Good competitive match and Jack had many chances in the 2nd set but Alcaraz held on to the vital 10 minute service game at 3-4 down and then he went in for the kill on Draper's next serve. Alcaraz should now be the 2nd seed in Paris and Sinner the top seed.
This means that, of Jack Draper’s last six tournaments, he has either won or lost to the eventual champion in five of the six (Doha (lost final), Indian Wells (won), Miami (lost to champion), Monte Carlo (lost), Madrid (lost final), Rome (lost to champion)).
Norrie and Raducanu also through in straight sets. Raducanu beat Kasatkina the no 6 seed.
Great win for Raducanu. Kasatkina was poor for her but for most of the match Raducanu was great. No such good serving in the second set. But she is finding her feet (literally) on clay. Going for more shots, sliding and her recovery shots are much improved
Didn't see the Fearnley match but Popyrin is world 25.
Not sure what to make of the Raducanu match? Has she played too much and niggled her back. Was surprised she played another tournament before the French. Great first set, poor second with an injury niggle? then lost it in 3
Draw has been made for the French Open singles… here are each Brits’ path (not including potential qualifiers) if matches went according to their world rankings.
[5] Draper: R1 Bellucci (68) -> R2 Monfils (42) -> R3 [30] Hurkacz -> R4 [9] de Minaur -> QF [1] Sinner -> SF [3] Zverev -> F [2] Alcaraz
Draw has been made for the French Open singles… here are each Brits’ path (not including potential qualifiers) if matches went according to their world rankings.
[5] Draper: R1 Bellucci (68) -> R2 Monfils (42) -> R3 [30] Hurkacz -> R4 [9] de Minaur -> QF [1] Sinner -> SF [3] Zverev -> F [2] Alcaraz
World no. 4 Taylor Fritz beaten in the first round gives Jack Draper a massive opportunity to jump into the world’s top four with a good showing.
He’s already top 4 in the live rankings but if he were to lose early himself, it would allow someone like Djokovic to leapfrog him (push Fritz down to 6)
Draper loses the first set to Bellucci. He was 5-1 down at one point and almost clawed it back to being on serve but squandered two opportunities to do so.
Great to see him recover quickly. Two early losses of serve to lose the first set but relatively comfortable after that - wasn’t broken again in the match
Only watched Jack Draper from the 2nd set, so it was great to see him looking fit and striking the ball so well in the 4 set win. A 52 year record to have 6 GB's in the 2nd round of the French slam feels like progress. Surprise win for Norrie against Medvedev augurs well for him after a run of bad form saw him fall down the ratings.
Definitely - Raducanu wasn't rubbish but Swiatek was another level
That said putting it into into perspective; Swaitek had won 22 consecutive matches at the FO before today's match, is defending champion, was world no. for a significant time and until not that long ago and won the FO 4 times, including the last 3 consecutively, her favourites surface and Raducanu's least. Raducanu's live ranking is 38
So not unexpected. Like many matches, the score line didn't really reflect many of the points or games even. But champions like Swiatek don't make many mistakes and not many in the same game, even in the same set
Comments
Alcaraz should now be the 2nd seed in Paris and Sinner the top seed.
Norrie and Fearnley in action at Geneva this week.
Radacanu plays at Strasbourg.
This means that, of Jack Draper’s last six tournaments, he has either won or lost to the eventual champion in five of the six (Doha (lost final), Indian Wells (won), Miami (lost to champion), Monte Carlo (lost), Madrid (lost final), Rome (lost to champion)).
Not sure what to make of the Raducanu match? Has she played too much and niggled her back. Was surprised she played another tournament before the French. Great first set, poor second with an injury niggle? then lost it in 3
[5] Draper: R1 Bellucci (68) -> R2 Monfils (42) -> R3 [30] Hurkacz -> R4 [9] de Minaur -> QF [1] Sinner -> SF [3] Zverev -> F [2] Alcaraz
Fearnley (55): R1 [WC] Wawrinka (138) -> R2 [22] Humbert -> R3 [11] Medvedev -> R4 [6] Djokovic -> QF [3] Zverev -> SF [1] Sinner -> F [2] Alcaraz
Norrie (81): R1 [11] Medvedev -> R2 Kovacevic (76) -> R3 [22] Humbert -> R4 [6] Djokovic -> QF [3] Zverev -> SF [1] Sinner -> F [2] Alcaraz
Raducanu (41): R1 Wang (43) -> R2 [5] Swiatek -> R3 [26] Kostyuk -> R4 [12] Rybakina -> QF [4] Paolini -> SF [1] Sabalenka -> F [2] Gauff
Kartal (55): R1 Andreeva (102) -> R2 [30] Kalinskaya -> R3 [2] Gauff -> R4 [15] Krejcikova -> QF [7] Keys -> SF [3] Pegula -> F [1] Sabalenka
[PR] Burrage (165): R1 Collins (53) -> R2 [27] Fernandez -> R3 [1] Sabalenka -> R4 [16] Anisimova -> QF [8] Zheng -> SF [4] Paolini -> F [2] Gauff
Draper, Norrie and Kartal in action tomorrow.
He’s already top 4 in the live rankings but if he were to lose early himself, it would allow someone like Djokovic to leapfrog him (push Fritz down to 6)
A 52 year record to have 6 GB's in the 2nd round of the French slam feels like progress.
Surprise win for Norrie against Medvedev augurs well for him after a run of bad form saw him fall down the ratings.
That said putting it into into perspective; Swaitek had won 22 consecutive matches at the FO before today's match, is defending champion, was world no. for a significant time and until not that long ago and won the FO 4 times, including the last 3 consecutively, her favourites surface and Raducanu's least. Raducanu's live ranking is 38
So not unexpected. Like many matches, the score line didn't really reflect many of the points or games even. But champions like Swiatek don't make many mistakes and not many in the same game, even in the same set