RG.7- French Twist/Twist French

Well, you knew it was going to happen eventually.

There will be no more match play today. #RG17 pic.twitter.com/PPFQvhnS91

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 3, 2017

But at least half the matches scheduled to take place today managed to be completed on Day 7. And the story had a decidedly French twist.

Yesterday, Kristina Mladenovic advanced to her first Roland Garros Round of 16 with a comeback victory over Shelby Rogers (from 5-2 down in the 3rd to win 8-6, after also having to win from behind to take a 9-7 final set in the 1st Round). On Saturday, history seemed to be repeating itself, as another French woman, one who respects other competitors and former doubles partners and teammates without questioning their integrity or denigrating their patriotism advanced, as well.

Very rewarding to see @CaroGarcia having this great run here. She hasn’t been treated particularly nice by several people this year.. pic.twitter.com/VFFzKv8TKH

— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) June 3, 2017

Caroline Garcia, like Mladenovic, has never advanced so far in Paris -- or any slam, for that matter. Today, she too was forced to stage a dramatic 3rd set rally, rallying to overcome Taiwanese vet Hsieh Su-Wei. Garcia and Mladenovic have shared the court quite a bit in the past, including en route to the '16 Fed Cup final and when they teamed to last year to become the first all-French duo to win the RG doubles since 1971, and the first French-born pair to do so since 1945. Of course, since then, Mladenovic chose to dismissively sneer at Garcia's decision to end their doubles partnership to focus on singles this year, then disrespected her and questioned her patriotism when she also decided that she didn't want to participate in Fed Cup despite the French Federation's bold threats against any French players who harbored such individual goals.

In today's match, Hsieh staged a comeback of her own to force the 3rd set, and had the chance to serve for the match at 6-5. But Garcia broke, then held, meaning that after failing to serve things out Hsieh now had to hold to just keep on playing. She managed to do it for 7-7, but not two games later under the same do-or-die circumstances. The Pastry's break to win the 16-game 3rd set ended the 2:39 match, won by Garcia by a 6-4/4-6/9-7 score. While Mladenovic is in the other half of the singles draw, Garcia's opponent in the Round of 16 will nevertheless still be a fellow French woman. It'll be Alize Cornet, one of the three (w/ Mladenovic and Pauline Parmentier) Pastry Fed Cuppers who simultaneously "LOL'ed" Garcia's announcement that a back injury would prevent her from playing in the nation's tie in April.

(In case you were wondering, no, Garcia did not stoop to "LOL" Mladenovic when she, too, later first experienced back issues of her own last month and has continually worn her injury like a badge of honor while storming through the first week of this Roland Garros.)

Les alizés de Roland-Garros lui sourient ! Quelle belle victoire @alizecornet ???? ! #RG17 pic.twitter.com/tl4ra03lEJ

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 3, 2017

On Chatrier on Day 7, Cornet put forth a fairly undramatic big win, and even post-match celebration (especially for her... Tatjana Maria and her lawyers would never believe it) after her 6-2/6-1 destruction of #9-seed Aga Radwanska, against whom the French woman had been just 1-7 against before today. Cornet, playing without any sort of official coach (her boyfriend is assuming the role for RG), managed to out-Aga Aga today, utilizing drop shots and the like to deadly effect. Of course, Radwanska hasn't really been herself all year. She came into Paris recovering from a foot injury that had limited her clay season to just one match prior to RG. Her loss here drops her to 11-9 on the season, but at least she has the grass courts to look forward to. The Pole has reversed the fortunes of her season there before.

Cornet's thirteenth Top 10 win (third of '17) gets her to her second career RG Round of 16, meaning three Pastries have reached the 4th Round in Paris for the first time since 1994, when Mary Pierce, Julie Halard and Alexia Dechaume-Balleret advanced as far.

?? Cocorico ????
? @KikiMladenovic - @alizecornet - @CaroGarcia en 8es à RG !
?? Jamais vu depuis 1994 avec Halard / Pierce / Dechaume #RG17 pic.twitter.com/yFzg8mAOoF

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 3, 2017

Of course, with Cornet and Garcia matching up -- perhaps on Chatrier, which Cornet loves, and Garcia has been known to avoid like she would Kiki in an insult contest -- it means at least one French women will play in the quarterfinals, becoming the first to do so since Marion Bartoli in 2011. If Mladenovic knocks off defending champion Garbine Muguruza, it'll be two. 1994 was also the last time that happened, as Pierce (RU) and Halard reached the final eight.

Of course, as is so often the case with French players, that's not the *whole* story. There's always a twist, and sometimes it's even a touch bit unsavory at that.




=DAY 7 NOTES=
...there was some heightened level of expectation surrounding the Simona Halep/Daria Kasatkina 3rd Rounder on Day 7. Five years apart in age, not only do their games have similarities, but both also came into Paris nursing ankle injuries after falls in Rome. #3-seeded Halep, the Madrid champ and Rome finalist this clay season, came in having not lost a set in her opening two rounds in Paris, while #26 Kasatkina had done the same, finally ending surging qualifier Marketa Vondrousova's run two days ago. A good match was anticipated.

And then Simona Halep showed up and decided that she was having none of that.

The Romanian broke the Russian to start the match, and just kept doing it... while also putting up near perfect service games of her own. She broke for 3-0, then 5-0. In just twenty-seven minutes, she'd bageled Kasatkina, who suddenly was having a flashback to oddly reminiscent moments earlier this season, when she suffered four other bagel set defeats (she'd had seven in her entire pro career heading into '17) before finally finding her footing in the clay season and winning her maiden tour title in Charleston. Halep's 1st serve was cruising along at a 75% clip in the set, with her winning 60% of 1st serves and 80% of 2nd. It made you wonder if Rafa Nadal's birthday wish had been granted and he'd finally gotten a chance to see how he'd fair on the women's tour... or something like that.

But Kasatkina finally began to make things competitive in the 2nd, but only after Halep had extended her lead to 6-0/3-1, 40/30. The Hordette's break of Halep's serve knotted things at 3-3, then she got another two games later. She served for the 2nd set at 5-3, and even held a set point. But Halep broke to get thing back on serve. Still, Kasatkina held three more SP in game #10. The Swarmette held for 5-5, though, then broke the Russian and served for the match after winning her third straight game. She got it done, too, once again not allowing a short, bad stretch to flip the script and define her in this match. Her 6-0/7-5 win puts Halep into her third RG Round of 16, and keeps alive the possibility that she could pull *two* rabbits out of her hat at this Roland Garros, winning her first slam title *and* rising to the #1 ranking. If she does the former, she'll achieve the latter.

.@Simona_Halep saves FOUR set points to hold off Kasatkina in straight sets--> https://t.co/gHvaE0uRTy #RG17 pic.twitter.com/lxMPealYfC

— WTA (@WTA) June 3, 2017

...as it turned out, the decision to push the Caroline Wozniacki/CiCi Bellis match as far into the evening as possible at least might have prevented that match from getting *two* days behind schedule, as it wasn't immediately finished up on Saturday (it was second up on Court 2), but managed to be completed before everyone turned out the lights early on the grounds.

Bellis, leading 5-2 in the 2nd set when play resumed, continued her aggressive ways and closed out the stanza, forcing a 3rd. But it was there that the Dane finally found her way and began breaking down the Bannerette's game. Both got early breaks in the final set, but Wozniacki's second proved to be the difference. It gave her a chance to serve for the match at 5-3. She did it, and even had back-to-back aces (!!!) to end the match, winning 6-2/2-6/6-3. She's into just her second Round of 16 in Paris, and her first since reaching the QF in 2010. She'll face Svetlana Kuznetsova.

???? @CaroWozniacki def. ???? @CiCiBellis99 in Round 3 of @RolandGarros.
6-2 2-6 6-3#Woz faces ????@SvetlanaK27 in R4.#RolandGarros2017 #RG17?? pic.twitter.com/U16EWN55gX

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) June 3, 2017

...meanwhile, before the rains came, doubles wins were posted by the likes of Chan Yung-Jan/Martina Hingis, Ash Barty/Casey Dellacqua, Chan Hao-Ching/Barbora Krejcikova and Irina-Camelia Begu/Zheng Saisai, who upset #8-seeded Abigail Spears/Katarina Srebotnik.

..."AND AFTER KEEPING QUIET ABOUT ELENA ALLLLLL WEEK..." ON DAY 7: All right, who talked? Shaaaame.

.@CarlaSuarezNava books a spot in @RolandGarros Round of 16 with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Vesnina! #RG17 pic.twitter.com/rIvFgdiRO9

— WTA (@WTA) June 3, 2017

For CSN, it's her fifth Round of 16 at Roland Garros. She made her first, going all the way to the QF, in her Paris debut in 2008.

...LIKE ON DAY 7: Sveta... who can *truly* be commended for being honest, without a weird desire to try and take out fellow players out at the knees with accusatory criticism being part of the equation

Svetlana Kuznetsova on @rolandgarros being "too special" for her and the complexity of being versatile #RG17

??https://t.co/wzfNNNIJRE pic.twitter.com/QnbsWtEFVx

— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) June 3, 2017

Russia's best, Svetlana Kuznetsova, baffled by Margaret Court's continued homophobia. A geopolitically telling sign of where Court stands. pic.twitter.com/olK5NOEXRn

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) June 3, 2017

...LIKE ON DAY 7: Meanwhile, in other Aussie tennis news, the Rodionova worries are over -- the little one has been found

HAPPY DAY!! Our boy Rambo was found today!! So thankful for everyone's help and nice words ???? #family #grateful pic.twitter.com/55wXQ3YZmP

— Arina Rodionova (@arinarodionova) June 2, 2017

...LIKE ON DAY 7: And in the Land of Petra...

Little bit of sightseeing in the beautiful city with my girls ?? Holcici prochazka mestem #Prague pic.twitter.com/1J6023yzQi

— Petra Kvitova (@Petra_Kvitova) June 3, 2017

...ANNUAL (x4) DISLIKE ON DAY 7: U.S. tennis coverage continues to employ the as-little-tennis-as-possible gameplan. Well, at least when it's not the let's-focus-on-this-meaningless-2nd-set of a best-of-five men's contest when truly dramatic 3rd sets of women's matches are happening elsewhere. Drama which the likes of Tennis Channel doesn't even bother to mention is going on, except for when it's over, or when the screen is split nto four boxes to show what one might be able to see if they wanted to pay for Tennis Channel Plus, never mind the fact that they might already be paying to watch Tennis Channel, which likes to employ the as-little-important-tennis-as-possible gameplan. Well, at least when it's not the let's-focus-on-this-meaningless-...

@TennisChannel Why in the world are we watching a piece on Cuba when live tennis is going on...? I don't get it. Makes no sense.

— Al David (@thisisaldavid) June 3, 2017

. @TennisChannel has done everything but actually show tennis.

— Ed Wrynn (@jovialgentleman) June 3, 2017

Hey @TennisChannel, I subscribe to your channel to watch tennis. Especially during the French Open. You have shown about one game in 20 min.

— J (@JAWofLife) June 3, 2017

Seriously who's the "fan" @TennisChannel is targeting? Rafa playing live, Novak playing live but TC interviewing Sam Groth about engagement.

— TroubleFault (@troublefault) May 29, 2017

...WEIRDNESS ON DAY 7: (retweeted by Canadian player Gaby Dabrowski, by the way)

We've been staring at this observation for about 15 minutes.https://t.co/3NMzhggkKr

— b3ta (@b3ta) June 3, 2017

...DISLIKE ON DAY 7: Sigh...

So sorry you feel disrespected

A post shared by Madison Keys (@madisonkeys) on Jun 1, 2017 at 1:21pm PDT

Of course, this is coming on a day when "CNN is ISIS" was trending on Twitter. So... you know.

(You ever get the feeling that we're just living in a giant snow globe, someone dropped it and it's leaking fluid all over the carpet?)

Asking for a friend.

...I'M JUST SAYIN' ON DAY 7: Sania has probably had a lot of practice with this *on* the court the last few weeks. Things'll get better soon, though.

Inhale.Exhale.Let go.

A post shared by Sania Mirza (@mirzasaniar) on Jun 2, 2017 at 1:55pm PDT

...and, finally, it's nearly Round of 16 time. So...


(or as complete as things can be when there are still four 3rd Round matches to finish on Sunday, at least)
*2017 RG WOMEN'S FINAL 16*
[by ranking]
#4 - Simona Halep
#5 - Garbine Muguruza
#9 - Svetlana Kuznetsova
#11 - Venus Williams
#12 - Caroline Wozniacki
#14 - Kristina Mladenovic
#22 - Samantha Stosur
#23 - Carla Suarez-Navarro
#27 - Caroline Garcia
#31 - Timea Bacsinszky
#43 - Alize Cornet
#47 - Jelena Ostapenko
x
x
x
x
[by age]
36...Venus Williams
33...Samantha Stosur
31...Svetlana Kuznetsova
28...Carla Suarez-Navarro
27...Timea Bacsinszky
27...Alize Cornet
26...Caroline Wozniacki
25...Simona Halep
24...Kristina Mladenovic
23...Garbine Muguruza
23...Caroline Garcia
19...Jelena Ostapenko
x
x
x
x
[by nation]
3...France (Cornet,Garcia,Mladenovic)
2...Spain (Muguruza,Suarez-Navarro)
1...Australia (Stosur)
1...Denmark (Wozniacki)
1...Latvia (Ostapenko)
1...Romania (Halep)
1...Russia (Kuznetsova)
1...Switzerland (Bacsinszky)
1...United States (V.Williams)
x
x
x
x
[by career slam Round-of-16's]
48 - Venus Williams
31 - Svetlana Kuznetsova
18 - Caroline Wozniacki
12 - Samantha Stosur
12 - Carla Suarez-Navarro
10 - Simona Halep
8 - Garbine Muguruza
4 - Timea Bacsinszky
4 - Alize Cornet
2 - Kristina Mladenovic
1 - Caroline Garcia
1 - Jelena Ostapenko
x
x
x
x
[w/ consecutive slam Round of 16's]
5...Venus Williams
2...Svetlana Kuznetsova
2...Garbine Muguruza
x
[by career RG Round of 16's]
12...Svetlana Kuznetsova
10...Venus Williams
6...Samantha Stosur
5...Carla Suarez-Navarro
4...Garbine Muguruza
3...Timea Bacsinszky
3...Simona Halep
2...Alize Cornet
2...Caroline Wozniacki
1...Caroline Garcia
1...Kristina Mladenovic
1...Jelena Ostapenko
x
x
x
x
[w/ consecutive RG Round of 16's]
4...Garbine Muguruza
3...Timea Bacsinszky
2...Simona Halep
2...Svetlana Kuznetsova
2...Samantha Stosur
2...Carla Suarez-Navarro
2...Venus Williams
x
[by preseason ""Grand Slam Master List" rankings]

=Tiers: Green 1-3, Blue 4-13, Pink 14-21, Orange 22-32,
Red 33-37, Purple 38-45, White 46-50, Missed List (5)=x - none
4 - Simona Halep
11 - Garbine Muguruza
12 - Venus Williams
16 - Caroline Wozniacki
18 - Timea Bacsinszky
19 - Svetlana Kuznetsova
20 - Caroline Garcia
21 - Carla Suarez-Navarro
30 - Kristina Mladenovic
x - none
40 - Jelena Ostapenko
45 - Samantha Stosur
---
Missed List - none
---
Unlisted - Alize Cornet[WTA career slam Round of 16's - active]
55...Serena Williams
48...VENUS WILLIAMS
36...Maria Sharapova
31...SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA
26...Aga Radwanska
22...Victoria Azarenka
22...Jelena Jankovic
21...Patty Schnyder
18...Francesca Schiavone
18...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI
15...Daniela Hantuchova
15...Petra Kvitova
14...Angelique Kerber
14...Ekaterina Makarova
12...SAMANTHA STOSUR
12...CARLA SUAREZ-NAVARRO
[WTA slam Round of 16's since 2010 - active]
23...Serena Williams
19...Maria Sharapova
18...Aga Radwanska
17...Victoria Azarenka
14...Angelique Kerber
14...Ekaterina Makarova
14...CAROLINE WOZNIACKI
13...SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA
13...Petra Kvitova
13...VENUS WILLIAMS
10...SIMONA HALEP
10...Jelena Jankovic
10...SAMANTHA STOSUR
10...CARLA SUAREZ-NAVARRO
8...GARBINE MUGURUZA
8...Francesca Schiavone
8...Sloane Stephens
[2017 slam Rd. of 16's - youngest]
19 - Jelena Ostapenko (RG)
21 - Jennifer Brady (AO)
x
[2017 slam Rd. of 16's - oldest]
36...Venus Williams (RG)
36...Venus Williams (AO)
35...Serena Williams (AO)
34...Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (AO)
33...Samantha Stosur (RG)
31...Svetlana Kuznetsova (RG)
31...Svetlana Kuznetsova (AO)
30...Barbora Strycova (AO)
29...Angelique Kerber (AO)
[2017 slam Rd. of 16's - unseeded]
AO - Mona Barthel, GER (Q)
AO - Jennifer Brady, USA (Q)
AO - Sorana Cirstea, ROU
AO - Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, CRO
AO - CoCo Vandeweghe, USA
RG - Alize Cornet, FRA
RG - Jelena Ostapenko, LAT
x
[2017 slam Rd. of 16's - 1st-time GS 4th Rd.'s]
AO - Mona Barthel, GER
AO - Jennifer Brady, USA
RG - Caroline Garcia, FRA
RG - Jelena Ostapenko, LAT
x
[2017 slam Rd. of 16's - lowest-ranked]
#181 - Mona Barthel, GER (AO)
#116 - Jennifer Brady, USA (AO)
#79 - Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, CRO (AO)
#78 - Sorana Cirstea, ROU (AO)
x
[2017 slam Rd. of 16's]
2...Svetlana Kuznetsova, RUS
2...Garbine Muguruza, RUS
2...Venus Williams, USA
x
[2017 slam Rd. of 16's - by nation]
5...USA (4/1)
4...RUS (3/1)
3...ESP (1/2)
3...FRA (0/3)
2...AUS (1/1)
2...CZE (2/0)
2...ROU (1/1)
2...GER (2/0)
1...CRO (1/0)
1...DEN (0/1)
1...GBR (1/0)
1...LAT (0/1)
1...SUI (0/1)

TO PLAY: Svitolina/Linette, Sevastova/Martic, Cepede Royg/Duque, Ka.Pliskova/Witthoeft




*WOMEN'S SINGLES ROUND OF 16*
Jelena Ostapenko/LAT vs. #23 Samantha Stosur/AUS
#11 Caroline Wozniacki/DEN vs. #8 Svetlana Kuznetsova/RUS
#4 Garbine Muguruza/ESP vs. #13 Kristina Mladenovic/FRA
#10 Venus Williams/USA vs. #30 Timea Bacsinszky/SUI
x vs. x
#21 Carla Suarez-Navarro/ESP vs. #3 Simona Halep/ROU
#28 Caroline Garcia/FRA vs. Alize Cornet/FRA
x vs. x

So I put my son to sleep and he was so cute that I decided to take a picture and guess what it's auto flash that woke him up. Great job Vika

— victoria azarenka (@vika7) June 3, 2017

Feels good to be in the second week of @rolandgarros ???????? pic.twitter.com/pGG1ubKtDg

— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) June 3, 2017

Hidden gem in France ????

A post shared by Maria Sharapova (@mariasharapova) on Jun 2, 2017 at 1:06pm PDT

„Honey, I’ve shrunk a five-time Grand Slam champion!“ @MariaSharapova at #evianOversize pic.twitter.com/f9msbr726F

— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) June 2, 2017

*FRENCH WOMEN IN RG ROUND OF 16 - since 1994*
1994 Mary Pierce (RU), Julie Halard, Alexia Dechaume-Balleret
1995 Mary Pierce
1996 -
1997 Mary Pierce
1998 Sandrine Testud
1999 Julie Halard-Decugis
2000 Amelie Mauresmo, Mary Pierce (W)
2001 Sandrine Testud
2002 Amelie Mauresmo, Mary Pierce
2003 Amelie Mauresmo
2004 Amelie Mauresmo
2005 Mary Pierce (RU)
2006 Amelie Mauresmo
2007 Marion Bartoli
2008 -
2009 Virginie Razzano, Aravane Rezai
2010 -
2011 Marion Bartoli
2012 -
2013 -
2014 Pauline Parmentier
2015 Alize Cornet
2016 -
2017 Alize Cornet, Caroline Garcia, Kristina Mladenovic

*RG GIRLS SINGLES FINALS - since 2006*
2006 Agnieszka Radwanska/POL d. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova/RUS
2007 Alize Cornet/FRA d. Mariana Duque-Marino/COL
2008 Simona Halep/ROU d. Elena Bogdan/ROU
2009 Kristina Mladenovic/FRA d. Daria Gavrilova/RUS
2010 Elina Svitolina/UKR d. Ons Jabeur/TUN
2011 Ons Jabeur/TUN d. Monica Puig/PUR
2012 Annika Beck/GER d. Anna Schmiedlova/SVK
2013 Belinda Bencic/SUI d. Antonia Lottner/GER
2014 Daria Kasatkina/RUS d. Ivana Jorovic/SRB
2015 Paula Badosa Gibert/ESP d. Anna Kalinskaya/RUS
2016 Rebeka Masarova/SUI d. Amanda Anisimova/USA



TOP QUALIFIER: Marketa Vondrousova/CZE
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): #23 Samantha Stosur/AUS
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): xx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: Quirine Lemoine/NED def. Arantxa Rus/NED 2-6/7-6(3)/6-3 (down 6-2/5-3, saved 2 MP)
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 1st Rd. - #13 Kristina Mladenovic/FRA def. Jennifer Brady/USA 3-6/6-3/9-7 (back injury; down 3-0 in 3rd; on third attempt to serve out match)
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xx
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.): xx
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Petra Kvitova/CZE (def. Boserup/USA)
FIRST SEED OUT: #31 Roberta Vinci/ITA (1st Rd.-lost to Puig/PUR)
UPSET QUEENS: South Americans (Duque Marino/COL & Cepede Royg/PAR)
REVELATION LADIES: Muslim woman (LL Jabeur/TUN first Arab in 3rd Rd.; Buyukakcay/TUR 1st Rd. win for second straight year)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: Germany (2-5 in 1st Round; Kerber first #1 out so early)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: In 3rd Rd.: Martic, Mattek-Sands(L)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Chloe Paquet/FRA (2nd Rd.)
LAST PASTRY STANDING: In 4th Rd.: Cornet, Garcia, Mladenovic
MADEMOISELLE/MADAM OPPORTUNITY: xx
IT "??": Nominees: Ostapenko, Mladenovic
COMEBACK PLAYER: Petra Kvitova/CZE
CRASH & BURN: #1 Angelique Kerber/GER (first #1-ranked woman to lost RG 1st Rd.; first at any slam since '01)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF PARIS: Kristina Mladenovic/FRA (1st Rd.- down 3-0 in 3rd to Brady, wins 9-7; 3rd Rd. - down 5-2 in 3rd, wins 8-6 vs. Rogers)
DOUBLES STAR: xx
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): Nominees: V.Williams, Kuznetsova, Stosur, Sevastova
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xx
Légion de Lenglen HONOREE: Nominee: Halep, Cornet, Mladenovic, Garcia, Jabeur, Muguruza, Kuznetsova
LA PETIT TAUREAU TROPHY: Elina Svitolina/UKR




Artist: Paul Thurlby

All for Day 7. More tomorrow.