The 5th day of Roland Garros didn’t have many headline matches but it turned out to be another day full of surprises. David Goffin managed to beat 24th seeded American Tiafoe in 4 sets. The 20th seeded, Cilic, managed to fight back after dropping the first set against Fucsovics who is always a tough opponent. McDonald knocked out 22nd seed, Basilashvilli in straight sets. Ymer produced a big upset as he knocked out 29th seed, Evans, in 4 sets. The 4th seed, Tsitsipas, was pushed all the way in his 4 set win over qualifier, Kolar. Rublev and Sinner both came through their matches in 4 sets. Ruud, Rune, Medvedev, Gaston, Sonego, Hurkacz and Simon all came through their 2nd round matches in straight sets.

In the ladies draw the day started with Begu knocking out 30th seed, Alexandrova, in 3 sets. French Player Jeanjean delighted the home crowd as she knocked out 8th seed, Pliskova, in a comfortable straight sets win. ( 6-2; 6-2). The 11th seed, Pegula, just managed to keep her campaign alive as she beat in form Ukranian, Kalinina, in 3 sets. Badosa also had to come through a tough 2nd round match against Juvan. 19 year-old Chinese player, Zheng, produced a big upset of the day as she knocked out former champion, Simona Halep. Zheng found herself a set and a break down before she won 5 games on the trot to take the 2nd set. She then just dropped 1 game in the third set to produce the biggest win of her career so far. The late night French crowd was delighted to see Cornet defeat 13th seed and former champion Ostapenko in 3 sets. Shelby Rogers knocked out fellow American and 9th seed Collins in straight sets. Kudermetova, Keys, Giorgi, Swiatek and Sabalenka all won their matches in straight sets to book their spots in the 3rd round.

Onto the fantasy league where we saw the loss of Delbonis, Evans, Fucsovics, Bublik, Carballes Baena, Tiafoe, Pliskova, Collins, Halep, Ostapenko, Juvan, Kalinina, Riske, Alexandrova and Garcia on Day 5 of the French Open.

Day 5 saw the top 3 teams break the 100 point barrier. Simply outstanding!. We have a change up at the front with ‘Forever and a Clay’ moving into 1st position with 109 points. 5 points behind and moving up an incredible 18 places is ‘Seize the Clay’. ‘Simply Smashing rounds out the podium places in third place’. ‘Phenomenadal’ and ‘Drop Shots’ round out the prize positions in a tied 4th place. Our day 5 leader ‘Born 2 Serve’ now sits in 6th place and 10 points off the lead. We also have a change in the wooden spoon position as ‘Nuts 2 U’ takes over 68th and last place.

Matches completed on Day 5

• Kecmanovic(28) beat Bublik – 4-6; 7-5; 6-2; 6-1
• Goffin beat Tiafoe(24) – 3-6; 7-6(1); 6-2; 6-4
• Cilic(20) beat Fucsovics – 4-6; 6-4; 6-2; 6-3
• McDonald beat Basilashvilli(22) – 6-3; 6-1; 6-4
• Garin beat Ivashka – 6-3; 7-6(5); 4-6; 6-3
• Ymer beat Evans(29) – 6-3; 3-6; 6-2; 6-3
• Tsitsipas(4) beat Kolar – 6-3; 7-6(8); 6-7(3); 7-6(7)
• Sinner(11) beat Carballes Baena – 3-6; 6-4; 6-4; 6-3
• Rublev(7) beat Delbonis – 6-3; 3-6; 6-2; 6-3
• Begu beat Alexandrova(30) – 6-7(3); 6-3; 6-4
• Pegula(11) beat Kalinina – 6-1; 5-7; 6-4
• Badosa(3) beat Juvan – 7-5; 3-6; 6-2
• Keys(22) beat Garcia – 6-4; 7-6(3)
• Zheng beat Halep(19) – 2-6; 6-2; 6-1
• Swiatek(1) beat Riske – 6-0; 6-2
• Rogers beat Collins(9) – 6-4; 6-3
• Cornet beat Ostapenko(13) – 6-0; 1-6; 6-3

Matches to watch today – Day 6

• Anisimova(27) vs Muchova (11:00)
• Bencic(14) vs Fernandez(17) (12:00)
• Gauff(18) vs Kanepi (12:15)
• Kerber(21) vs Sasnovich (13:00)
• Azarenka(15) vs Teichmann(23) (14:15)
• Dimitrov(18) vs Schwartzman(15) (11:00)
• Van de Zandschulp(26) vs Nadal(5) (13:30)
• Auger-Aliassime(9) vs Krajinovic (13:35)
• Norrie(10) vs Khachanov(21) (15:30)
• Korda(27) vs Alcaraz(6) (20:45)

Jared

Jared matriculated in 2020 from Wynberg Boys High School in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. His passion for tennis afforded him the opportunity of travelling to Europe. He is a quizmaster and a fantasy organiser.