Roland-Garros Day 2 recap: Men’s upsets kicking into high gear
Day 2 of Roland-Garros saw a number of upsets on the men’s side, with top seeds like Daniil Medvedev and Gael Monfils dropping out early.
Giustino at Roland-Garros 2020
Day 2 of the Roland-Garros proved to be more surprising than day 1, with a series of upset, especially on the men’s side. Favourites like Dominic Thiem and Rafael Nadal got through with ease, but we also saw players like Daniil Medvedev, Gael Monfils and Felix Auger-Aliassime exit in the first round.
It’s more predictale on the women’s side, though, as players like Petra Kvitova, Kiki Bertens and Serena Williams all made their way through to the second round, with smaller upsets like 2019 quarter-finalists Madison Keys and Marketa Vondrousova bowing out early.
Here are the updated men’s and women’s draw after another day in the brisk and rainy capital of France.
The woman of the day: Garbine Muguruza
It took the No 11 seed a while to clinch the win, as the three-setter ended up going just over three hours. Muguruza was able to avoid the upset against tamara Zindansek by prevailing 7-5, 4-6, 8-6. The Rome semi-finalist will face Kristyna Pliskova in the second round.
3 sets. 3 horas.
Estos partidos como que curten, ¿no?
This kind of matches like they toughen you up, no?
💪😰🥶😃 @rolandgarros pic.twitter.com/ZWY3ApDpf4
— Garbiñe Muguruza (@GarbiMuguruza) September 28, 2020
The man of the day: Marton Fucsovics
The man of the day is also the upset of the day, as Fuscovics kept fourth seed Daniil Medvedev winless in the Roland Garros main draw for another year with a 6-4, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-1. He also clinched his first top-10 victory in his career. Medvedev literally gave away the second set at match point for smashing his racquet, and got ran over in the fourth set to continue his clay struggles.
Daniil Medvedev suffers his 6th consecutive loss on clay, out at #RG20 R1 to Marton Fucsovics 6-4, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-1.
He never won a match at #RolandGarros
[getty] pic.twitter.com/ipdxnzO8nj
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) September 28, 2020
The match of the days: Giustino outlasts Moutet
Plural is the right form here as the marathon five-setter lasted for two days in the schedule, with the last set going for three hours on its own. It’s not 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-28 a la Isner-Mahut, but Lorenzo Giustino finally cracked Moutet 34 games into the fifth to win 0-6, 7-6(7), 7-6(3), 2-6, 18-16 in the eighth longest match in tennis history and second longest match in Roland-Garros.
https://twitter.com/doublefault28/status/1310636425981894658?s=20
The news of the day: Giustino’s time and earnings
Two more pieces on the six-hour tennis match that spanned two days. Giustino made a name for himself, but also some money and accruing crucial clay experience.
2020 Giustino earned 84.000€ in a 6h05 minutes match at Roland Garros
2019 Giustino earned 83.071€ in 115h43m playing 65 matches
(He ended the year with 9 consecutive losses) https://t.co/O5GugOMmy1
— enrico maria riva (@enricomariariva) September 28, 2020
Fun fact: Giustino hasn’t played 5 hours on clay in his entire career (Atp level).
He is 29
— enrico maria riva (@enricomariariva) September 28, 2020
The big surprise: Yoshihito Nishioka
The surprise, obviously, is 19th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime bowing out in the first round, but it’s also how the lefty Japanese bothered the Canadian at his game. By keeping FAA’s big shot at bay, he was able to control the the match and take the 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 victory.
The picture/GIF of the day: Nadal’s kicks
Ah, yes, as if we needed any reminder on how many of those Coupe des Mousquetaires Nadal has within a blue fire emoji.
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
(Just in case you needed reminding)@RafaelNadal #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/Uv1TZ3FU9c
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) September 28, 2020
The quote of the day: Giustino spotting the rare supporter
The Giustino-Moutet match, of course, is the talk of the town and attracted quite the number of audience for a smaller court, be it the 1,000 spectators allowed in, or the players and coaches in the bubble. Most of them are French, though, and he did feel a bit “intimidated.”
“I think all coaches, all players, a lot of coaches were out there trying to watch the match with us because, I don’t know, I was playing and I heard a lot of guys who were going for the French, of course, so I was in a little disadvantage, how about that?”
“Well, I was focused to play, you know? I saw, I don’t know, Cecchinato, maybe, I don’t know. Because I saw people who was like trying to give me energy and I thought, okay, this guy is not French for sure (laughing) he’s somebody that I know him.”
The point of the day: Bublik’s back
Let’s keep it simple here. Alexander Bublik upset Gael Monfils in the first round, and served up one of his specials along the way against the trick-shot master himself.
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) September 28, 2020
Day 3 matchups:
The first round matches will be rounded out by the end of day 3, barring another six-hour match that spans over two days. The remaining of the top seeds will play, and it will be interesting to see if it follows the mellow trend of day 1 or the mild chaotic trend of day 2.
- Men’s: (1) Novak Djokovic vs Mikael Ymer
- Men’s: (9) Denis Shapovalov vs Gilles Simon
- Men’s: (7) Matteo Berrettini vs Vasek Pospisil
- Men’s: (5) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Jaume Munar
- Men’s: (13) Andrey Rublev vs Sam Querrey
- Women’s: (2) Karolina Pliskova vs Mayar Sherif
- Women’s: (4) Sofia Kenin vs Ludmilla Samsonova
- Women’s: (8) Aryna Sabalenka vs Jessie Pegula
- Women’s: (21) Jennifer Brady vs Clara Tauson
- Women’s: (29) Sloane Stephens vs Vitalia Diatchenko
