Day 3 and the last day of round 1 action. Day 3 really had it all with many 5 set matches being played, more dramatic upsets and a late night thriller which ended with the Frenchman we all love, Monfils, coming back from 0-4 down in the final set to take the set 7-5 and the match 3 sets to 2 to the delight of his home crowd.

Today I will begin with the men’s draw and the biggest upset of the day and the tournament so far. The 2nd seed, Medvedev, who was coming off a Rome title not so long ago, lost in the 1st round against unseeded Brazilian, Seyboth Wild. Medvedev lost the 1st set but looked like he was back on track after he took the 3rd set comfortable 6-2 to lead the match 2 sets to 1. However Seyboth Wild was there to spoil his party as the Brazilian took the next 2 sets 6-3; 6-4 to book his spot in the 2nd round. To make this win even more impressive, it was Seyboth Wilds first ever 5 set match and what a 5th set he managed to play. This had big implications on the fantasy leaderboard as he was the second most picked player on the men’s side of the draw which meant many people have had to bring in their substitute already.
Another surprise happened earlier in the day when the 31st seed, Kecmanovic, led by 2 sets to love over Italian Vavassori before Vavassori won the next 3 sets, all in tiebreaks, to knock out the Serb and book his spot in the 2nd round. The match lasted 5h 10min which is one of the longest matches to be played at the French Open.
Nishioka the 27th seed, managed to just about survive his 1st round encounter against American, Wolf. The Japanese player having to come back from 2 sets to love down to book his spot in the 2nd round.
Olivieri, Ruusuvuori, Pella, Hanfmann, Monfils and Zeppieri all had to get through their first round matches in 5 sets. The latter, Zeppieri, beating Bublik to the disappoint of some fantasy teams. All together 9 men’s singles first round matches played on day 3 went to 5 sets which is just insane.
Rune, Zverev, Ruud, Cerundolo, Fritz and Dimitrov all safely navigated their way into the 2nd round of this years French Open.

On the ladies side, we are accustomed to seeing the seeds falling like flies and day 3 was no different to the norm. 25th seed, Kalinina, who had started making her name for herself in the tournaments leading up to the French Open lost in straight sets against French player, Parry.
31st seed, Bouzkova, also fell at the first hurdle along with 13th seed, Krejcikova, 30th seed Cirstea, 18th seed Azarenka and 32nd seed, Rogers.
Of the seeds who played on day 3 only the 7th seed, Jabeur, 6th seed Gauff, 4th seed Rybakina and 1st seed, Swiatek safely navigated their way through their first round matches.

The picks who lost on day 3:
Men: Bublik, Gasquet, Kecmanovic, Medvedev and Wolf.
Ladies: Azarenka, Bouzkova, Cirstea, Krejcikova and Zhu Lin

Onto the Fantasy Leaderboard:
There have been some big changes after day 3 to the fantasy leaderboard. ‘Royal Roland’ move up 2 spots to take the lead after round 1 of this years French Open. They lead ‘Down the Line’ who are sitting in 2nd by 4 points. ‘Pat’s Pick’ sit in 3rd by just 1 point. ‘Buena Suerta’ and ‘Sweet Spot’ sit in a joint 4th while ‘Serves you Right’ sit in the last prize position being 6th place. ‘What the Deuce!’ and ‘Serve with Eish’ swap positions which means ‘What the Deuce!’ are currently winning the wooden spoon award.

Matches to Watch Day 4:

• Carballes Baena vs Tsitsipas(5) (11:00)
• Wawrinka vs Kokkinakis (12:15)
• Sonego vs Humbert (12:15)
• Griekspoor vs Hurkacz(13) (13:30)
• Khachanov(11) vs Albot (14:15)
• Moutet vs Rublev(7) (14:15)
• Alcaraz(1) vs Daniel (14:15)
• Bautista-Agut(19) vs Varillas (14:15)
• Pouille vs Norrie(14) (15:30)
• Djokovic(3) vs Fucsovics (20:15)

• Ostapenko(17) vs Stearns (11:00)
• Mertens(28) vs Osorio Serrano (11:00)
• Giorgi vs Pegula(3) (11:45)
• Samsonova(15) vs Pavlyuchenkova (12:15)
• Vondrousova vs Kasatkina(9) (13:00)
• Shymanovich vs Sabalenka(2) (14:15)
• Stephens vs Gracheva (14:15)
• Fernandez vs Tauson (16:15)

Match Results Day 3:

• Parry beat Kalinina(25) – 6-2; 6-3
• Wang beat Bouzkova(31) – 6-4; 7-6(5)
• Jabeur(7) beat Bronzetti – 6-4; 6-1
• Gauff(6) beat Masarova – 3-6; 6-1; 6-2
• Tsurenko beat Krejcikova(13) – 6-2; 6-4
• Paolini beat Cirstea(30) – 7-5; 2-6; 6-2
• Rybakina(4) beat Fruhvirtova – 6-4; 6-2
• Swiatek(1) beat Bucsa – 6-4; 6-0
• Andreescu beat Azarenka(18) – 2-6; 6-3; 6-4
• Martic beat Rogers(32) – 3-6; 6-3; 6-2
• Paul(16) beat Stricker – 6-3; 6-2; 6-4
• Vavassori beat Kecmanovic(31) – 5-7; 2-6; 7-6(8); 7-6(3); 7-6(11-9)
• Ruud(4) beat Ymer – 6-4; 6-3; 6-2
• Nishioka(27) beat Wolf – 1-6; 3-6; 6-4; 6-3; 6-3
• Zverev(22) beat Harris – 7-6(6); 7-6(0); 6-1
• Zeppieri beat Bublik – 6-0; 4-6; 4-6; 6-3; 7-5
• Seyboth Wild beat Medvedev(2) – 7-6(5); 6-7(6); 2-6; 6-3; 6-4
• Ruusuvuori beat Barrere – 6-2; 6-7(7); 5-7; 6-1; 6-4
• Cerundolo(23) beat Munar – 6-1; 2-6; 7-6(5); 6-1
• Rune(6) beat Eubanks – 6-4; 3-6; 7-6(2); 6-2
• Monfils beat Baez – 3-6; 6-3; 7-5; 1-6; 7-5

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 tennis fantasy league organiser.http://Eishonline.co.za/jftl