Murray/Evans def Daniel/Nishikori: 2-6 7-6(5) 11-9

In typical Andy Murray fashion the guy just never gives up. His careers not done yet. Down 9-4 in the 3rd set tiebreak he and Dan Evans fight back to win 7 straight points and win 11-9. You know that point vs Kokkinakis where he gets back all those overheads and win the point. And turns the match around after that to win in 5. This tiebreaker was like that point but in a match. He and Dan seemed down and out of it, accepting this was Andy’s farewell and Dan clearly pissed that he had made a few mistakes in the breaker to get down in the breaker. Murray frustrated at his returns and vllleys as well.

But you could tell there was a sense of respect from the other side of the net as Daniel and Nishikori started playing Murray more, wanting his career to at least end on his own racket. And then he missed a put away volley. Match seemed down and out both of them. But nah Andy freaking Murray. 7 straight points to win. But that’s been the story of his career, don’t count him out. The farewell will have to wait..

Nadal (ESP) def Fucsovics (HUN): 6-1 4-6 6-4

It seemed like Rafa was still warmed up from his doubles match last night when he came out to play today. Sun shining, and the summer RG clay playing very lively, Rafa was on offense, whipping his forehand all over the court. Rafa’s offense and when he’s in position is still prime Rafa, but he doesn’t have the ability to turn defense to offense on a point by point basis anymore. There’s highlight reels for minutes of him hitting absurd shots from absurd positions of the court. The first set was total domination from Rafa 6-1. He faced 0 break points and won more than twice as many points as Fucs.

In the 2nd set Fucs got an early break and lead 4-1. Some of the shots Fucs was hitting to get that lead were crazy, controlling with his forehand and then throwing in occasional drop shot dimes when Rafa would move back. Rafa used to seemingly never be behind in a rally, never on defense he looks mortal. Any time Rafa is inside the court controlling the point, especially on clay, it is goodnight. As the set went on you could sense Rafa starting to lock back in after a dip to start the set, and could sense Fucs was starting to get tight serving the set out. Each game kept getting more and more tense. The 3-1 game was deuce, the 4-2 game he faced break points, it was only a matter of time until Rafa converted. He finally did at 3-5, breaking to 15, and then once it seemed like “ok Rafa is back here we go”, it was Rafa who seemingly tightened up missing a forehand drop shot on break point to lose the 2nd set 6-4.

3rd set was back and forth with both players having multiple break chances early in the set. Fucs had triple BP at one point to go up 3-2 but there was never really a doubt who was going to come through this match. King of clay at Roland Garros, playing for his country… it’s going to take a force to take him out. Fucs had the game but it just was a question of if he could keep that level up, in that environment. Lot of pressure. Ultimately Rafa was able to stay on offense and not get behind in the points helping him prevail to a 6-4 dub. Rafa advances to play Djokovic in round 2. 

Musetti (ITA) def. Monfils (FRA):  6-1 6-4

One way traffic for Setti most of this match. He came into this tournament confident after reaching the final last week and he kept that momentum rolling. Monfils definitely towards the end of the career, had the packed Suzette Lenglen crowd doing everything they could to help him find his game. He got back into the match, getting back on serve in the 2nd set. The problem being that Monfils won less than 50% of his service points for the match. Pretty tough to win a pro match like that. But what a moment for Monfils to play an Olympics in front of his home crowd. Musetti advances and plays Navone, one of the hottest clay court players this year. That’ll be a match to see.

Tommy Paul (USA) def. Luciano Darderi (ITA): 6-3 6-4

Another match on at the time of death. 6 featured matches at 1 time. But TP had me sweating man, I’m not even gonna lie. Got broken right away and down 1-3 in the 1st. I thought no warm up match on clay for TP while Darderi played back to back weeks, of course. Best of 5, I wouldn’t sweat that early but best of 3 one early break can be tough to battle out of. But after that it was 5 games to the Trot for the Florida resident, playing with USA on his back. TP used his flat backhand cross court really well and was cranking forehands. The hot summer clay is a bit more live so it was rewarding TP taking the ball early and trying to take offense before Darderi. Most of the match it seemed to be Tommy in control and Darderi living and dying off Tommy’s racquet. Tommy kept the kept momentum and never flinched. Tommy advances and plays Mensik or Shevchenko tomorrow. Hopefully Mensik.

Linette def. Andreeva: 6-3 6-4

This result was pretty shocking to me. Both players coming off titles, last week so preparation, rest, health, etc would all be similar. So it was just going to come down to who played better tennis on that day and I would think 90% of days it would be Mirra. Especially with the hot weather, Mirra having a much bigger game and bigger weapons, and having a better clay court season than Linette, it seemed like she’d be in control.

But instead she never quite found her rhythm. Had chances to break back and get both sets on serve, which she managed to do during the 2nd set, but then got broken at love right back. Every single break is always after chances or a break. This match was going on at the hot time of the day, the same time as most of these other featured matches, so it was tough to catch it all. The stats in this match were almost the exact same for each player, it just came down to Magda playing the big points better and taking advantage of her break points when given the chance. Mirra, returning, was up 15-30 at 2-3 and 15-30 at 3-4, and couldn’t capitalize on either. Just came down to playing the big points better which Magda locked in on, only facing 2 BP all match.

Gauff (USA) def. Tomljanovic: 6-3 6-0

Coco came out here ready to get vengeance for Alja ending Serena’s career. But all seriousness Coco came out ready to ball from the jump and never let up. She knows she has a huge opportunity in this tournament, especially with the top half being stacked, and her being the favorite to come out of the bottom half. Coco was dictating most points most points from the jump, getting a big first strike and not having to rely on her defense and athleticism. Playing singles, doubles, and mixed, saving her legs will be crucial. Impressively Coco won over 65% of her 2nd serve points, more than she won off her first serve. And 0 double faults she will be happy about. There wasn’t much Alja could do to hurt Coco, and was overmatched in almost every category. Alja looks to get back on the comeback trail in the US Open swing while Coco looks to continue her run to a medal vs Argentinian Maria Carle.

Fernandez (CAN) def. Muchova (CZE): 6-1 4-6 6-2

Leylah Fernandez uses her speed so well and stays so low while she moves. With her recent success in doubles she’s gained more confidence and gotten a ton more reps just from being on the court more. Today she did an exceptional job of taking Muchova’s pace and redirecting it back deep. Muchova showed glimmers of her shot making throughout the match, but Leylah did a good job of mixing in loopy balls to back Muchova back, drop shots and short slices to bring her forward. That also didn’t allow Muchova to get into a rhythm, because when she’s on it’s beautiful tennis. Muchova had the great flashes but also just followed up by too many unforced errors.

Leylah didn’t give her much either so it’s tough to come up with those shots time after time again. Eventually the pressure adds up. She was living and dying by her forehand and found it at the end of the 2nd set to force a third set after being down a set and a break. In the third set it started to go away again and went down immediately. Later in the set eventually having 4 unforced errors to go down the double break. Muchova will look to move onto the hard courts and should be a force now that she’s healthy and getting matches under her belt. Fernandez moves on to play tomorrow against Martic or Bucsa, both who she will like her chances against.

Hsieh/Tsao (TPE) def. Begu/Niculescu: 7-6(2) 7-5

Closing out a set of match vs Su Wei Hsieh is equivalent to closing out a set vs Venus but in doubles. The Romanians struggled with that, getting the first break of the match, but not able to serve it out. Su-Wei putting the younger Chinese Taipei player on her back and instilling confidence in her was able to raise her game. It’ll be a tough test for them moving on but with Su-Wei on their side they always have a chance. Her doubles instincts are so natural and always seems to be in the right spot. It’s as entertaining as it gets watching her play tennis, with her retiring at the end of the year, every extra match we get to watch her is a bonus.