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Jeers for Novak Djokovic unhappy with noise from Roland Garros crowd N OVAK DJOKOVIC was booed by the French Open crowd during a gruel ling second-round win over Valentin Royer. The third seed repeatedly expressed displeasure with the crowd making noise during points and in between serves. was too passive and he took advantage. It’s very, very hot, but I’m happy to get through.” Speaking to reporters later, Djokovic sug gested matches be put back to avoid playing during the hottest part of the day as tempera tures in the French capital continue to go into the mid-30°C. He turned that contest around after a tricky start and initially had few problems against Royer as he sought to reach the third round here for a 21st consecutive year. Ű BY ELEANOR CROOKS Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in round one, also dropping a set.

TRAMLINES Comfortable win for Zverev ALEXANDER ZVEREV continued his bid for a maiden Grand Slam title with a com fortable victory over ailing Czech Tomas Machac in the French Open second round on Wednesday. The German second seed will face home player Quentin Halys today for a place in the second week at Roland Garros after a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win in the night session match on Court Philippe Chatrier. “I’m happy where I am, I’m feeling confi dent in my game and moving forward, looking forward to hopefully being back on this court,” said Zverev. Machac, the world No. 43, struggled with his move ment and took a lengthy medical time out in the second set for treatment to his left foot. “I thought for one and a half sets it was an amazing level… unfortunately the injury stopped the match flow a little bit,”added Zverev.“I’m happy to finish it in three sets.” Zverev took full advantage with a dominant display, saving the only break point he faced as he dismantled Machac in just an hour and 48 minutes. Swiatek, Svitolina cruise into third round FOUR-TIME champion Iga Swiatek and Elina Svitolina both eased into the French Open third round with straight-sets wins yesterday. Swiatek, looking to regain the title she last won in 2024, saw off battling Czech youngster Sara Bejlek 6-2, 6-3 on Court Philippe Chatrier. “Usually the weather is quite different here, but it doesn’t matter,” said Swiatek after spend ing 93 minutes on court on another boil ing hot day in Paris. “It’s going to change, I feel, in the second part of the tourna ment. So I guess this tournament is really about: whoever will cope with both of these conditions will win.” Svitolina, who beat Swiatek en route to the Rome title, beat world No. 126 Kaitlin Quevedo 6-0, 6-4. The Ukrainian seventh seed raced out of the blocks, quickly taking control against Quevedo. The Spaniard com peted better in the second set until a break in the ninth game helped Svitolina wrap up victory. Fokina stunned as coach quits ALEJANDRO DAVIDOVICH Fokina found himself without a coach at the French Open after his mentor Mariano Puerta abruptly quit via text message and flew to Miami without warning, leaving the Spanish 21st seed to fend for himself at Roland Garros. The bizarre coaching breakup occurred after Davidovich Fokina’s gruelling five-set victory over Bosnian Damir Dzumhur in the first round, following what was reportedly a heated discussion between player and coach. “After the match against Dzumhur, we had lunch and after that I went to cool down a little bit. He said he was feeling bad, he was going to the hotel,“ Davidovich Fokina explained to reporters. “In the afternoon, like two-three hours later, he texted me a message (saying) that he will not continue… He didn’t say nothing to anybody to the team, he just took the flight and flew to Miami without saying a word to us.” Without his coach’s guidance, which Davidovich Fokina said “probably affected me subconsciously”, he went on to lose his second-round match to unseeded Argentine Thiago Agustin Tirante in four sets yesterday. The Spanish player revealed that Puerta had even blocked his and his wife’s phone numbers, despite insisting there was no tension between them and that there was no fight that had led to the coach’s myste rious exit.

Djokovic twice led by a break in the third set but both times Royer, ranked 74 and bidding for a first top-10 win, pegged him back straight away before delighting the home fans by saving a match point and winning the tie-break. One break in the fourth set ultimately proved enough for Djokovic, although not before Royer had saved three more match points, one with a brilliant half-volley. The Serbian will next face young Brazilian star Joao Fonseca in what will be a hugely anticipated first career meeting. Fonseca, 19, was in tears after fighting back from two sets down against fellow youngster Dino Prizmic to win 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2. “Fonseca has been praised so much in the last couple of years. You know, I think his potential and quality as a tennis player is obvi ous, no doubt about it. “He’s got big Brazilian support anywhere he goes. I think he’s a big-stage player. He really loves the occasion,” Djokovic said of the 28th seed. – The Independent/AFP

“Honestly, with Grand Slams it shouldn’t be an issue, generally, because we have so many courts. We have lights. You know, there’s no issue. “You have big courts. You

When he saved a break point at a crucial moment in the fourth set, Djokovic put his finger to his lips in the direction of the home fans, earning loud jeers. The 39-year-old also clearly did not enjoy playing in the heat of the afternoon on Court Philippe Chatrier, but he lived to fight another day after winning 6-3, 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-3 in three hours and 44 minutes.

can play the matches. You can reschedule them some other courts and have still the crowd in the stadium and eve rything,” he said. “For example, Umag in Croatia where matches are starting later in the afternoon, you know, 5pm or some thing, and they play until deep at night. “Yeah, is that ideal to go over midnight? Yeah, it’s not. But if you have, you know, certain days that you have extreme heat and condi tions, then maybe that’s something to con sider.” Djokovic claimed a 30th consecutive win against French players when he defeated

“It’s a very important victory,” said Djokovic. “The conditions are difficult for players. I had chances in the third set and it was my fault because I was twice a break up. “It’s normal to have a few complications. I hope I won’t play against any other French players. That’s enough. I’ve played two matches and I feel like I’ve played two weeks. “When I had a match point in the tie-break I

Title contender Rybakina in shock exit ELENA RYBAKINA was sent spinning out of the French Open after a 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(10-4) loss to Ukrainian Yuliia Starodubtseva in the second round yesterday, leaving the women’s draw short of a genuine contender for the title in Paris. Starodubtseva, who was previously 0-6 in matches against top-10 opponents. “You can’t be thinking it’s ever going to be easy, even at 3-0 up (in the decider), I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be easy. Tough match, but happy to be the winner today.”

Russian-born Kazakh Rybakina arrived at Roland Garros as the second seed following her Australian Open victory in January and earned her tour-leading 31st match victory after dismantling Veronika Erjavec in the opening round. The 26-year-old was unable to conjure up her best form on Court Suzanne Lenglen, how ever, as she wilted in the deciding set tie break and handed the victory to her opponent with a forehand that went long.

She is the third player from Ukraine into the third round of the women’s singles draw at Roland Garros, following seventh seed and Italian Open champion Elina Svitolina and 15th seed and Madrid Open champion Marta Kostyuk. “I think clay is not the worst surface for me,” Starodubtseva said. “And the crowd was very, very nice today to me. Thank you guys. I really, really felt the support today. I heard my name so many times and I really appreciate it.” Rybakina, who lifted a clay title indoors in Stuttgart in the build-up to Roland Garros, was left to rue the errors that ultimately proved costly. “It’s just a pity, because I think I was practising well before the French Open and I was feeling good,” she said. “I thought that I can raise the level, but actually today it was a very bad performance, too many unforced errors, and yeah, I didn’t feel the greatest. I was trying to find a way, but it clearly didn’t work. “I won’t say that physically I felt really bad. There have been matches when I felt worse. Definitely, the energy wasn’t there. I just couldn’t find the right balance on the ball.” – AFP

“Honestly it’s hard to describe, I’m super happy,” said Starodubtseva as she soaked up cheers from the crowd. “Elena is one of the top players. She’s had an incredible year. I’m super proud of myself that I was able to do this. It was a hard third set, but I got it done.” Twice Grand Slam champion Rybakina did not help her own cause, committing 71 unforced errors in a match that featured 107 in total, but she began to mount a spirited fight back towards the end. “I expected her to come back,” said

Elena Rybakina reacts during her defeat to Yuliia Starodubtseva (not pictured) in the second round clash of the 2026 French Open yesterday. – AFFPPIC

‘Insane’ to play in this heat, says Mensik after cramps JAKUB MENSIK said it was “insane” to play a marathon match at the French Open in temperatures above 30°C on Wednesday, after collapsing with cramp on court immediately after securing victory over Mariano Navone. “Even with the breaks, you don’t have that much time, the ball boy can’t bring you a towel. “During the changeover you have just one minute, which obvi ously by when you sit, it’s already just 30 seconds, so there’s not much time to cool yourself down.” “The referee today, what hap pened after the match, I will keep to myself, but the behaviour of that… I don’t respect that,” he added with out elaborating further.

Mensik will be back on court today to face eighth seed Alex de Minaur, who has not played since Monday after receiving a second round walkover when opponent Alexander Blockx pulled out with injury. “Even if it looks horrible at the end, after 30 minutes in the locker room when I was out of the sun, I started to feel much better,” said the 26th seed. “I’m here, feeling pretty well. So, of course, I’ll use the recovery day as well as I can. “The conditions aren’t going to be as crazy as today.” – AFP

Mensik accepted that “rules are rules” but compared the strict regu lations forcing players to play quickly compared to the speed with which umpires will halt play when a spectator is taken ill. “I was really struggling on the last point,” he said. “When I hit the last point, the last winner, the emo tions went out and of course my body just turned off, so at the time, I wasn’t able to do anything.”

The 20-year-old needed eight match points to win 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 1 6, 7-6 (13-11) after four hours and 41 minutes on court 6, completely exposed to the sun. “It’s insane to play in this weather, especially in front of the sun, to be there for more than four and a half hours, it’s just insane,” Mensik told reporters.

Mensik collapsed onto the clay straight after hitting the winning forehand. When his opponent came to greet him, he tried to get up but remained stuck on his back. The umpire waited several sec onds before coming to his aid and eventually medical staff arrived to help him.