The Athletic has live coverage of Day 3 at the 2026 French Open
Welcome to the French Open briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories on each day of the tournament.
On Day 2, it was a scorcher in every sense, as the sun beat down. Players and fans responded in kind.
How did players and fans respond to scorching heat?
For the second day of the French Open main draw, temperatures reached 91.4 degrees and stayed there into the evening.
For fans, queues to fill up water bottles and stand underneath shower sprinklers lengthened throughout the day. But such conditions did not deter them from packing the courts, nor waiting over half an hour to gain a prime spot on tiny courts. In the early rounds of a major, big stars always play at venues that resemble a modest club.
For the first time at Roland Garros, digital boards above walkways around the complex provide real-time updates on how full a court is.
Despite Court 7 saying it was 98 percent full, tennis fan Nawfel Barah remained patient in a queue that wrapped around the court’s walls. “In the heat, that’s not ideal for a tennis life,” he said.
However, Romuald Pattier from Normandie, sporting a tied shirt around his neck to protect himself from sunburn, said he would take this type of weather over rain any day of the week. “It’s harder for the players than the fans,” he said.
That was true Monday. During No. 11 seed Andrey Rublev’s win over Ignacio Buse, a ballkid required assistance after feeling dazed at the end of a point. No. 15 seed Casper Ruud was two sets up and served for the match against Russia’s Roman Safiullin, but almost literally wilted in the heat. Ruud lost the next two sets, but Safiullin experienced physical issues of his own, and Ruud recovered quickest to win in five sets.
Players don’t just have to adapt physically.
Heat lowers air density, so shots travel faster. It also makes air expand, increasing the pressure inside a tennis ball and making it bounce higher. When four-time French Open winner Iga Świątek arrived in Paris, the temperature was lower and the balls heavier. “You could put your whole body and power into the ball, and you would still feel like you controlled it,” she said in a news conference.
In hotter climates, players will also tighten the tension of their racket strings to improve control. But the major impact of heat is how it saps energy and demands endurance. Somehow, the tennis fans at Roland Garros on Day 2 had plenty of that.
— Charlotte Harpur
How does tennis kryptonite work?
There are certain players who have the honor of being someone’s tennis kryptonite. For reasons that go beyond matchup problems, they hold an unreasonably favorable head-to-head matchup against someone who, on paper, should be beating them more often than not.
Think Dustin Brown’s 2-0 record against Rafael Nadal, or Iga Świątek’s 0-6 record against her potential third-round opponent here, Jelena Ostapenko. Even Taylor Fritz’s 9-5 record against Alexander Zverev counts, now that Fritz’s win streak against him is up to six matches.
Anna Bondár was in danger of becoming Elina Svitolina’s kryptonite Monday at the French Open, where the Hungarian world No. 57 nearly beat the Ukrainian — a five-time quarterfinalist who is on the longlist of favorites for the women’s title — for the third consecutive match.
Bondár seemed to have Svitolina’s number, after knocking her out of the U.S. Open in the first round last year, then beating her at the Madrid Open last month, both times in straight sets.
But Svitolina rebounded after trailing 3-1 in the final set to win 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(3) in two hours and 26 minutes. The day’s smothering heat that required as much mental fortitude as it did physical stamina, and Svitolina reset to roll through the third-set tiebreak after being broken to love when serving for the match at 5-4.
She called it one of the most difficult opening-round matches she’s had at a Grand Slam.
Elina Svitolina reveled in her victory over Anna Bondár at the French Open. (Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP via Getty Images)
“She just plays really well against me. She just serves big, goes down the lines, cleans the lines, and just playing great tennis,” Svitolina said.
“Sometimes happens like this. I think when people have nothing to lose against you, and it is a bit, you know, they are going for it full, you have to just find a way to win.”
Fans had this match circled as a potential upset because of Bondar’s recent history against Svitolina, even though Svitolina leads their head-to-head 3-2. But Svitolina rejected the idea that the two straight losses were enough to have her in her own head going into the match — especially because one of them happened in Madrid, where the city’s altitude makes it an outlier on the clay swing.
In fact, two losses on two different surfaces, at two different points in the season and in different conditions, provided just the right balance of tactical information and motivation.
“I really sit down with my coach and talk about things that I can improve for the upcoming match, the things that I did well. Still, you know, in Madrid, it was really bad performance from my side. She played unbelievable,” Svitolina said.
Svitolina doubled over in despair several times throughout the match, and both players used ice towels at every changeover, but her body language during points never changed. When she won a 14-minute game to move to 1-1 in the third set, she raised her fist in defiance.
“With a little bit of nerves, it’s normal that you’re not feeling at your best. It’s all about the mental toughness and really fighting for every single point, even if I’m break-point down.
“Being strong and giving, like, all my energy into that game, really put me through and put me back on the track, because, you know. I had no right to give her the lead in the third.”
No kryptonite here.
— Ava Wallace
A day of eyebrow-raising results — and shots?
There were plenty of eyes on Rafael Jódar’s first match at Roland Garros on Monday.
Jódar, 19, has spent the past two months announcing himself as a rising star, another player from Spain with clay-court skills, but of a completely different kind from its greatest export, Rafael Nadal.
And what a debut it was. Ranked outside the top 700 a year ago, the No. 27 seed made a mess of 27-year-old American Aleksandar Kovacevic, 6-0, 6-1, 6-4.
Jódar won 84 points. Kovacevic won 48 and didn’t play badly. Jódar, who can obliterate the ball, came out hot and stayed that way on a scorching day, winning half of the points on Kovacevic’s serve.
“First matches are always difficult,” Jódar said in his news conference, even though his didn’t look very difficult at all.
Fans looking to get a glimpse of a next big thing stood five and six-deep around the small field court. There’s a good chance Jódar, a semifinalist at the Barcelona Open and a quarterfinalist at the Madrid Open this clay season, won’t be on them long.
It was that kind of day at Roland Garros, with the outside courts producing thrilling moments of every kind. There was Ignacio Buse, fresh off his biggest career title at the Hamburg Open in Germany. The 22-year-old Peruvian lost 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5 to No. 11 seed Andrey Rublev, but produced one of the shots of the tournament. Buse, scrambling backward and holding a continental grip — making him unable to impart topspin to dip the ball — ripped it past Rublev to steal the second set:
There was Thanasi Kokkinakis, playing his first main-draw match at a Grand Slam since January 2025, after surgery in which an Achilles tendon was taken from someone who had passed away and used to attach his pectoral muscle to his shoulder. He overcame Térence Atmane of France in a seesawing, at-times absurd match, 6-7(5), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. The final set turned into a sun-splashed, sweat-drenched movie, before at 5-5, Atmane missed two overheads (look out for one of them below) and gave Kokkinakis the chance to serve out the match. He took it and collapsed to the clay in disbelief.
It was that kind of day.
— Matt Futterman and James Hansen
How did two legends bow out?
Fans would be forgiven for rolling their eyes at yet more tennis goodbyes. With so many from the sport’s most recent golden generation bowing out over the last few years, waving off another star has felt almost routine.
But there are surely few who would begrudge Stan Wawrinka and Gaël Monfils getting big send-offs at their final French Open. Wawrinka won the tournament in 2015, beating a peak version of Novak Djokovic, who was on a 28-match winning streak in the middle of his career-best season. And Monfils has spent his career lighting up Court Philippe-Chatrier, especially at night, where he played his last match at the tournament against compatriot Hugo Gaston.
Gaël Monfils said farewell to his home Grand Slam. (Alain Jocard / AFP via Getty Images)
For Monfils, 39, and Wawrinka, 41, this is their final year on tour. Wawrinka’s final Roland Garros ended in defeat to Dutch lucky loser Jesper de Jong in four sweaty, gripping sets. Monfils, meanwhile, delivered his calling card: A late-night five-setter on Court Philippe-Chatrier. He fell to Gaston, but the crowd was there for him through it all.
After the matches were over, the farewell parties began. De Jong began the tributes to Wawrinka, referencing the fact that he had once been a ballboy for Wawrinka.
Then came the video thank-you montage, and as male players go, it doesn’t get much more A-list than Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and the home hero Monfils. Winning three Grand Slams, the Davis Cup and an Olympic gold in the toughest era tennis has ever known earned Wawrinka these kinds of friends and admirers.
Wawrinka appeared for Monfils too, alongside Federer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Alcaraz, Arthur Fils and Ugo Humbert.
Wawrinka and Monfils were also relatable. Wawrinka beat Djokovic in 2015 in a pair of red, white and grey plaid shorts that went down in tennis infamy (the pattern of which was reproduced on his shirt collar in Monday’s match against De Jong), the night after having a couple of drinks to settle his nerves.
It was that relatability, plus the stunning shotmaking, that made them so popular whenever they played. Nowhere more so than in Paris. “It’s hard to say goodbye to you here,” Wawrinka said on court. “It’s because of Roland Garros that I wanted to become a tennis player.”
There’s room for more tennis goodbyes after all.
— Charlie Eccleshare
Other notable results on Day 2:
- Iga Świątek (3) cruised past Australian wild card Emerson Jones 6-1, 6-2.
- Frances Tiafoe (19) came through an all-American clash against Elliot Spizzirri 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3.
- Elena Rybakina (2) followed Świątek on Court Philippe-Chatrier and took much the same path, with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Veronika Erjavec.
- Ben Shelton (5) eased past a potential banana skin in 21-year-old Spaniard Daniel Mérida, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
Shot of the day
Sorry to France’s Térence Atmane, who lost that five-set thriller to Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia, but sometimes the shot of the day is an ignominious one. Here’s that aforementioned overhead whiff at 5-5 in the fifth set:
Drop Shots
🤯 How one tennis player’s disbelieving reaction to a line call revealed a philosophical problem for umpires on clay courts.
🐐 Trophies are one part of a player’s legacy. At his last French Open, Gaël Monfils’ inspiration shines brighter than ever.
🧱 For American men, clay-court tennis remains a challenge. Ben Shelton wants to look at it differently.
🔙 Can a tennis player learn the sport backwards? A U.S. teenager on the rise may have the answer.
Up next: First round continues
🎾 Men’s singles: Marin Čilić vs. Moïse Kouamé (WC)
5 a.m. ET on Max
Twenty years separate Čilić, the 2014 U.S. Open champion, and Kouamé, the rising French talent who is hoping to have a breakout run at Roland Garros. Čilić, 37, returned from a lateral meniscus tear in 2024 and has earned some statement wins since his return. The most notable was a four-set win over then-world No. 4 Jack Draper at last year’s Wimbledon. But his form in 2026 has been patchy, and Kouamé, with a home crowd behind him and nothing to lose, may sense the opportunity for a famous victory.
🎾 Women’s singles: Iva Jović (17) vs. Alexandra Eala
5 a.m. ET on Max
Jović and Eala are close friends, and they meet at the second Grand Slam of the year with an opportunity to further their respective ascents up the rankings. Their game styles make this match quite likely to go the distance, with Jović’s controlled aggressiveness and Eala’s fizzing movement complementing each other well.
🎾 Women’s singles: Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro
6 a.m. ET on Max
World No. 1 Sabalenka opens her campaign against Bouzas Maneiro, in her first match since a third-round loss at the Italian Open, in which she received treatment for a back injury. Sabalenka has looked her fluid self in practice since, and while Bouzas Maneiro ran her close during parts of their Australian Open meeting in 2025, the power differential is likely to be too great for the Spaniard to overcome.
🎾 Women’s singles: Coco Gauff (4) vs. Taylor Townsend
11 a.m. ET on Max
Coco Gauff’s title defense opens against compatriot Townsend, who equaled her best Grand Slam singles run at last year’s U.S. Open. Townsend’s serve-and-volley game and quick hands might have more of an impact than usual, given the high temperatures at Roland Garros, but Gauff’s superiority from the baseline will be hard to overcome.
French Open women’s draw 2026
French Open men’s draw 2026
Tell us what you noticed on the second day …
