{"id":467154,"date":"2026-05-30T03:49:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T03:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/467154\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T03:49:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T03:49:20","slug":"french-open-recap-day-6-sorana-cirstea-becomes-oldest-player-to-serve-grand-slam-double-bagel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/467154\/","title":{"rendered":"French Open recap Day 6: Sorana C\u00eerstea becomes oldest player to serve Grand Slam double bagel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Follow The Athletic\u2019s French Open coverage<\/a><\/p>\n

Welcome to the French Open briefing, where The Athletic\u00a0will explain the stories behind the stories on each day of the tournament.<\/p>\n

On Day 6, a player in her final season kept rolling, there was an optical illusion for one player, and the men\u2019s new generation made a mark.<\/p>\n

Another milestone for a player bowing out?<\/p>\n

There was another milestone for Sorana C\u00eerstea<\/a> on Friday, as she became the oldest player to dish out a double bagel at a Grand Slam. C\u00eerstea is playing her last year on the tour, aged 36, and at the French Open she hammered world No. 68 Solana Sierra 6-0, 6-0 to reach the fourth round and continue what\u2019s been a stellar farewell season.<\/p>\n

A season that has seen C\u00eerstea win the Transylvania Open in Romania, her home country, at the Transylvania Open, beat a world No. 1 for the first time (Aryna Sabalenka at the Italian Open earlier this month), and crack the world\u2019s top 20 for the first time. In the live rankings for points accumulated this year, she is at No. 11, giving her a chance of making the WTA Finals for the world\u2019s best eight players. Which would be an astonishing ending to a farewell year that barely caused a tremor when she announced it at the back end of 2025.<\/p>\n

C\u00eerstea showed no mercy against Sierra and will next face the qualifier Wang Xiyu in the fourth round, giving her a very presentable chance of reaching a third Grand Slam quarterfinal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019ve seen this season that I feel is different is the consistency,\u201d C\u00eerstea said in a news conference after beating Sierra. \u201cI\u2019ve been able to perform at the same level week in, week out, which maybe in the past it wasn\u2019t the case, but again, I\u2019m very, very grateful with everything that\u2019s happening, I\u2019m very grateful that all the work is paying off and I absolutely love tennis, and it\u2019s a joy to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Charlie Eccleshare<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Which tradition did Roland Garros copy from the Olympics?<\/p>\n

Two years after Roland Garros played host to the tennis tournament at the Paris Games, the French Open is taking some cues from the Olympics.<\/p>\n

Tennis players can now collect and trade pins like Olympians. But instead of the baubles representing country delegations as they do during the Games, Roland Garros created French Open-themed pins, including a panama hat and a tennis ball. Players can pick up a pin for whichever draw they\u2019re in \u2014 singles, doubles, wheelchair, mixed doubles \u2014 then one pin for each round they win.<\/p>\n

Mirra Andreeva might be the biggest pin fan in the tournament. The 19-year-old arrived at her news conference after beating No. 27 seed Marie Bouzkov\u00e1 of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2, with pins halfway up her credential.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said that I could get three different pins a day. \u2026 I took all of them, everything that they had already,\u201d Andreeva said.<\/p>\n

The teenager was excited to get to participate in the fad after missing out during the Paris Games. Andreeva won the silver medal in women\u2019s doubles alongside Diana Shnaider but, like many tennis players, didn\u2019t live in the athletes\u2019 village.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was not able to exchange pins with other athletes, but the physios in the locker room also gave me some pins,\u201d Andreeva said. \u201cThen I saw players here in the locker room, they gave me some, I gave them some. So from Olympics I also have full credential with different kinds of pins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andreeva, it may be obvious, is a pro at this \u2014 she collected stickers as a child.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ava Wallace<\/p>\n

How did the frazzling start to the tournament continue?<\/p>\n

The baking-hot weather during opening week has frazzled everybody, leading to long matches, zombified players and an overwhelming feeling of carnage.<\/p>\n

Friday was just as hot \u2014 but the drama kept coming from ever more unlikely places:<\/p>\n

World No. 66 Zeynep S\u00f6nmez of Turkey<\/a> was forced to retire injured from a doubles match after tripping over an advertising block at the back of the court.
\nLater, tournament organizers issued a statement saying the placement of advertising blocks near the back fences would be reviewed.
\nThe incident followed Belgian top-40 men\u2019s player Alexander Blockx spraining his ankle and withdrawing from the tournament after he tripped on a tarp<\/a>. Blockx\u2019s team is considering a compensation claim.<\/p>\n

Then there was Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, who responded to his five-set defeat to rising French teenager Mo\u00efse Kouame in front of a vociferous crowd on Court Suzanne-Lenglen<\/a> by saying that the chair umpire, Ana Carvalho, was not strong enough to referee the match because she is a woman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The FFT and tournament organizers said Vallejo would be fined for his comments.<\/p>\n

And finally, some on-court drama, in the form of probably too many five-set matches.<\/p>\n

To go with Fonseca vs. Djokovic and Ruud vs. Paul, there was lucky loser Jesper de Jong of the Netherlands and Russian No. 13 seed Karen Khachanov. De Jong, in the main draw only because Arthur Fils of France withdrew, beat Khachanov 7-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-2.<\/p>\n

Fifteenth-seeded Casper Ruud was a marathon man like Fonseca, as the Norwegian came from two sets down against (24) Tommy Paul of the U.S. to win 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(4), 7-5, and Rafael J\u00f3dar (27) of Spain won a five-setter of his own, beating Alex Michelsen of the U.S. 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.<\/p>\n

J\u00f3dar, 19, faced online backlash after he appeared to shove<\/a> a ball kid during his match against Michelsen, but wider video angles show the ball kid tripping on the tarp<\/a> at the back of the court and falling backward by happenstance at the exact moment Jodar makes a gesture with his hand.<\/p>\n

In his news conference Friday, J\u00f3dar said he did not push anyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I mean, I finished the second or third set. I don\u2019t remember which set it was. She was walking backwards, and I think she \u2014 yeah, I mean, I didn\u2019t push her or anything. I was telling my dad to give me the things that he was going to give me after a toilet break, when I was coming back,\u201d J\u00f3dar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, yeah, she was in the middle, so I think she was trying to get out of the way. She was going backwards, but I think she, like, fell, but not because I push her, because it was something for, like what do you call it? The mop or \u2026 the court cover, yeah. It was right behind her. So when she was walking backwards, she fell with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate all the work that the ball kids are doing. I know it\u2019s difficult with the heat and the conditions to stay there, so I appreciate. I could never, you know, push a ball kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Charlie Eccleshare and Ava Wallace<\/p>\n

Other notable results on Day 6:
\nMarta Kostyuk (15) extended her 2026 clay record to 15-0 with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Switzerland\u2019s Viktorija Golubic. She will play four-time Roland Garros champion Iga \u015awi\u0105tek (3) after \u015awi\u0105tek won an all-Polish encounter against Magda Linette 6-4, 6-4.
\nAndrey Rublev (11) recorded a timely straight-sets win, 7-5, 7-6(2), 7-6(2), over Nuno Borges of Portugal, as the Russian conserved some energy heading into the second week.
\nElina Svitolina (7) eased into the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Germany\u2019s Tamara Korpatsch.
\nGermany\u2019s Alexander Zverev (3) reached the last 16 with a 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over Quentin Halys of France.
\nShot of the day<\/p>\n

Karol\u00edna Muchov\u00e1 (10) may have lost 6-1, 7-5 to Jil Teichmann, but the Czech player won the battle of style:<\/p>\n

\"\"Drop Shots<\/p>\n

\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddf8 Sports documentaries can be hagiographic. The new one on Rafael Nadal is an unsparing journey into his tennis suffering<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfdf\ufe0f Last year it was Arthur Fils. This year it is Mo\u00efse Kouame. When Court Suzanne-Lenglen<\/a> receives a French player in need of a rocket boost, it fires the opponent into the sun.<\/p>\n

Up next: Third round continues<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfbe Women\u2019s singles: Iva Jovi\u0107 (17) vs. Naomi Osaka (16)
5 a.m. ET on TNT, HBO Max<\/p>\n

Jovi\u0107\u2019s controlled aggressiveness and easy movement<\/a> will be compelling foils to Osaka\u2019s dictating power in a duel of youth and experience. Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion<\/a> who has benefited from the hot, dry conditions, has been making statements in the fashion department all week. A win for Japan\u2019s sporting talisman over Jovi\u0107, the 18-year-old rising American, would be her biggest on-court one on clay in some time.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfbe Men\u2019s singles: Flavio Cobolli (10) vs. Learner Tien (18)
6 a.m. ET on HBO Max<\/p>\n

A match of huge consequence in the newly Jannik Sinner-less half of the men\u2019s draw. Tien\u2019s secure floor, patient point construction and recently acquired affinity for clay make him a compelling pick to go deep. But the 20-year-old American will be tested by Cobolli. The 24-year-old Italian\u2019s floor can be the opposite of secure, but his ceiling is orders of magnitude more devastating than Tien\u2019s \u2014 and he loves playing on clay.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfbe Men\u2019s singles: Mo\u00efse Kouame (WC) vs. Alejandro Tabilo
9:30 a.m. ET on HBO Max<\/p>\n

A veteran Grand Slam champion. A dangerous clay-courter with some interesting opinions<\/a>. And now a fully rested Chilean who has beaten Novak Djokovic on clay. Kouame, the 17-year-old Parisian thrilling crowds with his shotmaking<\/a> and his maturity beyond his years, is having himself a debut French Open. Tabilo received a walkover from Valentin Vacherot in the previous round, while Kouame won in five sets, from 5-3 down in the fifth. Will rhythm or rest carry the day?<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfbe Women\u2019s singles: Coco Gauff (4) vs. Anastasia Potapova (28)
Not before 10 a.m. ET on TNT, HBO Max<\/p>\n

A perilous assignment for the defending champion<\/a>. Potapova is 16-4 on clay in 2026, and she earned those wins the hard way, by reaching the Madrid Open semifinals as a lucky loser and the Italian Open fourth round as a qualifier. Gauff didn\u2019t drop a set in her first two matches, but she has dropped plenty of them during this clay swing, and this is her first real test of the tournament. Keep a close eye.<\/p>\n

French Open women\u2019s draw 2026French Open men\u2019s draw 2026<\/p>\n

Tell us what you noticed on the sixth day\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Follow The Athletic\u2019s French Open coverage Welcome to the French Open briefing, where The Athletic\u00a0will explain the stories…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,6661,105,1504,1505],"class_list":["post-467154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-olympics","tag-sports","tag-sports-business","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}