Monfils falls to Ymer, Barty retires

Home favourite and No.14 seed Gael Monfils was upset by Swedish world No.105 Mikael Ymer 6-0, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in second-round action at Roland-Garros on Thursday.

Monfils, a semi-finalist in Paris in 2008, has been searching for his form since the tour restarted from it's five-month hiatus last August and entered Thursday's match with just two wins under his belt this season.

The 22-year-old Ymer is into the third round for a second consecutive major and next faces Italian teenager Jannik Sinner.

"We had a tough situation for the last few months, and now even myself it was really hard and much more happier to be back on tour, back on the court," explained Monfils.

"Definitely, to have the fans back, it's better. They make it so much easier. I just want to tell them that I try to enjoy myself more, try to be even a better player than I used to be a few months before and not giving up.

"Even must be really hard for them, my real fans, to see today's performance, but I think it happens. I need to bounce back."

Hip problem ends Ash's campaign

World No.1 and 2019 Roland-Garros champion Ashleigh Barty was forced to retire during her second round against Magda Linette on Thursday, citing a hip injury that has been bothering her since the start of the tournament.

Barty took an off-court medical time-out late in the first set but it wasn't enough to allow her to complete the match. The Australian pulled the plug while trailing Linette 1-6, 2-2.

Linette, the Polish world No.45, is through to the third round in Paris for the first time since 2017.

Sofia sails through

Last year's finalist Sofia Kenin advanced to the Roland-Garros third round for a third year in a row as she overcame fellow American Hailey Baptiste 7-5, 6-3.

The No.4 seed, who faces another compatriot in the next round in the form of the ever-dangerous Jessica Pegula, won 71 per cent of the points behind her first serve and broke Baptiste five times in the 81-minute clash.

Stephens finds her groove

Another American Roland-Garros finalist, Sloane Stephens, was impressive on Thursday as she sent Czech ninth seed Karolina Pliskova packing 7-5, 6-1 in 91 minutes.

Stephens, who fell to Simona Halep in the Paris final in 2018, is into the third round for the eighth time in 10 appearances and next faces 18th-seeded Czech Karolina Muchova.

The 28-year-old Stephens had a slow start to her year, and had just nine victories to her name in 2021 coming into Roland-Garros, but is enjoying a revival on the clay and will be a serious threat moving forward.

Svitolina holds off Li

Elina Svitolina moved into the Roland-Garros third round for a seventh consecutive year, thanks to a 6-0, 6-4 victory over American world No.75 Ann Li on Court Suzanne-Lenglen on Thursday.

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In a lighthearted on-court interview with Fabrice Santoro, Svitolina was asked if she and Monfils got into any tennis debates at home, away from the courts.

"He always has to agree with me because I'm the boss in the house," she joked.

Svitolina, a three-time quarter-finalist in Paris, needed just 74 minutes to wrap up her win over Li, who was up a break in the second set but couldn't hold off her experienced opponent.

"It was a great start for me," Svitolina said. "In the second set I was 1-4 down, so it was really challenging. I was sweating a lot to get back into it and I'm very happy I won in straight sets in the end."

She next faces an in-form Barbora Krejcikova, who eased past No.32 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 6-3 to extend her current winning streak to seven matches in a row, having picked up the Strasbourg title last Saturday.

Ons gets her revenge

Tunisian No.25 seed Ons Jabeur had declared before her second round against Astra Sharma that she was "going for revenge" having lost to the Australian in the Charleston final less than two months ago.

Jabeur did just that as she eased to a 6-2, 6-4 victory over the world No.124.

The entertaining North African fired 24 winners against 18 unforced errors en route to a third-round meeting with Poland's Magda Linette.

Matteo in a hurry

Italian No.9 seed Matteo Berrettini booked his place in the third round in Paris for the third time in four years with a swift 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 result against Argentinean Federico Coria.

Berrettini, who had a standout clay-court season so far, winning the title in Belgrade and reaching the final in Madrid, awaits the winner of the second round between Kwon Soonwoo and Andreas Seppi.