Key events
A deft forehand volley at the net gives Zverev – no that is not a misprint – 4-3, and an ill-advised drop allows the putaway for 5-3. I guess he was trying to shorten the rally, which he did, but not in the way he planned, but what a forehand he finds, whipped cross as Zverev comes in, just as the breaker looks to have slipped away. But oh Rafa, again he tries a drop when he shouldn’t, again the German runs in to deal, and that rtaises two points for a two-set lead at 6-3 6-6 (6-4).
Zverev quickly returns it and then, at 3-2, we see Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek are also in the house and rightly so; what better can they or anyone else have to do than watch this? Exactly. It’s 3-3 while, on Lenglen, Gauff leads Avdeeva 6-1 4-1 with a double break and on 13 norrie leads Kotov 6-4 1-2.
Massive point to start, Zverev taking it on serve after a Nadal slice across the face of the net drops wide. And then, after more good net-play from Nadal, a forehand goes long to cede the mini-break at 1-2.
Broken to love in his last service game, this time Nadal holds to love, and we’ve got ourselves a breaker that might define this match: Zverev wins it’s a long way back, Nadal wins who knows?
There’s something comforting about sportsfolk loving sport, so it’s nice to see Djokovic wanting to check this match – and, I imagine, be there if this is the end of Rafa (while displaying his epochal magnanimity for the world to love). Back on court, though, Nadal burns two break points … but then a lovely backhand slice is too good, bringing us back to deuce. Not for long: Zverev closes out, and Nadal must now hold for a second-set breaker.
Goodness me, I’ve been watching tennis for more than 40 years and I’ve never seen an umpire bang heads with a player. But that’s what’s gone down on Lenglen, Avedeeva needing a moment to recover, down 6-1 1-0 with a break. And on 13, Norrie serves out to lead Kotov 6-4.
Big forehands from Zverev to make 0-15, then a barrage of backhands and it’s 0-30; this could be the match right here, Nadal in need of another energising ace. And have a look! Another tremendous point from the younger man, carving a forehand down the line to raise three break-back points … and he only needs one, again hammering with the forehand, and that’s an incredible game to save the second set.
Gauff takes the first set off Avdeeva 6-1, as Zverev holds to force Nadal to serve for one set apiece. And out on Court 13, Nozza has taken over, serving for the first set against Kotov at 5-4 having trailed 3-0.
Nadal is directing Zverev around the court now, dominating when he comes in – he’s 9-0 in net points now – and secures another hold for 3-6 5-3. We wondered if this was going to be a match but we didn’t really, because when has one featuring this freak of nature been anything but? I am in awe of his love and devotion.
Zverev holds to up the pressure on Nadal’s next service-game while Norrie breaks Kotov back to trail 3-4 and Gauff nails Avdeeva a second time, now 4-0 in front. These two experience temperatures in different ways.
Nadal dances along the baseline as he consolidates to 15 – he can feel it building now, and it all started with that ace at break-point down; his competitive spirit is absolutely mind-boggling, just as much as his skill and Zverev, now in fear of a match he’s dominated going all square, looks a little forlorn at 6-3 2-4.
Over the last year or so, Coco Gauff has morphed from player into killer, and she lays down the smack immediately, breaking Avdeeva for 2-0
Kotov breaks Norrie then consolidates for 4-1 – this match might go long, I reckon – and Nadal gets 30-all on the Zverev serve then sees a forehand go into the bottom of the net. He looks to be buzzing off what was a great hold in the last game, and when a ball drops in half-court, he clobbers a forehand but it’s not a winner; no matter. Zverev does similarly, this time he conjures a drop, and Nadal has broken for 3-6 3-2! What a totally absurd human being he truly is.
Ben Shelton (15) beats Huge Gaston 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-4
That’s a great win for one of the heroes of the last 12 months – he made the last four in New York and the last eight in Melbourne – and next for him it’s Kei Nishikori.
Can Nadal find a way of breaking Zverev? Well he needs to hold his own serve first and Zverev is giving nowt for a burton – it’s constant pressure, the ace down the T at 30-40 exactly what was required. Another big serve follows, and then one out wide to facilitate the clean-up forehand to the opposite corner. Much better from Nadal, who now trails 6-3 2-2.
Zverev makes it 18 from 19 points on serve in going up 30-0, and though Nadal closes, an ace down the T followed by a thunderous forehand down the line from wide gives him a 6-3 2-1 lead. Back on Court 14 – we’ve been there a fair bit – Ben Shelton has match point at 3-6 6-3 6-4 5-4 15-40 against Hugo Gaston … and, to the joy of the home crowd, Gaston saves both.
Felix Auger-Aliassime (21) beats Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2 6-4 6-4
He meets Purcell or Squire next.
Karen Khachanov, the 18 seed, is under way against Samit Nagal, leading 3-1.
Kotov takes the first game off Norrie and Zverev again holds to lead Nadal 6-3 1-0.
Court 13 will soon be watching Cam Norrie, who meets Pavel Kotov.
Nadal nets a forehand and at the end of the longest game of the match, Zverev takes a 50-minute first set 6-3.
Next on Lenglen: Coco Gauff (3) v Julia Avdeeva (Q).
Great news: we’re back away on the outside courts…
Tistsipas says he was a bit lucky to take the first set but after that he played a lot better, hitting it harder and deeper, and by the end he was playing great. The roof, he explains, makes the court faster with more bounce, and though he was sitting further back on return, he was trying to send back fast, low balls to get himself into and open up the court. Finally, he shares how much everyone in Paris loves him and how good that makes him feel, inspiring him to play great tennis for the people in the city of love.
Nadal, meanwhile, is struggling to hold and finds himself down advantage and set point; he tackles it by hitting flatter and harder, a booming backhand to the corner directed into the net by Zverev. So we go from deuce to advantage and back again…
Stefanos Tsitsipas (9) beats Márton Fucsovics 7-6(7) 6-4 6-1
That’s a really good win and performance from Tsitsipas – next up it’s Daniel Altmaier, who binned Jannik Sinner here last term.
Serving to stay in the set, Nadal nets a forehand at 15-all, but a terrific point, dictated by two gibongous forehands, allows him to pat away a volley at the net. Meantime, on Lenglen, another match point for Tsitsipas…
And he’s serving well, holding for 5-3 while Tsitsipas leads Fucsovics 7-6 6-4 5-1 … raising match point with a skid to the net and flick over the tape.
Nadal is moving Zverev about now and you can tell he’s feeling better by how intensely he celebrates the game-point that closes the first-set gap to 3-4. The difference between the two is the first-game break, and things have changed a bit since then – though however you slice it, the world number four still leads.
Tsitsipas wants this over and done with now, hitting first serves as he races to 3-1 in the third, and at 30-40, he’s a point for a double break … which is all he needs, hitting hard from the back until Fucsovics strays. This is all but over, and it’s been a good workout for the 2021 runner-up.
Around the grounds, the covers are coming off, and we’re not far off more tennis – lots of it. I’m not sure how we’re going to cover it all, but I’m looking forward to finding out.
We should be ready, of course, to allow ourselves a major emotional dump if Nadal loses here; this could well be his last appearance at Roland-Garros which means the end of an era, which means time to ponder what we’ve been up to since he won for the first time and on debut, in 2005. It’ll be a feeling.
Consecutive errors from Zverev and Nadal has two break-back points; he’s settling, but a forehand that goes wide cedes one opportunity, then a tame effort sits one up and Zverev has all the time he needs to punish an inside-out forehand winner for deuce. Then, from there, he closes out in deeply competent, confident fashion, coming to the net to seal the game for 3-1. Meantime, Tistsipas breaks Fucsovics to lead 1-0 in the third, and hard though the Hungarian has tried, he’s not long for this competition.
A big serve down the T, a clean-up forehand to the backhand corner, and Tsitsipas leads 7-6 6-4; long way back for Fucsovics from here, but on Chatrier, Nadal is on the board, holding to 30 for 1-2.
Zverev’s record against Nadal isn’t great, but Nadal’s best shot, the hooked, high-kicking forehand, is not unhandy for his, the backhand down the line. So far, though, Nadal looks as off it as he might; the question is whether he can find a level before he’s too far behind.
Back on Chatrier, Nadal is beginning to settle, but Zverev still consolidates to 30 for 2-0.
My sense is that Tsitspas will play as well as he needs to win this, so just a bit better than Fucsovics, and he breaks for 7-6 5-4; after a little sit-down, he’ll serve for another highly competitive set.
Straight away Zverev gets 0-40, Nadal nets and there’s the break; on Lenglen, Fucsovics saves break point at 6-7 4-4 with a winner from the back.
Back on Lenglen, Tsitsipas leads Fucsovics 7-6 4-4, and you sense that the breaker we look destined for in set two will be crucial: should it eventuate and should Tsitsipas win it, we’ll ne nearly done; should Fucsovics level the match, we could be here a while.
It’s still hard to believe that this is a round one match. If Nadal is at it, Zverev will a problem, and I’d expect the former’s forehand to target the latter’s with no mercy.
What a welcome Chatrier gave Nadal, by the way, and he and Zverev are almost ready.
It’s not great for the umpires either, left languishing in maroon knitted cardigans; serves them right I guess.
Talking of Tsitsipas, what on earth is this? The running down the shorts effect is a strange look if ever there was one.
Now then! Tsitsipas hands back his break with a double and Fucsovics, who’s playing well now trails 7-6 3-3.
What a match this is to have in round one! I doubt Zverev was chuffed about it and like the rest of us, he’ll have no clue how Nadal will pull up. I guess, in that sense, it’s better for the number four seed to meet him now, rather than when he’s settled after a couple of rounds, but Zverev will fancy himself to win this and an ageing goat rolling back the years one last time, in front of an adoring crowd, is the last thing he needs.
Thanks Dave and hi again. Next on Chatrier: Alexander Zverev (4) v Rafael Nadal (unseeded, but 14)
And with that frustrating weather update and scenes of spectators looking miserable under umbrellas near the top of the roof which is about as rain-proof as Old Trafford, I’ll hand you back to Daniel Harris.
Forget any play on the outside courts for a while. It’s absolutely raining chats and chiens. You can hear it hammering down on the roof which thankfully allows Tsitsipas v Fucsovics to continue. The Greek leads 2-1 in the second set.
Iga Swiatek (1) beats Leolia Jeanjean 6-1 6-2
It’s all too easy for Swiatek as she sees off Jeanjean for the loss of just three games. She was out on court for just a minute over the hour mark. A quick look at the stats shows Swiatek leading the ‘winners’ count 26-2. Impressive from the defending champion.
A quick reminder of Tsitsipas’s record in the French Open. He made the semis in 2020, reached the final in 2021 – losing to Novak Djokovic after winning the first two sets – and exited in the quarters last year. He’s also a finalist and three-time semi-finalist in the Australian Open although hasn’t gone beyond round four at Wimbledon or round three at the US Open.
Back to the here and now and he wins a lengthy opening game of the second set, significant as it came on the Fucsovics serve. Tsitsipas now one set and 1-0 up.
Back to Chatrier and Jeanjean is making a better fist of this second set. She trails Swiatek 3-2 and, with serve, has won the opening point of the sixth.
Elsewhere, Matteo Arnaldi is serving for the first set (5-3 up) against French 29th seed Arthur Fils. And on Court 14, American Ben Shelton (15) is two sets to one ahead against another Frenchman, Hugo Gaston. It’s 2-2 in the fourth.
Tsitsipas, much to his relief, wins the opening set 9-7 on the tie-break. At 7-7, Fucsovic’s forehand is fractions wide and he can only return Tsitsipas’s heavy serve beyond the baseline. A fascinating opening set and one that Fucsovic may end up kicking himself for not winning.
Tsitsipas whips a looping forehand just wide and now Fucsovics has a break point at 7-6. A cry of “merci” from the umpire quietens the crowd before Fucsovics finds the net! 7-7.
Tsitsipas suddenly springs to life and wins four points on the bounce, surging from a precarious 2-4 deficit to lead 6-4. Two set points. His first comes on the Fucsovics serve but the Hungarian saves it before Tsitsipas, on his own, fluffs another backhand down the line and we’re all square at 6-6!
Swiatek is back in the groove against Jeanjean, winning back-to-back games to nudge 2-1 ahead in the second. She won the first 6-1.
