Day 4 diary: Stan the hero

Hero of the day

Stan Wawrinka

The Swiss rescued a young boy who was getting crushed in the stands by fans lining up to get his autograph. The three-time Grand Slam champion carried the boy and helped him find his father.

“People were pushing too much, and he started to cry because he had some pain. I took him out of that mess a little bit, and he was in pain and sad. So for sure, I tried to make him feel better, give him a towel, and try to find his dad,” Wawrinka explained later.

Upset of the day

Corentin Moutet

The 20-year-old local wildcard, ranked 110 in the world, pulled off a shock in front of a buoyant Court 7 crowd on Wednesday, upsetting No.19 seed Guido Pella 6-3, 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 to reach his maiden Grand Slam third round. Pella entered their second round at the top of the 2019 match-wins on clay leaderboard, having collected 21 victories on the surface this season.

Laugh of the day

Stefanos Tsitsipas made everyone chuckle in the press conference room on Wednesday when discussing his very vocal father, Apostolos, who doubles as his coach.

“It's a privilege working with him (smiling). It's a big honour to have him next to me by my side. Great coach, and great [person], too, to have next to you. He likes to speak a lot sometimes. He cannot help himself. I have said it plenty of times. Umpires and referees are complaining to me that should keep it low. Doesn't happen (smiling).

“Something we are working on right now, and hopefully he'll hold his nerves better in the future and be more mature and not talk too much, because sometimes it's unnecessary (smiling).

“But he's a great guy. I love him. He loves me. We have been together since the age of 12, traveling together. I appreciate that.”

Asked about on court coaching, Tsitsipas added: “He would be the most interesting guy to watch during the changeovers (smiling).”

Stats of the day

1 – Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced to the Roland-Garros third round for the first time with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 win over Hugo Dellien and improved his record to 31-11 win-loss on the season (14-4 on clay). Last year Tsitsipas picked up his 31st win of the season at the US Open.

3 – Nicolas Mahut is into the third round in singles at Roland-Garros for just the third time (2012, 2015, 2019) in 17 appearances.

18 – years ago, Christian Ruud played his last career tournament at the 2001 Roland-Garros. He retired in the first round against Sargis Sargsian. Had Ruud defeated Sargsian, he would have faced Federer in the second round. On Friday, Federer will face Christian’s son, Casper Ruud, in the Roland-Garros third round.

35 – Kiki Bertens is the first top-four seed in 35 years, since Andrea Jaeger in 1984, to withdraw from women’s singles at Roland-Garros in one of the first two rounds.

45 – 11-time champion Rafael Nadal has won 45 of 46 sets played in the second round at Roland-Garros and he is unbeaten in his last 18 matches here. During that stretch he has won 53 of 54 sets and the only set he's lost came to Diego Schwartzman in last year's quarter-finals.

Quotes of the day

"I know probably more about his dad than about him.”

Roger Federer on his 20-year-old third-round opponent Casper Ruud, whose father Christian coincided with the Swiss on Tour.

“I learned a lot last year. I lost to the finalist of the tournament. He was playing unbelievable, I can tell you that. I played all the guys on clay, but that match, there was a certain moment in the match where he was just crushing it on the court. So I learned that human beings are able to play at that level (smiling). That was amazing to see. And then, yeah, I believed in that, and I wanted to be like – Dominic kind of inspired me because he was one of the first one-handers after Federer to beat Nadal on clay. Cuevas, as well. So these two guys inspired me a lot. I took a lot from him, I think. It's nice to have players like him on the tour where you can just look after and try to take a few things here and there.”

– Tsitsipas on getting inspired by Dominic Thiem.

“As I always say, if I could lose against Nadal or Djokovic every week, I think it's a good sign.”

– David Goffin ahead of his third round against Rafael Nadal.

“I had fun in all the surfaces. Normally is funnest when you win (smiling).”

– Rafael Nadal when asked if clay is the surface he has the most fun on.

“Sometimes people think that I am clay-court player because I achieved all the things that I achieved on clay, but on hard I achieved a lot, too (smiling). And grass. Indoors less (smiling).”

- Nadal reminds us that his nickname, ‘King of Clay’, doesn’t really do him justice.

“I have a really good, like, b******t radar, so if it doesn't sound right, it's probably not right (smiling). But, yeah, I think you have to kind of have a vibe with the person. You have to pick up on their energy. Like, if you're having a conversation and you're just, like, bouncing ideas off each other, it's flowing, and you kind of get a feel of, like, okay, this would work for me because I do get along with this person, we have the same views and thoughts. They're listening, I'm listening, that type of thing.

“So, yeah, I think with Sven, yeah, we had sat down and had a full-blown conversation and I was like I'm going to get my s*** together before I start working with you and then -- wow, sorry. And then so when I start working with you I'll have a clean slate, I'll be ready to learn, I'll be able to take in whatever you're saying.”

- Sloane Stephens on the process of finding and hiring a new coach.