French Open #SmashTalk: Of upsets & fightbacks

Surprise winners = surprise losers, and that’s exactly what day four at Roland Garros threw up. Can we expect more of the same on day five? The #SmashTalk panel have their say.

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Biggest winner on day four:

Vivienne Christie: Everybody loves a feel-good story and Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur provided it as she became the first Arab woman to make a Grand Slam third round, with a 6-4 6-3 win over sixth seed Dominika Cibulkova. The 2011 girls’ champion entered the main draw as a lucky loser; now the 22-year-old is emerging as a name to watch.

Paul Moore: It’s got to be Renzo Olivo. Playing his first French Open against everybody’s favourite French player, the Argentinian world No.91 somehow managed to get the win. Admittedly, when play resumed yesterday he didn’t have to do much (Tsonga splaying balls all over Chatrier did it for him), but that is an enormous result.

Leigh Rogers: Garbine Muguruza. Fighting back from a set and break down against Estonian Anett Kontaveit is going to do wonders for the defending champion’s confidence. From within a few games of an unceremonious early exit, she’s suddenly looking dangerous again.

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Biggest loser on day four:

VC: What happened to Ekaterina Makarova? After making history with her straight-sets upset of world No.1 Angelique Kerber in the opening round, the Russian managed just four games against world No. 42 Lesia Tsurenko. I get the comedown effect, but that’s a pure letdown.

PM: No question: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. If you can’t get ‘up’ for your home tournament then when can you get up? Even with the overnight break to disrupt Olivo’s momentum, Tsonga still conspired to lose. That he was in my fantasytennisleague.com team merely rubs salt into the wound.

LR: Borna Coric. For nearly four hours he gallantly battled American Steve Johnson – but despite holding set points in both second and fourth set tiebreakers, he couldn’t capitalise. The result? Johnson won in four sets and left the 20-year-old Croatian wondering what could have been.

What’s the must watch match on day five?

VC: It will be a battle of the big servers as Nick Kyrgios takes on Kevin Anderson. Neither man would list clay as their favoured surface but both will compete with fierce intensity after respective injury challenges. Former top tenner Anderson is the winner of the only other match they’ve contested, in Chengdu in 2016.

PM: I’m going to go with Wawrinka v Dolgopolov. Admittedly, the Ukranian hasn’t been at peak powers for the last 18 months, but he’s a mercurial player that is always fun to watch. What’s more, with questions lingering over Wawrinka’s form, this one has the whiff of an upset about it.

LR: Barbora Strycova v Alize Cornet. If you like a bit of drama (and who doesn’t?) this is a must-see match. Not only are these two players fiercely determined, they are also equally highly-animated – so expect fireworks. Cornet holds a 5-2 win-loss record against the No.20 seed, but Strycova has won their two most recent meetings.

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Which seed is going to struggle on day five?

VC: As a former champion, Stan Wawrinka would appear to have it easy against Alexander Dolgopolov, who is yet to advance past the third round in six Roland Garros appearances. But not so fast… it’s world No.89 who leads their head-to-head record 2-1 (admittedly, one of those wins was a walkover) and on his day, the mercurial Ukrainian can make things extremely tricky.

PM: Nick Kyrgios. Playing Kevin Anderson is never much fun, but the big-serving South African has looked good on the clay this year. The Aussie, who has been struggling with a hip injury and never seems to enjoy playing big servers, could be in for a tough day at the office.

LR: Agnieszka Radwanska. The world No.10 shouldn’t have trouble against a No.112-ranked qualifier – but Alison Van Uytvanck is a dangerous proposition on clay. The Belgian player, a French Open quarterfinalist in 2015, has the added advantage of momentum, which Radwanska is severely lacking after being sidelined with injury for most of the clay season.