Key events
Next on Lenglen: Giulio Zeppieri v Carlos Alcaraz (2).
Well, something worked: Raducanu serves out to love and leads Wang 7-5. Meantime, Riera has forced a decider against Rybakina and I wish I had another screen to watch that; I’ve swapped out Ruud 6-3 2-2 Ramos-Vinolas for Sramkova 1-0 Swiatek.
Bouzas Maneiro is happy with how she played and handled the pressure. Last year was tough for her so she wanted to bring her best, and she did.
She thinks anything is possible, tries to play her best every time she competes, and though she didn’t expect this score, she’s happy.
Her team asked her to win in two as she’s been playing a lot of threes recently, so is chuffed to get in and out inside an hour.
Before seeking to serve out, Raducanu calls the trainer for treatment on her left knee and quad; there’s ice involved.
On Chateirer, Sramkova and Swiatek are leathering at each other from the back – already, this looks like it could be a decent contest.
Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro beats Emma Navarro (9) 6-0 6-1
An absolute devastation. Bouzas Maneiro’s forehand dominated this match, too powerful and deep for Navarro to handle and, in particular, she victimised her opponent’s second serve. Next for her, Parry or Montgomery.
Er yeah, Bouzas Maneiro soon makes 30-40 but strays wide on match point and we move to 6-0 5-1 deuce; Raducanu breaks Wang a third time for 6-5 but can she finally hold on to serve out the first set? Meantime, Swiatek and Sramkova are out on Chatrier, while Riera has broken Rybakina back to trail 1-6 5-4.
Down 30-40, Bouzas Maneiro serves a double so Navarro, now on the board, salutes the crowd in self-mockery – this has been a chastening morning – and Wang does indeed break Raducanu back for 5-5 in the first.
Serving for the set at 5-4, Raducanu finds herself down 0-30, but plays the next rally really well … only to thwack a backhand into the net with the court open. A fine backhand down the line and into the corner retrieves the first break-back point, though, while, on Lenglen, Bouzas Maneiro is serving for the double-bagel at 6-0 5-0, on which point the aforementioned focaccia is not ready. Terrible parenting.
Ah, Ruud serves out for a 6-3 set. Ramos-Vinolas pushed him hard there, so he’ll be pleased with the way he played – he’s hitting it well and handled the important points with composure. Ruud, of course, made the final in 2022 and 2023 – and the final in New York that first year – but is one of those players you assume will, in every Slam, eventually play someone able to reach a level he cannot.
Raducanu holds for 5-3 and, though Wang isn’t making it easy for herm she has the measure of the contest now. Otherwise, Ruud is serving for the set against Ramos-Vinolas, up 5-3; Rybakina leads Riera 6-1 3-2 with a break; Blanchey leads Gaston 6-2 0-2; Popyrin leads Nishioka 7-5; Cazaux has broken Tabilo back to trail 4-; and Korda leads Darderi 6-2 2-3 with a break.
Poor Emma Navarro. No longer is she trying to make round two, she’s trying to avoid the double bagel – bagelayim as the Hebrew should but doesn’t call it. She’s broken yet again, the power and accuracy of Bouzas Maneiro’s hitting way too much; at 0-6 0-3, she’s running out of time to avoid the ultimate embarrassment.
Raducanu is getting nowt for nowt, forced to 30-all as she seeks her endorsement. From there, though, she does well to close out for 4-2, while Bouzas Maneiro breaks Navarra at the start of srt two for 6-0 1-0. This is an absolute tousing … so far.
Inside-out backhand to the corner … and Wang can’t control her response. Raducanu breaks again, for 3-2, and can she hold on to it this time?
Back on Lenglen, Bouzas Maneiro completes her bagel, which reminds me my 11-year-old is downstairs making focaccia. It doesn’t yet smell like my intervention is required, but I guess I should remind her that I’m hungry.
Bouzas Maneiro is all over Navarro – when I began typing it was 4-0, now it’s 5-0. It’s not exactly a clay-court thing either; rather, she’s clouting the fuzz off it.
Elsewhere, Ruud leads Ramos-Vinolas 4-1; Rybakina leads Riera 6-1; Nishioka leads Popyrin 4-3 on serve; Tabilo leads Cazaux 4-1 in a match that could go long; Korda leads Darderi 6-2 1-0; and Raducanu, 2-2 with Wang, has two break points.
I’m not sure if everyone’s trying to camouflage with the clay, but there are a lot of clay-coloured rigs on show this morning. More news as I get it.
A well-directed serve saves Raducanu a break point. But on deuce she goes long with a moon ball, then a double, the second part of which was one of the worst serves you’ll ever see, and Wang is on the board at 1-1. Meantime, Bouzas Maneiro breaks Navarro a second time to lead 3-0 and on 7, Blanchet, a qualifier, leads Gaston 4-0.
Elsewhere, Rybakina leads Riera 3-0 and Korda leads Darderi 3-1. I think there’s a fair chance it’s just me who calls him Smurf, dardas being smurf in Hebrew.
A backhand winner down the line raises two break points for Bouzas Maneiro … both saved by Navarro. So to deuce we go and they’re absolutely zetzing it now, Bouzas Maneiro converting her second advantage for 1-0. Already, this looks like a belting tussle while, on Court 8, Wang is serving having come back from 0-30 down to deuce. As I type, though, Raducanu punishes a return then a swing-volley for advantage, Wang then swipes wide, and that’s a break too.
Emma Navarro knows herself. This last year, she’s gone deeper in all four Slams than ever before – the last eight at the Aussie Open and Wimbledon, round four in Paris and the semis in New York – as well as her highest ranking, eight. I’m not certain she’s the weapons to beat the best on the biggest occasions, but she’s at one with her game and a seriously dangerous match-player.
Bouzas Maneiro, though, knows how to play on clay and is also settled into herself – last year, she binned Marketa Vondrousova, the defending champion, at Wimbledon – and this should be a fun tussle.
So where do we start? Good question. But fear not, I’ll now stop responding to myself and say I’ll be watching Raducanu v Wang, Bouzas Maneiro v Navarro and Ruud v Ramos-Vinolas. To begin with…
Preamble
Salut et bienvenue à Roland-Garros 2025 – deuxième jour!
An absolutely indecent quantity of stupendous tennis awaits us today – so much so that it’s hard to know where to start, but we’ll do our best!
The match of the day comes second on Chatrier, where Naomi Osaka takes on Paula Badosa – I’d not want to be a ball in that one. Before that, though, we’ll see Iga Świątek, going for an unprecedented fourth title in a row but horribly out of confidence, along with Emma Navarro, seeded nine, against the canny Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
Then, later in the day, Katie Boulter begins her campaign against the qualifier, Carole Monnet; Madison Keys, the US Open champion – and what a thrill it is to type those words – takes on Daria Saville; while Elena Rybakina, Daria Kasatkina and Barbora Krejcikova are also in action.
And goodness me, that isn’t it – in fact that’s so far from it, it’s barely possible to process. Because coming right up are Jelena Ostapenko, Emma Raducanu v Wang Xiyu and Danielle Collins v Jodie Burrage – before we even take a look at the men’s competition.
Which of course is popping too. Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion gets back involved; Taylor Fritz, seeded four, faces a nasty opener against Daniel Altmaier; Holger Rune, seeded 10, meets Roberto Bautista Agut; Jacob Fearnley encounters Stan Wawrinka; with Stefanos Tsitsipas, Arthur Fils, Seb Korda and Casper Ruud all drawn against tricky opponents.
On y va!
Play: 11am local, 10am BST; Chatrier 12pm local, 11am BST.
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