Canadian teenager Mboko impresses again

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Catch up on our coverage from the fourth day at Roland Garros, as the second round gets underway in Paris Getty Images
Day four of the 2025 French Open is here world as Holge Rune is in action against the USA's Emilio Nava on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Defending champions Iga Świątek (5) and Carlos Alcaraz (2) have progressed to the third round, while injury-hampered Casper Ruud (7) and Stefanos Tsitsipas were both dumped out of the tournament today.
Meanwhile, Lorenzo Musetti (8), Aryna Sabalenka (1), Jasmine Paolini (4) and Zheng Qinwen (8) — who won Olympic gold at Roland Garros last summer — are also through to the third round after wins in Paris this afternoon.
Follow along as our reporters in Paris bring you the latest insight and analysis. Watch: TNT, truTV, Max (U.S.); TNT Sports (UK)
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Drop shots in tennis go from eccentric to essential, with some help from Carlos Alcaraz Connections: Sports Edition Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Getty Images
FINAL: Mboko 6-4, 6-4 Lys
Big moments on Court 7, between highly regarded 18-year-old Canadian, Victoria Mboko and the German victor over Peyton Stearns in the first round, Eva Lys.
Mboko is making her Grand Slam debut here in Paris, and she has just bagged herself a straight-sets win to race into the third round.
The way she just served out the match against a player fighting for her life and trying to pile the pressure on? Very impressive.
And we'll now be seeing more of Mboko at this tournament.
FINAL: Anisimova 6-0, 6-2 Golubic
We have a U.S. success today already, with 16th seed Amanda Anisimova rattling through her match against Viktorija Golubic — losing only two games along the way on Court 14.
A semifinalist here in 2019, the 23-year-old is straight into the third round this year.
Musetti 6-4 2-0* Galán
It is grey, cold and wet above Paris right now — and there is the odd delay out there as players and officials wait for the conditions to brighten up.
No covers on the courts yet though.
One place where there was a pause was Court Simonne-Mathieu, with Italian eighth seed Lorenzo Musetti taking on Daniel Galán.
Musetti had been cruising in the first set but his levels then dropped, although it only delayed the inevitable.
And it was only temporary. Musetti has now also broken Galán at the start of the second set.
So far so good for one Italian, as another — Jasmine Paolini is about to start her second round match against Ajla Tomljanović on Chatrier, where the roof has just been closed.
That should save some arguments later. Getty Images
Arango 2-6, *0-1 Zheng
We will begin at Court Suzanne-Lenglen, mostly because the second-round match involving Zheng Qinwen might not last much longer.
The two-time U.S. Open quarterfinalist broke Colombia's Emiliana Arango three times in the opening set for a comfortable start.
Arango is making her Grand Slam debut in Paris, which she got off to a winning start with victory in three over Alexandra Eala in the first round.
She might not go much further though. We will see.
The day's play on Court Philippe-Chatrier is about to get going, with No. 4 seed Jasmine Paolini facing Australia's Ajla Tomljanović.
We'll keep you updated on how that one progresses — but there has already been play on the other courts.
Let's start bringing you up to speed on what's happening out there… Getty Images
Let's get some of your opinions on what took place around Roland Garros yesterday and some of the unfolding storylines…
💬 Craig B: 'Look, I love watching Monfils play. He's one of the true entertainers in my favorite sport…However, I'm convinced having watched Le Monf for all these years that half the time he's 'injured' or 'cramping' he's at the very least playing it up, if not outright faking. He knows as a crowd favorite, if he throws a little extra sauce by hobbling around, the crowd will get even more revved up.'
💬 Donald T: 'Love Monfils and agree 100%. When he's losing, and standing there bent over at the waist, leaning on his racket like he can not take another step…that's when he's dangerous.'
💬 Michelle N: 'Congrats to Hailey (Baptiste)! Haddad Maia is a tough opponent.'
Remember, our inbox is always open — just send us your thoughts to: [e-mail] Listen to The Tennis Podcast from The Athletic
You may have heard already — but we have our own tennis podcast at The Athletic these days.
The Tennis Podcast is now part of our audio stable with Catherine Whitaker , David Law and Matt Roberts podcasting after every day of this year's French Open.
That means a fresh dose of tennis talk each morning (or whenever you stir and find the time).
Today's is live and waiting for your ears, including: Fonseca Fever hits Paris! The crew witness a stunning performance from exciting teenage Brazilian Joao Fonseca , with queues stretching out of the Court 7 doors.
, with queues stretching out of the Court 7 doors. Ons Jabeur stood up for women's tennis amid the continual scheduling of only men's matches in the night session.
stood up for women's tennis amid the continual scheduling of only men's matches in the night session. A preview of what to look forward to on day four.
You can listen and subscribe by simply clicking right here, right now. Enjoy!
A very happy Wednesday to you all and welcome along to our live coverage from the French Open in Paris.
We are into the second round! It's a big moment, as we start to piece together the players finding rhythm, getting lucky or simply going home.
We have got so many fabulous matches on the way that I'm not going to list all the ones I'm looking forward to here. Suffice to say, I'll go with the first one on my list — as Iga Świątek takes on Emma Raducanu. That one is due to be third on Court Philippe-Chatrier today.
You may know the drill by now but in case you don't, we will have our correspondents treating us to their tales, views, and insights from around the grounds in Paris, as we keep you on top of all the key matches, points, quotes and developments on what should be an intriguing day's play.
And remember you can get in touch with me and my colleagues throughout the championships, with an email to [e-mail]
I'm already looking forward to reading what you have for us.
He's a young Italian tennis player, but not Jannik Sinner or Lorenzo Musetti.
He's an up-and-coming athlete, but not Ben Shelton or Joao Fonseca.
He could have been a famous footballer, but left the youth academy of Serie A club Roma as a teenager.
Flavio Cobolli, an understated but self-assured 23-year-old Italian, has flown under the radar during his fledgling tennis career. That is now much harder, because he just won the biggest title of his career.
Before the French Open, Cobolli beat former world No. 5 Andrey Rublev in straight sets to claim the Hamburg Open in Germany. And on day three at Roland Garros, he knocked out 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Čilić in straight sets.
Coco Gauff was in excellent form yesterday, getting her French Open up and running with a comfortable win over Olivia Gadecki — but it started in relatively tricky circumstances.
Namely, without any rackets.
The No. 2 seed arrived on court and was getting ready for her warmup, when she realized she was short of the reasonably important piece of equipment.
Fortunately, a pile of several rackets was soon delivered to Gauff on court after a minimal delay.
Speaking on court after her first-round victory, Gauff said:
💬 'The culprit is not in the box, because he knows that rackets are supposed to be in my bag.
'Honestly, as long as I've been on tour my coach (Jean-Christophe Faurel) has always put the rackets in the bag before the match because… he's very superstitious. He likes to grip each racket new, each day. I don't care — I can play with a dirty grip!
'I go on the court and I realize I have no rackets, and I literally just made fun of Frances (Tiafoe) for it in Madrid. Now I'll just be quiet.
'But I'm blaming it on my coach, so it's OK.'
We have plenty of matches to look forward to today as the second round in the singles tournaments gets underway.
Among the picks of the day are Jasmine Paolini (4) taking on Ajla Tomljanović, Carlos Alcaraz (2) against Fábián Marozsán and Lorenzo Musetti (8) up against Daniel Elahi Galan.
In the evening session we can look forward to Emilio Nava taking on Holger Rune (10), while Aryna Sabalenka (1) is also in action against Jil Teichmann.
We can't wait!
Iga Świątek is also in action today — and as a four-time winner of the French Open, she knows what it takes to be successful at Roland Garros.
So how did she feel coming into the tournament with an expectation that she would thrive once again here?
She spoke earlier in the tournament when the draw was made about her hopes for this year:
💬 ' Every year is different, so you need to look ahead and have your goals for the future. But I am proud of my achievements here. I have great memories from past years and every tournament was a totally different story, so I learned a lot. It's always a pleasure to come back here...these are the best courts to play in.
'Everybody is here to win. I am working hard to be as ready as possible. This season has had more ups and downs than the seasons before but I know my game is there. I just need to figure out how to use it at the best moments in matches.
'Tennis is sometimes a complicated sport but we should make it easy in our head, so I'll start, step by step.'
Carlos Alcaraz has all the makings to become the new king of clay in a post Rafa Nadal world in tennis.
He won last year's Roland Garros title and is eyeing up another — he discussed the magic of the tournament when he attended the draw for this year's French Open. Alcaraz said:
💬 'It has been a great clay season so far. But this is the most important clay tournament of the season and the best tournament we have on the tour.
'I'm excited and want to remember the emotions and feelings I had last year. It's great to feel it again and the confidence is really high right now.
'I have achieved so much, really fast. Sometimes I think it has been too fast. But it is a pace I really want to keep. Let's see. The difficult thing in tennis is to maintain a good level year after year.'
Fresh off the back of an Italian Open win where she made history as the second woman to win her home tournament after Raffaella Reggi in 1985, Jasmine Paolini is in action today against Ajla Tomljanović.
The 29-year-old is in search of her first major title after twice finishing runner-up in 2024: at Wimbledon and, notably, at Roland Garros.
Paolini is mobile around the court and could go deep into the women's singles tournament — she has also had success on clay this year with an Italian Open doubles win alongside Sara Errani.
Now up to No. 4 in the WTA rankings, Paolini is the joint-highest ranked Italian woman of all time and will be looking to extend her impressive legacy into summer 2025.
Plenty happened at Roland Garros yesterday but the story of single-nation success fell to Great Britain.
No. 5 seed Jack Draper pulled off a four-set win over Mattia Bellucci in an entertaining match while fellow male singles prospect Cameron Norrie took a scalp by knocking out No. 11 seed Daniil Medvedev over five sets.
There was also success for Sonay Kartal in the women's singles as she took a straight-sets win over Erika Andreeva.
With Katie Boulter and Jacob Fearnley also into the second round, it is the first time since 1973 that six British players are in the French Open second round.
Can Emma Raducanu — up against reigning champion Iga Świątek — continue that success today?
What makes Joao Fonseca so good? That's the question on the lips of those of us getting our first look at the Brazilian 18-year-old this year, as he made light work of Hubert Hurkacz yesterday.
Luckily, our tennis expert Matthew Futterman explained it back in January. That was after Fonseca bagged his first win at a grand slam at the Australian Open in January
Here's what Matthew wrote:
📝 'The obvious comparison is Jannik Sinner, given Fonseca's big serve, easy baseline power and shy demeanor. Fonseca hums along like a flywheel, ready to whip his opponent off their axis when he leans into a forehand, or perhaps a two-handed backhand down the line. He can also change gear.
'His biggest challenge is consistency: figuring out how to win when he isn't playing his best. In junior tennis, the better player — the one with the best technique and the best shots — usually wins the tournament. That's not how it shakes out during the serious stuff.'
Is the Spaniard the heir to Rafael Nadal's crown? He is already smashing enough records to suggest he can become a great of the sport, as he seeks to defend his Roland Garros title this year.
When he picked up the Coupe des Mousquetaires, Carlos Alcaraz became the youngest male player to win a major title on three different surfaces at the age of 21.
Since breaking into the top 100 in the world rankings in 2021, Alcaraz has risen to the top of men's tennis and has four major titles — missing only the Australian Open to complete a career grand slam.
Currently at No. 2 in the world rankings, the 22-year-old came into the French Open with another career title after defeating home favourite Jannik Sinner to win the 2025 Italian Open.
His first-round win over Giulio Zeppieri sees him in action in the second round today.
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