Alot of the matches yesterday that – on paper – should have been memorable or tournament highlights at least, never really materialised. It was the home contingent responsible for alot of this; Cilic swept aside Simon, Cornet had no answer to the impressive Zheng and Leanjean could not prolong her own excellent stay here. Add Gaston to that mix, down in three routine sets and it was a horrid day for the French.
Disappointments elsewhere too as some of the in-form players this year and recently in general are out too; Badosa [who to be fair has struggled for a while] retired, David Goffin offered 12th seed Hurkacz very little challenge and there were simple wins for Medvedev, Sinner, Tsitsipas [for once], Kasatkina and Pegula. A four sets victory for Rublev keeps him in the hunt.
The handful of highlights came courtesy of some reliable household names – if not outright favourites for the title – Camilla Giorgi overcame Sabalenka in a lovely clash of style and temperament, Madison Keys showed her quality again in a tight contest with Rybakina and Casper Ruud and Lorenzo Songeo slugged things out late on in a five setter.
Day 8 picks as 4th round and second week gets underway
Cliche time, and all the matches from now on will be worth your time, but my picks would be:
Fernandez vs Anisimova [Can the Canadian keep up that form that has eluded her since NYC?]
Mertens vs Gauff [Generational clash, should be good if both show up]
Auger-Aliassime vs Nadal [Felix finding his feet again, can he possibly challenge the king?]
Khachanov vs Alcaraz [Russian looked very good against Norrie]
Djokovic vs Schwarzman [Never count the Argentine out on this surface]
Teichman vs Stephens [quality match if both show up, and far from a power slugfest]
All Things Tennis 