached by 2003 Roland-Garros champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, earned his first victory on his Paris debut on Monday, taking out compatriot Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(4).

At 18 years 39 days young, Alcaraz is the youngest man competing in this year's main draw, and one of just four teenagers in the 128-player field.

Shot of the Day

She may have lost to Caroline Garcia on Monday but Germany's Laura Siegemund does not walk away empty-handed as she claims 'Shot of the Day' honours with this vicious drop shot.