Court Philippe-Chatrier is one of the broadest tennis courts in the world, meaning when things are going badly and the match is rapidly falling away, it makes for a painfully lonely place to be. A day after Emma Raducanu learned this during her heavy defeat by the defending champion Iga Swiatek, Katie Boulter endured a similarly miserable experience as she was comprehensively beaten 6-1, 6-3 by the Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the second round of the French Open.
Landing in the path of a recent grand slam champion is rarely good news but there were reasons for Boulter, the British No 1, to be hopeful before her match with Keys. Rather than potentially facing a tricky, cunning clay specialist who could make her extremely uncomfortable, the tactics were at least simple for both: attack first.
Although both players attempt to play an uncompromising first-strike game, dictating opponents with their serve and forehands, Keys is simply a better player. Boulter’s relative deficiencies were particularly clear on serve. The American has long established herself as one of the best servers in the world, her precise, destructive first delivery is complemented by her tricky, consistent top-spin second effort. The British player is far more temperamental. On a good day, when she finds rhythm and is striking her ground strokes cleanly, Boulter can certainly perform at a high level and she possesses enough weapons to trouble the best players in the world.
On Thursday, however, was a poor day with ball in hand for Boulter and it did not take long for her second serve to crumble under the pressure inflicted by Keys, who hunted it down without hesitation. The British No 1, ranked 38th in the world, struck nine double faults, including three times on break point to give away the first three breaks of the match. Her serving did not give her a realistic chance.
Although the surface will always be a significant challenge for Boulter, her second clay court season has still represented a positive step forward. She won her first clay court title at any level in the WTA 125 event in Paris just before the French Open and her opening round win against Carole Monnet was her first main draw victory at the French Open. She will now head to the grass, her favourite surface, with higher expectations and greater opportunities.
Sonay Kartal, the British No 3, fell 6-1, 6-4 to Marie Bouzkova in the second round after an extremely physical, arduous battle. Having won her first French Open match on her debut, the 23-year-old from London continues to make positive, steady progress and she could break into the world’s top 50 for the first time in her career after the tournament, depending on other results.
In the men’s draw, Cameron Norrie continued to gain momentum as he followed up his spectacular first-round win over Daniil Medvedev, the 11th seed, with an efficient 7-6 (7), 6-2, 6-1 victory over Federico Agustin Gomez of Argentina. After a tough opening set against Gomez, a lucky loser with a searing forehand who was competing in a grand slam tournament for the first time in his career, Norrie relaxed and cruised to victory:“I played a very steady kind of 6, 7 out of 10 for the whole time,” the world No 81 said. “It showed in the score. I was very happy with the way I handled it. I felt I didn’t play amazing, didn’t play that badly. Didn’t give him much. So it was a good day.”
Norrie will next face a fellow Brit in the third round after Jacob Fearnley advanced at the expense of 22nd seed Ugo Humbert after the Frenchman retired with an injury.Fearnley won the first set 6-4 with the second level at 4-4 when the match was cut short.
Arthur Fils, the 20-year-old French No 1, finally made his mark at his home grand slam tournament as he fought through injury to complete an incredible comeback victory against Jaume Munar of Spain, winning 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 2-6, 0-6, 6-4 after four hours and 25 minutes. The French youngster led by two sets but began to struggle with both a back injury and cramps, quickly losing the third and fourth. From a break down in the final set, at the urging of a deafening Court Suzanne-Lenglen crowd, he pulled off a spectacular recovery to reach the third round at Roland Garros for the first time. “This is my best match of all time,” said Fils. “I have had big matches before, but I have never had a match like this in five sets before.”
