Federer endures his longest match since his double knee surgery, which ultimately makes him decide to withdraw while a hot favourite for the Women’s title is ousted.
MEN’S SINGLES
Roger Federer faced Dominik Koepfer in the third round and the German did not make things easy for the 20-time Grand Slam champion. Federer failed to break in the first three sets, winning the first and third on a tie-break while Koepfer took the second. It was in the fourth set where the 39-year old finally broke the German, and came out on top. After his victory, Federer took to twitter to announce his withdrawal from Roland Garros due to injury concerns with his attention now turning to the grass court season.
— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) June 6, 2021
The other 20-time Grand Slam Champion, Rafael Nadal took on Britain’s Cameron Norrie, who had made it into the third round of Roland Garros for the first time but came up well short against the 13-time King Of Clay. Rafa eased past Norrie in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to move forward.
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Novak Djokovic looks to be a man on a mission with another dominant victory in the 3rd round, against Ričardas Berankis. The World Number 1 booked his 12th consecutive 4th round spot in Paris with a resounding 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Berankis.
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Across the rest of the Men’s draw, second seed Daniil Medvedev overcame American Reilly Opelka without a fuss, with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win.
Stefanos Tsitsipas took on veteran John Isner in what was a highly anticipated encounter that many thought could go the distance, and the World Number 5 was forced to make a comeback after going a set down. He stood tall and defeated the big-serving American, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1.
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The other hot favourite to be a real contender to Novak and Rafa, Alexander Zverev defeated Laslo Dere 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to make it safely into the next round.
WOMEN’S SINGLES
The biggest upset on the Women’s side of the draw came from World Number 3 Aryna Sabalenka who struggled against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Sabalenka went down in the first set but managed to dig deep and send it into a decider with momentum on her side. It was a disappointing performance in the final set however from Sabalenka as she failed to win a game, and ultimately lost 4-6, 6-2, 0-6.
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Serena Williams is looking more and more like she is inching back to her best after cruising to a straight sets victory over fellow American Danielle Collins, taking the win 6-4, 6-4.
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Defending Champion Iga Światek continued her dominance with a comfortable 7-6, 6-0 victory over Anett Kontaveit to make it into the fourth round and looked like she barely broke a sweat along the way.
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After every round, as we’ve come to expect at Roland Garros, a favourite to challenge for the title seems to be either withdrawing or getting knocked out and with the French Open heating up as we head into the business end, we cannot wait to see who will battle the odds in the next round of action.
Aarya Bhagwat