Key events
Marta Kostyuk (27) beats Zeynep Sonmez 7-5 (5)67 6-3
Next for her: Zarazua or Parry.
Up 5-4 but down 30-40, Muchova twinkles into a backhand down the line and caresses a winner for deuce. For all the good it does her. Cirstea breaks anyway and we’re back on serve at 55 in the first.
Yeah, Sinner is just too good for Popyrin, breaking him to love for a 6-2 2-1 lead. He’s at that point Federer reached in the middle of noughties, where if Nadal didn’t beat him, no one did. And on hard, he’s got the edge over Alcaraz,
Out on court 11, Majchrzak has taken the third set to trail Khachanov 1-2; Royer and Shapovalov are level at 1-1 5-5, in a match that could go on for quite some time, while Riedi has pulled back a set to trail Cerundoilo 1-2.
Muchova has settled, breaking Cirstea back, and she then saves a break point to make 4-4. She’s not yet hit the heights she managed prior to her wrist surgery, but if she does, she’s a threat in any tournament on any surface.
On Ashe, Sinner is serving for set one at 5-3 while, on Grandstand, Cirstea leads Muchova 4-2. I’m going to watch a bit of that, but may soon move to 17, where Cobolli has come from a break down to level against Brooksby at a set apiece. And in the time it takes me to write all that, Sinner holds for a 6-3 lead before calling the trainer to address taping on his right foot.
Playing like that, Osaka is a serious threat to win here. Look how strong she looks in the pic below – it really doesn’t lie – and her confidence in her body and her self was palpable not just in how she played but in that interview though, as we saw with Swiatek earlier, that can easily be lost.
“I have to think that they didn’t give Sinner the rust-colored outfit in Paris,” says Amy C. Buondonno, “because he’d have blended in with the clay and no one would have seen the Nike swoosh.”
Ha, it’d be like playing the Invisible Man. Or a chameleon.
Osaka says she was “really stressed the entire time”, saying they played in Miami and it was one of her hardest matches this year. Told she looks fit, she shouts out her fitness coach, reckons she’s moving well, and feels healthy.
Otherwise, she adds that her coach helps her see tennis differently, then takes us through her outfit, a terrific shade of mauve – think Jayne Torvil doing Bolero – and her trainers, before showing off her Labubu, “Arthur Flashe”.
She seems really happy and relaxed; it’s great to see.
Naomi Osaka (23) beats Hailey Baptiste 6-3 6-1
Osaka was really solid there, serving well, hitting it hard and looking locked in. Next for her: Rakhimova or Ksatkina.
Osaka is looking really strong – perhaps title-winning strong – and at 6-3 5-1 30-40 she has match point.
Baptiste nails a forehand to save a double-break point, but Osaka breaks her anyway, and at 6-3 4-1, this match is surely over. Elsewhere, Sinner has just played a ludicrous reflex-forehand to go up 4-1 over Popyrin and, though he’s known as a percentage hitter, he’s got game too.
Why do Nike put Sinner in such distasteful attire? In Paris, he looked like Luigi; here, he’s resplendent in rust. Popyrin holds to get on the board at 1-3.
Muchova and Cirstea are away on Grandstand, while on 17, Brooksby is all over Cobolli, now up 7-5 2-0; Popyrin, meanwhile, has just saved two double-break points at 0-3.
I’d hoped Baptiste would give Osaka a proper test, but the 2018 and 2020 champ knows a bit too much, breaking for 6-2 1-0. Meantime we’re away on Ashe, Sinner holding for 1-0, but Popyrin is as live a dog as anyone can be against so brilliant an opponent – he beat Djokovic in this competition last term and also won the Masters 1000 title in Montreal. It’s hard to see how he can win, but his best performance makes a match of it. However at 0-1 he’s down break point, and with Sinner simply prolonging the rally, as he told us he did on championship point last, he tamely nets a backhand.
Osaka has taken the first set off Baptise to lead 6-3; Brooksby is serving for the first against Cobolli at 6-5; Cerundolo leads Riedi 6-3 6-4 1-0 with a break; Shapovalov and Royer are level at a set apiece; and Khachanov leads Majchrzak 6-2 7-6.
Rublev says he was a bit lucky as Boyer started to play well, then asked about Marat Safin, now part of his team, says he needs the help – and, let’s be real, if trying to take tennis a bit less seriously is something he should do, he could scarcely have found a better role model. Talking of which, asked also about the modelling he’s done recently, he notes that he tried it a bit when he was younger and finds it very natural; he doesn’t have to act.
It’s so interesting hearing sportsfolk talk about what they do. Sky just showed a little bit with Sinner, asking him about match point in the final last year, and he said he just tried to keep it simple, no risks, because one mistake and Fritz was finished. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s easy to overcomplicate, especially in the maelstrom of the moment, and the ability to think with such clarity is one of the many things that makes a champion a champion.
Andrey Rublev (15) beats Tristan Boyer 6-3 6-3 5-7 7-6(4)
Boyer made more of a match of that than seemed likely in sets one and two, but it’s Rublev who progresses. Next for him: Walton or Wong.
After two huge points won, Rublev seizes the advantage, taking the mini-break for 5-3, and he’s two points away from round three.
Oh wow, a fantastic backhand winner down the line rescues Rublev when Boyer looks set to take the min-break and they’re level at 303; an ace follows. Back on Armstrong, Osaka has broken Baptiste again for 5-2, while Cobolli has broken Brooksby back for 5-5 in the first, their match one that feels like an epic.
Back to Boyer v Rublev where somehow, they’re playing a fourth-set breaker; the no 15 seed leads 2-1, no min-break.
Next on Ashe: Jannik Sinner (1) v Alexei Popyrin.
Swiatek says she made some mistakes but is happy with how she served in set three and glad she won. Though her opponent played well, how she does is dependent on her and though she got a bit tight in set two, the third was a reset and she tried to be more precise, which she was.
Lamens played really well after the first set, and will rue double faults at particularly inopportune times. That, though, is pressure, and ultimately Swiatek handled it better.
Iga Swiatek (2) beats Suzan Lamens 6-1 4-6 6-4
She seals it with an ace and meets Kalinskaya next. She’ll need to play much better than she did today if she’s to go deep, but we can almost certain she will.
A decent first serve, a backhand down the line and an overhead make 30-0 and Swiatek is two points away, then Lamens swats wide, and this is nearly done. It’s been a struggle but she’ll be the better for it … and, as I type, she sends down a double.
Osaka saves a break point in game one, then breaks Baptiste in game two, before having a point taken off for sliding into the net – you don’t see many of those – and is subsequently broken back. Meantime, Lamens comes back to 30-all from 0-30, and though Swiatek then sets up match point, she plays a decent rally for deuce and secures her hold. At 4-5 in the third, she forces the Wimbledon champ to serve out.
Swiatek holds to 15 from 0-15 and celebrates by striking the kind of pose Bruce Forsyth made famous. At 5-3 in the third, she’s a game away.
On Armstrong, Baptiste and Swiatek are out; I’m going to celebrate with a Fruit pastilles ice lolly and switch over to watch. Otherwise, Swiatek leads Lamens 4-3 in the third, still with a break; Boyer has broken Rublev back and now leads 3-2 in the fourth, trailing 2-1 in sets; Brooksby leads Cobolli 3-2 with a break; Cerundolo leads Riedi 6-3 2-1 with a break; Frech and Stearns are 2-2; Shapovalov leads Royer 7-6; Wong leads Walton 7-6 6-2 4-6 1-2; Khachanov leads Majchrzak 6-2 3-4; and Kostyuk lesads Sonmez 7-5.
In comms, they note that in set two, Swiatek was trying to wallop her forehand, but has taken pace off since, which makes sense. She tried to hot Noskova off the court when she lost in Australia, playing her opponent’s game not her own, but is now trying to do her thing and, as I type, a big double from Lamens hands over another break. At 4-1 in the third, that probably settles things.
Down break-back point, Rublev finds an ace down the T, then another to make advantage … only to net a forehand. No matter, from there he closes out to endorse the break and leads 2-1 2-0. Back on Ashe, Swiatek now leads 3-1 in the decider, and I’m almost as interested to hear her reflections post-match than I am to see how the rest of it unfolds.
Before I even get there, Rublev breaks Boyer for 2-1 1-0, while consecutive doubles from Lamens take Swiatek from game-point down to break-point up. A good return then forces the error and the Wimbledon champ leads 2-1 in the third.
Back on Grandstand, Boyer, who looked totally outmatched in the time I was watching, has sneaked the third set to trail Rublev 3-6 3-6 7-5. I guess I’m switching off Brooksby 1-1 Cobolli to return there.
Lorenzo Musetti (10) beats David Goffin 6-4 6-0 6-2
Pretty straightforward for Musetti, who meets Brooksby or Cobolli next. If it’s the latter, we’re in for a lot of fun.
Lamens races in to sweep a winner cross-court for 30-all, but a big serve raises game point, then another secures it. Two decent deliveries under pressure will give Swiatek a little bit of confidence, but she doesn’t look happy at 6-1 4-6 1-1.
Lamens looks so confident out there now, holding to 15 in the decider. I’d still expect Swiatek to find a way to win – I’m reminded of her win against Osaka in Paris the year before last, a match she really should have lost – but her rivals will be enjoying what they’re seeing. I guess, though, that Sabalenka and Gauff are also prone to dips and doubt, which reminds of what we were saying below: we all are.
It’s a funny thing, really: confidence is so hard to get and easy to lose, even if you won Wimbledon not even two months ago. And if that’s so for elite tennisers, we can understand why, in different walks of life, it’s similar for the rest of us too.
And she nails her return, then Swiatek nets! I was going to say we’re getting a decider out of nowhere, but that’s not accurate: Lames has gradually played her way into this match while, courtside, Laura Robson reckons Swiatek is taking her racket back a little late so is meeting the ball a little late. Lamens leaves the court, so she’s a few minutes to sort herself.
Oh wow! Lamens makes 15-4 on the Swiatek serve and has two set points at 1-6 5-4!
Well that didn’t last long. Musetti breaks Goffin back to lead 6-4 6-0 2-2, so I’m going to switch to Brooksby v Cobolli.
Let’s go around the courts. Rublev leads Boyer 6-3 6-3 4-5; Cerudolo leads Riedi 3-1; Wong leads Walton 7-6 6-2 2-3; Khachanov leads Majchrzak 4-2; and Kostyuk leads Sonmez 3-1.
What on earth is going on with the umpire-issue trainers? So many good ones in the world, and yet.
After looking so dominant and confident, Swiatek is wobbling. Lamens is, as we said, starting to enjoy herself, but Iga also looks a little rattled; let’s see how she moves on from here, but for now she leads 6-1 4-4.
Musetti has taken the second set via bagel to lead Goffin 2-0, but he’s now 0-2 down in set three. I guess I’ll visit with them now to see if the wily veteran can build.
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