Roland-Garros wrap - Tuesday May 20

The highly-rated teenager posted her first ever Grand Slam qualifying win with a 6-4 6-3 result against Czech Gabriela Knutson on Court 7. The victory puts her two matches from joining big brother ‘Gio’ in the main draw.

American sixth seed Taylor Townsend is back after a recent concussion scare and completed a satisfying 7-6(1) 7-6(6) win against Japanese teenager Sara Saito.

Now she’s finally recovered from severe headaches and whiplash caused by a freak accident in Miami, she told Chris Oddo she’s targeting a top 50 singles ranking.

It was a memorable day for French 23-year-old Titouan Droguet after he survived two match points en route to a thrilling 5-7 7-6(9) 6-2 victory over men’s top seed Borna Coric inside a noisy Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

In the second set tiebreak Droguet saw off the Croat’s first match point with an inside-in forehand winner, and the second thanks to a brilliant forehand pass on the run.

The Frenchman, who grew up on the outskirts of Paris, explained to Dan Imhoff why Tuesday’s win is one of the biggest of his career.

Out on the more intimate Court 14, former women’s finalist Sara Errani produced the comeback of the day in what is almost certainly the last singles event of her long and successful career.

The Italian looked on her way out when she was 6-0 5-2 down to Germany’s Jule Niemeier before somehow stealing a second set tiebreak 7-4 and then the deciding set 6-2.

Errani, who travelled straight to Paris after winning the Rome doubles title with Jasmine Paolini on Sunday, told Alex Sharp she takes great pride in her singles career and her record on the Paris clay.

Another who’s been around the tour for a similar length of time is former world No.3 Marin Cilic, who won the boys’ singles exactly 20 years ago.

Fast forward to 2025 and the 36-year-old finds himself qualifying as the world No.104. That didn’t stop him making a strong start to his bid for a main draw spot when he outclassed China’s Wu Yibing for the loss of just five games.

Afterwards he spoke about his memories of that junior title, how it gave him a platform for success as a pro and what he’s got left in the tank in the twilight of his career.

Another player potentially moving towards the end of their playing days is Britain’s Dan Evans, who celebrates his 35th birthday on Friday. The former world No.21 hit back from 2-5 in the first set to see off fellow-Brit and sixth seed Billy Harris 7-5 6-3 on Court 9.

Reflecting on the win, ‘Evo’ talked passionately about his love for the game and how he hopes a run in Paris can get him back to the top 100.

Away from the drama of qualifying, the big courts were buzzing with big names keen to spend valuable time on the clay ahead of Sunday’s first round matches.

The two players hitting together on Court Simonne-Mathieu raised a few eyebrows where four-time RG champ Iga Swiatek and three-time major winner Aryna Sabalenka were practising - together!

The two traded blows during an hour-long slot on the submerged, greenhouse-surrounded show court.

Other seeds spotted ramping things up on the practice courts include Paris gold medalist Zheng Qinwen, world No.2 Coco Gauff, French star Arthur Fils and recent Barcelona champion Holger Rune.

Back to qualifying and Wednesday will feature second round matches across both men’s and women’s draws from 10am. Read Alix Ramsay's analysis of the Day 3 schedule and her ‘Three to watch on Wednesday’.