There are lots of images/GIFS in ‘The Racquet’ so it may take a while to load depending on your wifi/4g. I promise it’s worth it 😅.

NO SPOILERS 🎥

If you don't want to see the results yet, and want to catch up with the highlights first, stop scrolling now. (Highlights that are available will be linked here).

Cecchinato 🎥 Mahut (Match Of The Day🔥)

Federer 🎥 Sonego

Nishikori 🎥 Halys

Dimitrov 🎥 Tipsarevic

Marterer 🎥 Tsitsipas

Goffin 🎥 Berankis

RESULTS 🎾

💥 = Beatdown \\ 🤕 = Injury \\ ‼️ = Upset \\ 🤯 = Epic

Featured Matches

Federer d Sonego: 6-2, 6-4, 6-4

Sonego, from the middle of the 2nd set onwards, played excellently. Crushing huge forehand winners and serving well, the 24 year old Italian was effectively red-lining his game. And yet, it wasn't even close to being enough.

Federer successfully rushed Sonego throughout the match by taking the ball impossibly early. And the Swiss’s early ball-striking set up all sorts of attacking and volleying opportunities (winning 25/30 points at the net).

— Great indication of how early Federer (grey/brown) was taking the ball today. Many players, faced with Sonego’s (orange) backhand would have backed off and played a defensive slice. Federer doesn’t back off at all and crushes an early backhand on the rise, taking all recovery (back to the middle of court) time away from Sonego (not often players are beaten by a clean winner by a ball as central as Federer’s backhand). Awesome. (Eurosport)

Federer was flawless in Set 1 as Sonego resembled a deer, caught wide-eyed and panicked, in the headlights. The 2nd and 3rd sets were much more competitive thanks to Sonego’s improvements on serve and forehand, but Federer still produced tidy tennis (striking 28 winners to just 10 errors in the final two sets), finding his forehand early in the rally with unrelenting consistency. Fed’s return game also looked on song, having plenty of joy blocking returns back in play, regularly bringing Sonego into uncomfortable positions from which he would have to play his 2nd shot (Federer won a nice & high 45% of his return points). Aside from a double-fault to donate one of his two breaks back in the 2nd set, Federer looked very good today (against an opponent who hit a purple patch from the second set onwards no less).

Tsitsipas d Marterer: 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4)

Tsitsipas looked in almost total command throughout. The Greek’s serve and forehand were simply awesome today, striking 36 winners (most of which were forehands) to just 20 unforced errors, and winning 42/46 1st serve points (& facing a grand total of 0 break points). Tsitsipas’s early point aggression was way too hot for Marterer to handle, with Stefanos transitioning effortlessly from big forehand approaches to clever put-away volleys (winning 17/22 net points). Marterer threw the kitchen sink at Tsitsipas in set 3, hitting significantly bigger from the baseline (hitting 15 winners in set 3 alone compared to 7 in sets 1 & 2 combined), but Tsitsipas was the calmer and better player in the decisive tiebreak (Marterer’s shot selection, including a poor drop-shot attempt to lose the mini-break, hurt him). A statement 1st Rd from the Greek.

Dimitrov d Tipsarevic: 6-3, 6-0, 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-4

Dimitrov did just about everything in his power to make this a 5 set match, despite looking in control after taking a two sets and a break lead. Tipsarevic responded well after going behind (despite having to deal with a few injury niggles), but this match was yet another indication how how fragile Grigor’s confidence currently is. Dimitrov’s 70 winners to just 30 unforced errors are a great indication of how good he can be for the majority of matchplay, especially when there isn’t scoreboard pressure. But during many of the crunch moments of the 3rd and 4th sets today, the Bulgarian faltered. Importantly though, despite taking the scenic route, Grigor got the win and finally looked like the more stable player, despite the pressure, in the deciding set.

Goffin d Berankis: 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 💥

Goffin was borderline unplayable for much of this match. Berankis’s lack of firepower may flatter Goffin somewhat, but this is as clean as Goffin has hit the ball in a while. If he makes it through Rd2 (vs Kecmanovic or Kudla) he’s on course to meet Nadal in Rd 3 (if the Spaniard makes it there too).

Also:

Cilic d Fabbiano : 6-3, 7-5, 6-1

Nishikori d Halys : 6-2, 6-3, 6-4

Schwartzman d Fucsovics : 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7), 2-6, 6-2

Ruud d Gulbis : 6-2, 7-6(2), 6-0

Mahut d Cecchinato : 2-6, 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 ‼️ (Highlights🎥)

Popyrin d Humbert : 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(10), 6-3

Berrettini d Andujar : 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4, 6-2

Otte d Jaziri : 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 (plays Federer next)

Dellien d Gunneswaran : 6-1, 6-3, 6-1

Mayer d. Vesely : 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-0

Kohlschreiber d Haase : 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1

Djere d Ramos-Vinolas: 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(2)

5 SHOTS OF THE DAY 😮

— Tsitsipas is so natural at transitioning from the baseline to the net. Zero hesitation after he hits the approach, great split-step, wonderful touch on the volley. (Eurosport)

— The old dog still has some pace, and the touch. (Eurosport)

— Songego’s 2nd serve was far from bad here, and yet… Fed with a very casual looking drop-shot, return winner🔥. (Eurosport)

— Mahut forgetting he’s playing on clay and blocking punched return-winners mm's over the net. Gloriously old-school. This was in the final game of the match, with Mahut breaking Cecchinato to grab an epic win in the 5th set. (Eurosport)

— Sonego coming up with a crazy pass to set up his first break points in the 2nd set. The Italian’s forehand was firing for much of the 2nd and 3rd sets. (Eurosport)

— Berankis may have been taken to the woodshed by Goffin, but he still managed this huge return winner. (Eurosport)

INTERVIEW/PRESSER BEST BITS🎤

Federer post-win:

“It’s nice to be an outsider. That’s how I feel.”

“I know when Wimbledon comes around, sure, I’ll be probably a favourite again. That’s okay, too. You know, I’m happy that I’m there where I am. But for many years it was either, if I don’t win, it’s a disappointment, and you explain yourself in the press room. People don’t understand why you lost. So I feel like if I lost first round or in the finals or wherever it is, people would be, like, okay, that could have happened. I really don’t know how far I can go in this event, and I am very happy with my first round. It was a really good performance, I thought, from my side for not having played here for as long as I did.”

On pulling out of Rome after his long match vs Coric 10 days ago:

“I woke up stiff and had some back and leg stuff. And I just didn’t want to take a chance.”

Full transcript.

Tsitsipas post-win:

“I had a little bit of pressure and stress coming in that match. I wouldn't hide it. Every match that I play I have this mindset that if I win it, it's the best win of my career. So that's the way I'm thinking, because I know that every opponent can be dangerous. Every opponent can cause damage.”

“I’m very satisfied. I was playing really well the first two sets of the match. Better than I thought I would. Third set was tricky but I showed character. I didn’t lose my focus or get disrupted.”

Dimitrov after his gritty 5 set win:

“A win is a win. Obviously I was a couple of sets up, up a break. I didn't know exactly how he was feeling, and clearly I think that disrupted me a little bit.”

“This is what I have waited for, to win matches like that. In the past months, all those matches have gone the other way around for me. And I just felt that this time, really, at the important moment I really stepped up.”

Cilic on playing Dimitrov next:

“To play Grigor in the second round is one of the toughest draws. I have to prepare the best I can and to play my level of tennis and try to play as good as I can. And I know that Grigor didn't have as many wins as we would expect him to see, but I still think that his level is good. He's playing really good and maybe just that one or two matches here and there can make a difference.”

ORDER OF PLAY FOR MONDAY 📅

COURT PHILIPPE-CHATRIER

— Approx 12:30pm Local, 11:30am UK, 5:30am CT—

🇪🇸 Nadal vs Hanfmann 🇩🇪 (1st Meeting)

Prediction: Nadal in 3

🇷🇸 Djokovic vs Hurkacz 🇵🇱 (1st Meeting) 🔥

Prediction: Djokovic in 3

COURT SUZANNE-LENGLEN

— Approx 3pm Local, 2pm UK, 8am CT—

🇫🇷 Tsonga vs Gojowczyk 🇩🇪 (H2H: 0-2) (1st Clay Meeting)

Prediction: Tsonga in 4

🇦🇹 Thiem vs Paul 🇺🇸 (1st Meeting)

Prediction: Thiem in 3

COURT SIMONNE-MATHIEU

— Approx 12:30pm Local, 11:30am UK, 5:30am CT—

🇫🇷 Gasquet vs M.Zverev 🇩🇪 (H2H: 2-0) (Clay H2H: 1-0)

Prediction: Gasquet in 4

🇨🇭 Wawrinka vs Kovalik 🇸🇰 (H2H: 1-0) (Clay H2H: 1-0)

Prediction: Wawrinka in 3

COURT 1

— Approx 3pm Local, 2pm UK, 8am CT—

🇭🇷 Coric vs Bedene 🇸🇮 (H2H: 2-1) (Clay H2H: 1-0)

Prediction: Coric in 3

🇬🇧 Edmund vs Chardy 🇫🇷 (H2H: 1-1) (Clay H2H: 1-1) 🔥

Prediction: Chardy in 5

BEST OF OTHER COURTS

🇷🇺 Medvedev vs Herbert 🇫🇷 (H2H: 1-0) (1st Clay Meeting)

Court 14 - 1st Match

🇨🇦 Shapovalov vs Stuff 🇩🇪 (H2H: 1-1) (Clay H2H: 0-1)

Court 7 - 4th Match

🇬🇪 Basilashvili vs Londero 🇦🇷 (1st Meeting)

Court 9 - 1st Match

🇺🇸 Opelka vs Garin 🇨🇱 (1st Meeting)

Court 9 - 2nd Match

🇺🇸 Tiafoe vs Krajinovic 🇷🇸 (1st Meeting)

Court 12 - 1st Match

🇰🇿 Bublik vs Molleker 🇩🇪 (1st Meeting)

Court 13 - 4th Match

EXTRAS 🔍📊🎤

— How to volley by Stefanos Tsitsipas. Pretty much flawless execution, from preparation to contact. (Eurosport)

— Federer's contact point in slo-mo (Eurosport).

If you look closely you can see:

Ball spinning towards Federer, & then sharply rotating the opposite way as the strings brush up the back of the ball at contact.

Individual string being plucked like a guitar string & then snapping back into place.

— TFW your creativity is too much for the camera lens.

— Sad news for Felix. Still yet to complete a main draw Slam match (retired due to tachycardia vs Shapovalov in Rd 1 of the US Open last year, & knocked out in qualies at Australian Open this year).

Replaced by Lucky Loser Davidovich Fokina.

— The single-hander on clay. Changing direction on clay requires more leg & core work, leaving a defensive backhand like this reliant on the players arms/shoulders. A double-handed backhand has the extra arm for stabilisation & power/rotation. Cecchinato without the luxury of either from this position. (Eurosport)

However. The future of single-handed BH's (Tsitsipas/Thiem) looks immensely strong from defensive positions (relative to many single-handers who have come before them). I used to think Wawrinka was anomalously defensively robust on his backhand, but perhaps it's becoming the norm as the modern single-hander develops. Probably essential for its survival.

NEW BALLS PLEASE 👀

— Federer with a casual beheading attempt vs Sonego. (Eurosport)

— Federer being tripped up by the Lacoste croc? Symbolism anyone…? (GIF by @doublefault28)

— I blame this on r/tennis (first time/place I saw ‘Tittypasta). I typed it once and now it won’t stop.

— 𝔖𝔬𝔪𝔢𝔱𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰 𝔩𝔦𝔣𝔢 𝔤𝔦𝔳𝔢𝔰 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔣𝔯𝔞𝔪𝔢. ℑ𝔱 𝔠𝔞𝔫'𝔱 𝔞𝔩𝔴𝔞𝔶𝔰 𝔟𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰.

A reminder to those of you who aren’t paid Racquet subscribers: this is the last chance to sign up for the daily recaps for the next two weeks of Roland Garros coverage (what you’re currently reading is the free weekly issue). The first month is free so you can see if it’s worth the $ first (link expires in 24 hrs):

Subscribe - first month FREE

GAME, SET, MATCH 👋

— The Racquet is created, and written, by Matt.

— You can find me on Twitter here.

See you tomorrow for Roland Garros Day 2!