ANOTHER big day at the Roland Garros fantasy tournament saw some big names grace the court, with four of this quarter’s top five seeds reigning supreme to head to the Round of 64. Americans once again came out on top for the most part, while a couple of grand slam champions rose to the occasion.

Fourth seed Sofia Kenin, sixth seed Naomi Osaka and eleventh seed Bianca Andreescu all reigned supreme in their matches, with the trio of grand slam victors fairly consistent in their pursuits. Despite an average start to her match against Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo, Osaka pushed back and came out on top, using her feisty play to come back firing in the second and third to win 5-7 6-2 6-2. Kenin and Andreescu had much easier runs against their respective opposition, while the next ranked seed in this quarter of the draw – Elena Rybakina – followed suit, with all three players downing their opposition in under an hour and in straight sets. 

Of the last four seeds, just Alison Riske and Donna Vekic fell to their unseeded opposition. Riske’s shock exit was full credit to Patricia Maria Tig’s explosive play, with the Romanian a force to be reckoned with in the 6-3 6-2 victory. Vekic put up a far better fight against qualifier Lesia Tsurenko but was unable to hold up to the forceful Ukrainian, going down in a three set battle 7-6 2-6 7-5. The youngest seeds of the group in Dayana Yastremska and Iga Swiatek also proved too good on day three, and while Swiatek had a tougher time of it than Yastremska did, the pair impressed with their respective composure and ability to get the job done.

Three more Americans joined the winners list as qualifier Shelby Rogers, Bernarda Pera and Jessica Pegula all head through to the next round after solid performances, with Pegula coming from behind to record her 7-5 6-7 6-1 victory over Japan’s Misaki Doi. Of the last five matches, all were consolidated with just the two sets, and while Anna Lena Friedsam and Heather Watson came close to losing crucial sets to their respective opposition, Varvara Gracheva, Pauline Parmentier and Anastasia Potapova were all solid to head through to the Round of 64.

Coming up tomorrow for the last quarter of the Round of 128 are some quality matchups, while Ash Barty and Petra Kvitova take the court and giant slayer Qiang Wang looks to back up her stellar run in the Australian Open with another quality run.

ROUND OF 128 RESULTS:

[4] Sofia Kenin (USA) defeated [Q] Nadia Podoroska (RUS) 6-3 6-0
[6] Naomi Osaka (JPN) defeated Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP) 5-7 6-2 6-2
[11] Bianca Andreescu (CAN) defeated Xiyu Wang (CHN) 6-3 6-2
[15] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) defeated Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) 6-1 6-3
Patricia Maria Tig (ROU) defeated [18] Alison Riske (USA) 6-3 6-2
[21] Dayana Yastremska (UKR) defeated Marie Bouzkova (CZE) 6-3 6-1
[Q] Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) defeated [25] Donna Vekic (CRO) 7-6 2-6 7-5
[27] Iga Swiatek (POL) defeated Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) 2-6 7-6 6-1
Anna Lena Friedsam (GER) defeated Anna Blinkova (RUS) 6-4 6-4
Varvara Gracheva (RUS) defeated [Q] Usue Maitane Arconada (ESP) 6-1 6-0
[Q] Shelby Rogers (USA) defeated [Q] Aliona Bolsova (ESP) 6-3 7-5
Heather Watson (GBR) defeated Greet Minnen (BEL) 6-2 7-5
[WC] Pauline Parmentier (FRA) defeated [WC] Harmony Tan (FRA) 6-3 6-4
Bernarda Pera (USA) defeated [Q] Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) 7-5 6-4
Anastasia Potapova (RUS) defeated [WC] Dianne Parry (FRA) 6-2 6-2
Jessica Pegula (USA) defeated Misaki Doi (JPN) 7-5 6-7 6-1