Roland-Garros 2023: The majority of French players are ousted, Gaël Monfils forfeits…everything you need to know from the 2nd round

The second round of the French Open comes to a close this evening. Most of the French players have been ousted, Gaël Monfils forfeits the match, the favourites are on top – that’s what we’ve learnt from the 2nd round of the French Open!

Black days for the French… In the second round of the French Open, Lucas Van Assche, ranked 82nd in the world, was no match for Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The Spaniard won the match in three sets (6-4, 6-3, 7-6), proving more solid than the French player in key moments. After seeing his opponent serve to come back from two sets to one at 5-4, Davidovich Fokina managed to close out the match in the tie-break of the third set.

In addition to Lucas Van Assche, other French players were also eliminated in the men’s singles draw at Roland-Garros yesterday, Wednesday. Ugo Humbert, Corentin Moutet and Lucas Pouille all bowed out of the competition. Lucas Pouille was eliminated in the second round by Britain’s Cameron Norrie, who beat him 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 in 1 hour and 45 minutes. He was certainly up against an opponent ranked in the world’s top 15. Despite his difficulties over the last few months, Lucas Pouille nevertheless drew a positive conclusion to his career and expressed his desire to continue his progression on the secondary circuits, in the hope of regaining a ranking more in line with his potential.

The Frenchwomen were not spared either, as Caroline Garcia was eliminated by Anna Blinkova (4-6, 6-3, 7-5) at the same tournament, as were Léolia Jeanjean and Diane Parry.

Gaël Monfils withdraws

Gaël Monfils‘ withdrawal marked the latest twist in a sad day for Les Bleus at Roland-Garros. The French player announced on Wednesday evening, on the eve of his eagerly-awaited second round match against world number 6 Holger Rune, that he was forced to withdraw due to a wrist injury. More precisely, it’s a partial ligament rupture in his left wrist, he explained in a press conference.

Tuesday night had been intense for Gaël Monfils. His first-round match ended after midnight. After trailing 4 games to 0 in the fifth set to Argentina’s Sebastian Baez (42nd), the French player finally pulled off an incredible victory with a score of 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5. But he ended up in tears, lying on his back on the clay court.

“Yesterday (Tuesday during the match, editor’s note), at one point I made a quick call to the physio for two seconds, but in the end I’d manipulated myself and told myself I didn’t necessarily need it. I finished the match with a lot of adrenalin”, he recounts. “In the evening, we froze right away. This morning (Wednesday), I took a lot of anti-inflammatories, but I felt I was still in pain. Finally, the doctor and I went for an MRI to be sure, and he told me: don’t play”.

Djokovic and Alcaraz on top

The two big favourites in the men’s draw, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic, both held their ground.

World number 1 Carlos Alcaraz beat Japan’s Taro Daniel (112th) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. The Spaniard will face left-handed Canadian Denis Shapovalov (32nd) for a place in the last 16.

Likewise, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic qualified with ease, defeating Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (7/2), 6-0, 6-2. Djokovic also drew attention off the court by declaring his support for the Serbian minority in Kosovo. After his first match on Monday, the world number 3 wrote the following sentence on a camera: “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia”.

Stefanos Tsitsipas, ranked No. 5 in the world, also qualified for the third round by beating Spain’s Roberto Carballes, while the competition came to an end for Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka, who was beaten by Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis.

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