Key events
Down 30-40, Michelsen whacks a forehand and I think it’s fractionally wide. The umpire comes for a look, up goes the finger, and Jodar leads 1-0 in the fifth. I’m enjoying him a lot but, for what it’s worth, I don’t think he’s ready to get by Zverev, his likely quarter-final opponent, should he make it there
Fonseca holds well for 4-6 1-0 – and he also did a decent job in Licorice Pizza.
Both Djokovic and Jodar do the necessary, the former taking further treatment and the latter semi-shoving a ballgirl out of the road in the process of leaving court while gesticulating to his box. Jodar has to be a strong favourite to close out the match from here, but I’m really interested to see how Fonesca does now he’s sure he belongs.
Both Michelsen and Fonseca hold, forcing Jodar and Djokovic respectively to serve out their first and fourth sets; on Lenglen, Svitolina breaks Korpatsch then consolidates for 2-0 in the first.
But before we can continue, Michelsen summons the trainer to look at his back, which diverts my attention to Fonseca, who has a point to claw back a break. And doesn’t he do everything possible to force it, exploding into his groundstrokes until Djokovic nets. I don’t think he can save the set from here, but that rally tells me he’s starting to feel comfortable on court.
He has to fight to and through deuce to get there, but Fonseca holds for 5-2, forcing Djokovic to serve for the first set; Jodar does endorse the break, so also leads 5-2, a game away from forcing the decider we deserve.
Receiving at 1-2 3-2 30-all, Jodar goes down the line with a backhand that’s going wide … until it clips the net and lands in. He then hammers a forehand winner, with Michelsen caught at the net, and he’s been very good in this set, the break fully earned. But can he consolidate?
For those unfamiliar with the German, she’s been in the news this week:
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Next on Lenglen: Elina Svitolina (7) v Tamara Korpatsch.
I meant to note earlier, Cirstea demolished Sierra 6-0 6-0 – ouch – and meets Wang, a qualifier, next. That means Khachanov and De Jong are under way, the Dutchman up 1-0.
Be careful what you wish for. Fonseca was desperate to know what it’s like to play Djokovic and now hew does, down 4-1 and two breaks. He does, though, have time to settle into the match, but needing five sets to beat Prizmic suggests he’s not quite ready to beat the best ever at a major – especially with Sinner and Alcaraz out.
Teichmann speaks in French and no translation is forthcoming; in the absence of de toute façon j’aime la spéléologie or pour aller à la gare, I’m afraid I’m unable to translate, but she’s dead happy and rightly so. For a set, she played pretty much ass well as she can, then when her streak cooled, stayed calm as pressure rose, retrieving two breaks to beat a superb opponent – though one who didn’t produce close to her best level. I’ll be shocked if she beats Andreeva, but I’d never have picked her to win today.
Jil Teichmann beats Karolína Muchová (10) 6-1 7-5
Another loose backhand from Muchova and Teichman drops to her knees, laughing at the hilarity of it all. She’s into round four, where she’ll face Mirra Andreeva; she’s come a long way.
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From 30-0, Muchova closes to 30-all, but a backhand swiped wide has her hitting her racket, match-point down…
We’re away on Chatrier. Fonseca – who was desperate to be drawn against Djokovic and have playing the greatest in his life – saves a break point with a fine backhand down the line … but there are two of them and he cedes the second, as consecutive unforced errors from Muchova donate Teichmann what might be the decisive break. At 6-1 6-5, the Swiss will now serve for the match.
Teichmann does indeed hold, but I think Muchova has it in her to stay even and not become discouraged, but from 40-0, she’s suddenly under pressure at 40-30, a couple of errors upping the pressure. And a forehand into the net means deuce; might the match be here?
…and he does! He ought really to have gone down 2-0, but instead he’s up 2-1; I doubt even the cap hair he reveals when changing his top can upset him.
Teichmann sticks Muchova on the bike, as you would against someone with a leg situation, dancing a little jig when a drop brings her 0-30. And though, at 15-40, she goes long, an inside-out backhand on to the sideline seals the break-back – but can she hold for 5-5? Meantime, Michelsen is at 30-15 trying to serve out the third set against Jodar…
Teichmann holds, so Muchova must serve for a decider at 1-6 5-3; Michelsen holds against Jodar for 1-1 5-3, and if he can close out the set, he’ll feel like he’s a great chance of winning one of the next two.
Cirstea leads Sierra, who beat Paolini in round two, 6-0 3-0; Muchova takes a medical timeout to address an issue with her right leg, having had one of her breaks taken back, Teichmann leadig her 6-1 2-5, and off we go again.
Next on Chatrier: João Fonseca (28) v Novak Djokovic (3).
Andreeva says that it’s always difficult against Bouzkova – you really have to work the points to win them. She was happy to win the first set despite not playing that well, and happy she was aggressive throughout the match.
She likes it when it’s hot and the ball bounces more – she can give a good shape on it – but when she asked Rublev to finish his last match quickly so she could get the conditions she wanted, he said no, he was going to take it slowly, presumably so she’d have to win in adverse circumstances.
Otherwise, she’s sure her coach, Conchita Martinez, will have notes, and they’ll try to adapt her game to whoever the next opponent is.
Mirra Andreeva (8) beats Marie Bouzkova (27) 6-4 6-2
Andreeva is getting to that point where her basic level of performance is good enough to beat almost everyone; next for her comes Teichmann or Muchova.
Andreeva breaks Bouzkova again and at 6-4 5-2 is serving for the match; Jodar retrieves a break to trail Michelsen 3-1 in the third; and Muchova is all over Teichmann now at 1-6 5-1, a second break telling us that class is overriding form.
I should also note that Michelsen and Jodar are wearing identical outfits, the latter having changed to a blue cap.
I can confirm that the aforementioned salad dressing stained the worktops. Happily, the aforementioned 12-year-old then coated them – the worktops, not the salad dressing – in Cif, so that is now all over my hands. Anyhow, Jodar directs a backhand down the line but just wide, and suddenly, from serving for a 2-0 lead, he’s been broken thrice on the spin, trailing 3-0 in the third.
It takes him a while, but Michelsen endorses his break for 1-1 2-0, as Muchova preserves hers by holding from 0-40 down. She leads 4-1 in the second having lost the first 6-1, and on Chatrier, Andreeva is nearly there, leading Bouzkova 6-4 4-2.
Now then. Jodar leaves the court between sets, returns, and is broken. we’ll see how he responds, but Coach Calv is high on him: “He’s class. Huge hitter. Very composed for his age. He could go very deep here.”
The composure is very apparent – he backs himself, and not in a foolish, youthful way, but because he trusts himself.
On Lenglen, it’s going as we thought it might, Teichmann’s streak expiring as Muchova improves to trail 1-6 2-0; Andreeva leads Bouzkova 6-4 2-0.
My 12-year-old disturbs me to talk the salad dressing she’s just made – yes, I have disowned her – and Michelsen makes 6-4, but a big serve from Jodar amps up the pressure at 6-5. And brutal hitting from the Spaniard opens the opportunity to finish the rally with a mid-court forehand … but he nets! Real talk, I don’t think losing this set will affect the outcome, because Michelsen needs that kind of error to win and I doubt he gets enough of them, but for now, he’s saluting his box having levelled the match at a set apiece.
Andreeva breaks Bouzkova immediately at the start of set two, and she’s on the surge now; part of her development has been taking control of matches when she’s in the ascendancy – the ability to up it when necessary – and that’s what we’re seeing here. Elsewhere, Muchova is made to fight for it, but she holds at the start of set two to trail Teichmann 1-6 1-0, while Michelsen has the mini-break against Jodar, up 4-3.
Michelsen is a gamer, making 30-all, then, when Jodar goes for his big second serve again, this time he misses … and a second double, the second serve of which is butchered, the ball never threatening to bounce in the box, means we’re back on serve with a second breaker upon us.
Yeah, Rafael Jodar is forrreal. Michelsen facilitates him with a pair of unforced errors but then, up 30-40, he races way out of court on the backhand side and smites a winner down the line and at the ankles to secure a break. He’ll now serve for the second set and a 2-0 lead at 7-6 6-5.
