French Open Diary — No Lies Detected
One thing that Roland Garros gets right is honesty.
It’s a credit to the crowds in attendance this year that we’ve had multiple players booed for simply playing well against someone the fans like. Nobody needs to pretend they’re watching for love of the game or sportsmanship. We like who we like.
Perhaps it’s this atmosphere that allows players to embrace their true personalities more publicly.
To be clear: Fernandez is a killer on the court. She shares this trait with fellow Canadian Bianca Andreescu, and the fact they could play each other in the third round is properly exciting.
The similarities extend beyond their intense self-belief. Andreescu entered the tennis wilderness after stopping Serena Williams at the US Open in 2019, only to emerge with new injury problems. Fernandez was the other teen in a 2021 US Open final that secured Emma Raducanu’s status as the next star on the WTA. Since then, Fernandez has encountered the ups and downs that accompany the tour grind. From highs to lows to general ‘bleh’ — life went on for these players after they featured on every television set and phone in Canada on a daily basis. It’s nice to see them back, at the same time, competing in this tournament and handling their business in entertaining fashion. We got used to this in the past and I’m glad we’re seeing it again.
Unfortunately I've been burned looking too far ahead before, and Belinda Bencic and Kateřina Siniaková are no slouches, but I need this. Give us Andreescu-Fernandez II, tennis deities.
Other RG thoughts:
Rafa’s kit this year is truly upsetting. I thought Nike was generally letting him do his own thing and because of this we got some truly nice colour combinations recently. But this ‘green’ thing…je suis desole.
How good is this going to be? [14] Bencic vs. Andreescu [4] Sakkari vs. Muchova [32] Kvitova vs. Saville [12] Raducanu vs. Sasnovich [17] Fernandez vs. Siniakova [26] Cirstea vs. Stephens [27] Anisimova vs. Vekic
Jordan Thompson had some amazing facial reactions during his match against Rafa. Incredible stuff.
The Open Era curse is alive and well after Barbora Krejčíková’s first round exit. You can thank Simon for this.
Raducanu eventually found her footing against Linda Nosková, someone younger than her. It’s a bit mad when you think about that fact but the game is in good hands at least. Time sure does fly.