High drama on Saturday
There were times on Day 7 when we didn’t know where to look there was so much going on. Thankfully, as ever, our tireless reporters were there to make sense of it all.
Alex Sharp took the opening match on Chatrier, and watched as football fan Flavio Cobolli put in a dominant performance to defeat the USA’s Learner Tien. Afterwards, the Italian was more concerned with talking about that night’s upcoming Champions League final than the match he had just played.
Chris Oddo spent the morning on Lenglen as Naomi Osaka – walking out in another spectacular outfit – met 18-year-old Iva Jovic, progressing through to the second week with a 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-4 win. He later returned to Lenglen and settled in for the treat that was French teenager Moise Kouame’s meeting with Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo. It didn’t disappoint, with Tabilo securing his second week ticket with a fourth-set tiebreak. Ever curious, Chris also took some time to peruse the men’s draw, which is full of opportunity; for the first time since 1968 no former Grand Slam champions have made it through to the last 16.
Osaka will now meet Aryna Sabalenka, who Dan Imhoff watched in her third-round match on Lenglen as she moved past Daria Kasatkina. Dan then hotfooted it to Chatrier, where defending champion Coco Gauff was on court to face Anastasia Potapova, who put in a “scrappy yet defiant” performance to dash Gauff’s hopes of a second consecutive title.
In the night match under the lights on Chatrier, Felix Auger-Aliassime, who performed such a miraculous escape from German Daniel Altmaier in the first round, moved into the second week with a win over the USA’s Brandon Nakashima. Another player to reference the Champions League final, won by Paris club PSG, FAA called the result “a great evening for me and all Parisians.” Victoria Chiesa wrote it all up for us.
As always, Lee Goodall’s wrap catches it all.
