Day 5 of the French Open saw all of the “Big 3” book their place in the third round. There were plenty of exciting matches all throughout the day, so let’s catch up on the action.
French Open Day 5 Recap: Federer, Nadal, Djokovic All Advance
On the plus side
Matteo Berrettini has been somewhat quietly putting together a really strong season, and he has shown the kind of a level that might make him dream of a deep run here. Federico Coria never stood a chance as the Italian dominated from beginning to end.
Novak Djokovic triumphed over a potentially dangerous Pablo Cuevas with absolute ease, despite being broken early in the first set. The Serb looked to be in inspired form, barely putting a foot wrong after a slow start. A third round matchup with Berankis should be just as easy as this one.
Lorenzo Musetti notched a surprisingly comfortable win over Yoshihito Nishioka, completely overpowering the Japanese #2 from the word go. The promising 19-year-old has booked an all-Italian Round 3 matchup against 2018 semifinalist Marco Cecchinato, and he will feel confident of progressing further in the draw.
Who looked bad
Gael Monfils couldn’t confirm the positive signs he showed in the first round and lost in pretty tame fashion to Mikael Ymer. There’s a very long road ahead of Monfils to get back to his former, pre-COVID level. Winning a match in Paris might be a good start to get things back on track.
In one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, Australian Open semifinalist Alan Karatsev lost to a semi-retired Philipp Kohlschreiber. As well as the talented German played, this result has to be considered a massive disappointment for a player who was considered by many as a dark horse in this tournament.
Taylor Fritz was never expected to go deep here, but his very straightforward loss to Dominik Koepfer will still go down as a big disappointment and a missed chance for a showdown with Roger Federer.
Match of the day
This has to go to Roger Federer vs Marin Cilic, who put together quite a show on Chartrier. The quality wasn’t always the best, but it was a very intense affair, and the crowd was loving to see Federer back in action, knowing at this point than any match could potentially be the last. At one point, it looked like the match was going Cilic’s way, but Federer held his nerve better in the key moments and moves on to the third round.
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