10:19 AM
Bencic on the ropes
Daria Kasatkina has been in brilliant form over on Court Simonne-Mathieu to disrupt 10th seed Belinda Bencic’s rhythm. After talking the opening set 6-2, Bencic is serving to stay in the tournament staring at 5-1 down in the second.
10:09 AM
Zverev one set to the good
No service yips for the German in the breaker as Zverev wins the tiebreak with two aces to wrap up the opening set.
10:07 AM
Suarrez Navarro: I left everything out there on court
How great it was to see Carla Suarez Navarro back in action for one last time at Roland Garros yesterday evening, in her first major since recovering from cancer.
Suarrez Navarro nearly caused an upset too against Sloane Stephens, before the American battled back to win in three.
10:04 AM
Frustration from Zverev
The sixth seeded Zverev throws his racket to the clay after a double fault hands the break back to Safiullin and takes the first set into a tiebreaker.
10:00 AM
‘I sympathise with Naomi Osaka’
Columnist Judy Murray writes in the Telegraph of having sympathy for Naomi Osaka and the daunting prospect of facing the media as a young woman.
I understand the argument that media duties are part of the job – as well as the fact that lesser players can’t afford a $20,000 fine for skipping press conferences. But I also think back to the Driving Force series I presented on Sky Sports, where I spoke to ten of Britain’s most successful female athletes. Almost all of those who had struggled with depression or anxiety said it was brought on by being thrown into the spotlight when they reached the top. They were totally unprepared for it, even though it is part and parcel of being a top sportsperson.
09:46 AM
Zverev up first
It remains on serve in the first set of Zverev’s second-round clash with Safiullin on Suzanne-Lenglen with 1,000 fans all masked in the glorious sunshine in Paris.
Meanwhile, there have been some issues for Pablo Andújar, who produced the shock of the tournament so far in defeating fourth seed Dominic Thiem on Sunday, in his contest with Federico Delbonis.
09:09 AM
Ready for day four
Morning all, welcome to our coverage on day four of Roland Garros in what has been quite an intense start to the second major of the season.
Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal has been the biggest talking point of the week so far, but yesterday saw further troubling news with Petra Kvitova’s retirement due to an unfortunate injury suffered during her post-match interview fulfilments and Ash Barty coming through a first-round contest after a medical timeout.
The developments on the women’s side means the draw is starting to open out for seventh seed Serena who resumes her bid for an elusive 24th grand slam title in Paris.
Williams takes on unseeded Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu in the second round later this afternoon.
In other action today, third seed Aryna Sabalenka will meet Aliaksandra Sasnovich in an all-Belarusian clash out on Court Suzanne Lenglen, while their compatriot, 15th seed Victoria Azarenka, faces Denmark’s Clara Tauson.
In the men’s draw, sixth seed Alexander Zverev gets the action underway on Lenglen as he takes on Russia’s Roman Safiullin, while later fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas faces Spain’s Pedro Martinez.
The evening match will feature second seed Daniil Medvedev, who looks to build on his morale-boosting first-round victory when he takes on unseeded American Tommy Paul.
Nadal remains the overwhelming favourite in the men’s draw to win a 14th Roland Garros title and notched up victory number 101 yesterday after proving too strong for Alexei Popyrin.
“The beginning of the match was very tough – he was playing bombs all the time and his serve was huge, and in these warm, fast conditions it is always difficult.
“He is young and the speed of his ball is just incredible. He’s fast running and when he hits the ball every time, he is going for the hardest power possible.
“It was a tough match and I was lucky to win the first set – I don’t know how I did it but I was super happy.”
Frenchman Richard Gasquet awaits Nadal in Thursday’s second round when the Spaniard will celebrate his 35th birthday.