American men entered Day 3 of the French Open with high hopes. Six American men, all playing in the same quarter of the draw, looked to advance to the third round. With some quality play and one near miss, American men went a very respectable 4-2 in their matches.
American Men on Day 4 of the French Open
Early Wins
John Isner started the American contingent with a straight-sets win over Filip Krajinovic. The #31 seed took tight tiebreakers in the first and third sets and finished with a 7-6 6-1 7-6 win. Fellow big man #32 seed Reilly Opelka fired 18 aces and hit 61 winners to take out Jaume Munar in four sets.
Marcos Giron moved the Americans to 3-0 on the day. Giron won 18 of 19 points at the net and broke opponent Guido Pella eight times to take his match in four sets.
“Mackie” McDonald Loses a Heartbreaker
In the most tightly contested match of the six, American qualifier Mackenzie “Mackie” McDonald coughed up a two sets to none lead and lost to #22 seed Cristan Garin. McDonald held two match points in the third set, but could not convert. Garin then roared back to take the third and fourth sets.
With the match knotted 2-2, the competitors battled nerves, their opponent and crowd control oddities in a very tight fifth set. With the set tied 4-4, McDonald could not convert on multiple break points. A few minutes later McDonald saved a match point and recovered to knot the set 6-6.
At 6-6, officials temporarily halted play to remove the spectators. With a 9:00 PM Covid curfew in Paris, spectators were forced to leave. When play resumed Garin steadied himself to hold, then broke McDonald for an 8-6 fifth set victory.
The Last Two
>With Americans holding a 3-1 record on the day, veteran Steve Johnson and young gun Tommy Paul took on Thiago Monteiro and #2 seed Daniil Medvedev respectively.
Several pundits predicted Paul to pull an upset over the red clay phobic Medvedev. Paul started hot and comfortably took the first set. Medvedev then settled and began to roll. The Russian dominated the second set 6-1 and finished the match in four brisk sets.
Veteran Steve Johnson was the last American to finish. After sprinting out to a set and a break lead, Johnson slowed but remained steady. Johnson and Thiago Monteiro battled back and forth through five sets, with the American narrowly surviving 6-3 in the fifth after nearly four hours. The match was so close that after playing 330 points, Johnson held a 166-164 advantage.
Four In the Third Round
With very solid play, American men have made their mark in the bottom quarter of the draw. The four to advance will face stern tests in round 3 but there are still Americans alive in Paris.
Main Photo from Getty.
