Thursday concludes with a fiery night-session clash
©Nicolas Gouhier / FFTContesting her 61st consecutive Grand Slam main draw, Frenchwoman Alize Cornet took down 2017 Roland-Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 to move into the third round on Thursday night.
The 40th-ranked Cornet levelled her head-to-head against the fiery 13th-seeded Latvian to set up a last-32 clash with Chinese teenager Zheng Qinwen.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep suffered a second-round exit at Roland-Garros on Thursday, falling to 19-year-old Chinese Zheng Qinwen 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 on Court Simonne-Mathieu.
A title-winner in Paris four years ago, Halep had not lost this early in the French capital since her second-round defeat in 2015.
Halep had her blood pressure checked during a changeover in the third set and never found her range as she fell to the world No.74 in just under two hours.
>> More on Halep's defeat in our Day 5 Diary HERE
Meanwhile, American No.9 seed Danielle Collins was sent packing by her compatriot Shelby Rogers 6-4, 6-3 in 76 minutes.
World No.1 Iga Swiatek extended her winning streak to 30 matches as she dropped another bagel on an opponent, this time in a 6-0, 6-2 second-round win over Alison Riske on Thursday.
Swiatek has now won 15 sets this season with a 6-0 scoreline as she continues to build one of the most dominant stretches we've seen in women's tennis in a long time.
The 20-year-old next takes on Danka Kovinic of Montenegro for a spot in the last 16.
© Philippe Montigny/FFTIt wasn't without a meltdown or two from Andrey Rublev but the seventh seed's second round ended with him the victor over Federico Delbonis on Thursday.
Rublev, a quarter-finalist here in 2020, needed two hours and 26 minutes to overcome the Argentine lefty 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and now faces a resurgent Cristian Garin for a place in the last 16.
Former semi-finalist and No.22 seed Madison Keys sunk home hopes on Thursday with a 6-4, 7-6(3) win over Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia to reach the Roland-Garros third round for a sixth time in eight years.
The 27-year-old American, who made the last four in Paris in 2018, will face No.16 seed Elena Rybakina for a place in the fourth round.
© Nicolas Gouhier/FFTWorld No.227 Leolia Jeanjean claimed the biggest win of her career, taking down Czech No.8 seed Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 6-2 to reach the third round at Roland-Garros.
The 26-year-old French wildcard was facing a top-100 player for just the second time of her career and is making her Grand Slam debut this fortnight.
Pliskova, a semi-finalist in Paris in 2017, had not lost to a player ranked outside the top 100 at a Slam since Roland-Garros 2016.
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFTWorld No.2 Daniil Medvedev advanced to the third round at Roland-Garros with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win over Serbia's Laslo Djere on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Thursday.
The 26-year-old came back from a break down in the opening set, and needed a 15-and-a-half-minute game to break early in the third en route to a last-32 meeting with another Serbian, No.28 seed Miomir Kecmanovic.
No.3 seed Paula Badosa expected a tough second round against last week's Strasbourg finalist Kaja Juvan and she was not wrong.
The Spaniard needed two hours and 17 minutes to overcome the 68th-ranked Juvan 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, in a match that witnessed a combined 10 breaks of serve.
Badosa is through to the third round for a third time in as many appearances at Roland-Garros, and next takes on No.29 seed Veronika Kudermetova.
© Philippe Montigny/FFT
ROLAND-GARROS
20 May - 9 June 2024
