What happened on Wednesday
On a hot and balmy Day 4 in Paris, second-round matches got underway, shaking things up in the men’s and women’s singles draw.
Our reporters once again slapped on the sunscreen and headed out to see what was going on.
Chris Oddo started his day on Court Simonne-Mathieu, watching No.11 seed Belinda Bencic – playing in her first Roland-Garros since becoming a mother to daughter Bella – take a 6-4, 6-0 win over the USA’s Caty McNally. He finished his day on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, as a “crisp, lively and efficient” Casper Ruud booked his spot in the third round. And like all good reporters, Chris has a very enquiring mind – when he wasn’t watching tennis he set out to find out how this week’s heat is transforming the clay.
Dan Imhoff took his seat on Chatrier first up to watch Czech lefty Sara Bejlek try unsuccessfuly to find a way past Iga Swiatek. He then got into the carnival mood and joined the exuberant crowds on Court 14 as Brazil’s Joao Fonseca came back from two sets down to beat Croatian Dino Prizmic.
Alex Sharp watched Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva clinch the biggest win of her career as she downed No.2 seed and Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina. He then sat down for a chat with the world No.55 to find out what she really thought about it all. An excellent multitasker, he also kept a watching eye on Novak Djkovic, who was busy over on Chatrier amassing more records as he beat Frenchman Valentin Royer.
Our regular night-owl Victoria Chiesa was on the case as the lights came on for Alexander Zverev’s 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win over Tomas Machac.
With so much going on on Wednesday, Lee Goodall had quite a lot to sum up in his daily wrap.