Emma Raducanu and Francesca Jones have bonded over their toil and tumult in recent months and years, but the contrast in the close friends’ tears of despair and joy could hardly have been starker in the French Open first round.
The British No1’s expectations were always restrained after only playing her first match on clay last week following a ten-week absence owing to post-viral symptoms, but a 6-0, 7-6 (7-4) defeat against Solana Sierra, the world No68, was bitterly disappointing and Raducanu’s eyes watered when discussing the mentality required to keep picking herself back up after experiencing so many setbacks since winning the US Open five years ago.
The searing 31C heat in Paris did not aid the 23-year-old’s lack of match fitness, and she was coughing, lethargic and devoid of rhythm in a humbling first set, failing to win a single game for just the second time in her career at grand-slam level — the only previous example was a 6-1, 6-0 loss at the 2025 Australian Open, but that came against six-times grand-slam champion Iga Swiatek.
There was a significant improvement in the second set when Raducanu forced a tie-break after being 4-1 downMOHAMMED BADRA/EPA
Raducanu, the world No39, showed admirable heart in the second set, recovering from 4-1 down and twice breaking when Sierra attempted to serve out the match, but the tie-break proved a step too far and she fell to only her third first-round exit in 16 grand-slam appearances.
“I don’t think I’ve fully processed it yet, so it’s hard to kind of speak about the match right now,” Raducanu said. “But I have to at least take the fact that from a set and 4-1 down, I came back and made it competitive in the second set. Yeah, in a way I’m pretty disappointed. Obviously I wanted to do better, but I guess that’s the light I can take from today.”
When asked if she regretted her decision not to skip the clay-court season entirely, Raducanu said, “The only way to face and improve how I’m feeling is to go through the tough parts, to go through the pain of it, and hopefully come out of the other side better and stronger.” She then fought back tears when discussing her mentality after experiencing so many hitches. “It’s very difficult. I think you need a lot of resilience. I think I’m trying my best each day and I think that’s all I can ask of myself,” she said.
Sierra’s ranking disguised the fact she is a clay-court specialist, having first picked up a racket as a toddler in Argentina, and she has been in impressive form, reaching the round of 16 in Madrid before taking a set off Coco Gauff in Rome. Raducanu has reunited with Andrew Richardson, the coach who guided her to glory in Flushing Meadows, but their time on the practice court has been limited and she was still visibly struggling with a cough through the match.
Temperatures on court of more than 30C did not help Raducanu’s cause and she struggled with a coughClive Brunskill/Getty Images
It was immediately clear Raducanu was out of sorts in the first set. Sierra only made 35 per cent of her first serves, but she demonstrated great power from the baseline, and Raducanu made 15 unforced errors without hitting a winner. The set lasted only 25 minutes, but Raducanu can salvage some positives from her fightback in the second, having shown glimpses of the aggressive brand of play she brought Richardson back in to try to recapture.
For a beacon of resilience, Raducanu does not need to look far. Jones has spent her entire life and career defying the odds and setbacks that would have broken the most stubborn-willed. After being forced to retire injured in the Australian Open first round, a freak gym accident during the US swing left Jones with a concussion and, having peaked at No65 in the rankings last year, she only got into the French Open main draw as a late alternate.
Parents Adele and Simon embrace Jones after her victory and the British player later paid tribute to the pairJavier Garcia/Shutterstock
But after nearly three gruelling hours on court Jones claimed her first grand-slam match victory at the seventh attempt with a 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 win against Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia. Jones, who was born with a rare condition that means she has only three fingers and a thumb on each hand and seven toes in total, broke down in tears afterwards and shared an emotional embrace with her parents, Adele and Simon, by the court. Their support has been unfailing ever since a leading hand doctor told them Jones would not be able to play tennis.
“Normally I’m one to say you shouldn’t cry until the tournament is over, but everything I’ve been through this year, it’s really been challenging. [It’s been] really tough on my parents, throughout the whole concussion process and all that. They’ve been on the other side of the world, so it’s tough for them, different time zones, calling from hospitals, and not understanding bloody American medical insurance shite,” Jones, who will face the 27th seed Marie Bouzkova in the second round, said.
“So it was a real challenge, and they’ve just suffered with me, even from a distance. Of course, you can look at the bigger picture [of her condition], but truly the emotion for me isn’t about the bigger picture. It’s much more about how tough this year has been. To find a way back, it’s not an easy task. I’m just glad that I dug deep.”
Jones produced an impressive comeback win after losing a chastening first set 6-1 to Haddad MaiaChristine POUJOULAT/Getty Images
Jones moved to Barcelona as a child to train in a tennis academy and grew up playing on clay, with the longer rallies best suited to her attritional style. Haddad Maia has been ranked as high as No10 in the world but is in a miserable run of form, losing her past 11 WTA Tour-level matches.
The Brazilian was on the cusp of ending that drought when she led 4-2 in the second set, but Jones broke in consecutive service games. Although she failed to serve out the set at 6-5, she played brilliantly in the tie-break.
Jones admitted that she has struggled over three sets in the past, but after falling a break down early on she dominated the decider, breaking three times to seal arguably the biggest victory of her career.
Djokovic shakes off rust — and allows himself a dance
Novak Djokovic lost a set in the first round of the French Open for the first time since 2010, and some questionable dad dancing in celebration served a reminder of his age, but the rust shaken onto the red dirt will have served him well in his pursuit of a record-breaking 25th grand-slam.
The 39-year-old proved yet again that he is still a force to be reckoned with by defeating Jannik Sinner en route to the final of the Australian Open in January, but Djokovic had only played one match in more than two months — a second-round defeat at the Italian Open — prior to Paris, and that absence told in an unusually hesitant start against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
Last dance? The Serbian is chasing a record 25th grand-slam singles crownClive Brunskill/Getty Images
The caveat was that the world No83 stands at 6ft 7in and is armed with a monstrous serve — Mpetshi Perricard set the tournament record at 153mph at Wimbledon last year. The 22-year-old delivered it superbly early on and Djokovic spurned nine break points before finally capitalising in the second set, but when darkness descended over Court Philippe Chatrier it was the Serbian who raged exceptionally against the dying of the light, predicting Mpetshi Perricard’s patterns clinically, targeting his weak backhand and closing out a 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 victory.
“It was very challenging mentally for me in the important moments,” Djokovic said. “It didn’t happen [in the] first set, but then after it was great because I was able to read his serve a bit more, anticipate better. First set, zero chance. His serve is one of the most tremendous serves in terms of precision and speed that I have ever faced in my career, so kudos to him. Nobody wants him in the draw, to be honest, and if he puts certain things together, he can have a really bright future.
“Obviously this is not the ideal strategy of coming into Roland Garros with one match. That was not part of the plan, but it was the situation that I had to accept with [the] circumstances of being injured. I was always planning to come and try my best, try to get as far as I can. Let’s see, the body is feeling all right for now.”
Djokovic was reluctant to dwell on it prior to the tournament but the absence of Carlos Alcaraz, the twice-defending champion, owing to a wrist injury has provided a fantastic opportunity to win his first grand slam since the 2023 US Open. Alcaraz or Sinner have won every major since then, and the latter is unbeaten in 29 matches and still the prohibitive favourite in Paris, but few have relished defying their doubters like Djokovic, not least on the court where he finally claimed an elusive Olympic gold medal in 2024, even if Mpetshi Perricard did trouble him at times.
Djokovic allayed some fears over his physical fitness, saying his body “feels all right for now”Shi Tang/Getty Images
The Frenchman has risen as high as No29 in the rankings before, but he has endured a poor season thus far, losing four consecutive first-round matches starting at the Australian Open. Mpetshi Perricard hired Emma Raducanu’s former coach, Francisco Roig, as a result, but the Spaniard quickly ditched him after receiving an offer from six-times grand slam champion Iga Swiatek.
Mpetshi Perricard has since recruited British former world No4 Greg Rusedski, but his game is a little one-dimensional and incredibly reliant on his serve. It was fearsome in the first set, but the fact he did not cede a single break point was also a testament to Djokovic’s stark lack of rhythm, and he repeatedly vented his frustration towards himself and his coaching box.
Djokovic praised Mpetshi Perricard as an opponent “no one wants in the draw”Getty IMAGES
The shock and anger at falling behind quickly stirred Djokovic out of his funk, though. The greatest returner of serve in history, he managed to extend and dominate the rallies, his movement became smoother, and he dragged Mpetshi Perricard around the court using deft drop shots. Mpetshi Perricard refused to surrender the second set easily, twice producing aces when Djokovic had break points at 6-5, but the pressure was suffocating and Djokovic raised his finger to his ear and beckoned the partisan crowd afterwards.
Djokovic played marvellously from thereon, settling into his old groove and winning eight of the next nine games as Mpetshi Perricard’s level dropped. A sloppy service game early in the fourth set briefly offered Mpetshi Perricard a route back into the match and such a blip could be punished more severely by better opponents in the later rounds, but Djokovic was never going to truly relinquish control.
He roared after somehow absorbing the power of an immense Mpetshi Perricard forehand and deflecting it down the line, and sealed victory in three hours and 25 minutes. If not a match to strike fear into the heart of his rivals, it was the first step towards the last dance Djokovic still craves.