16:18
Thompson 1-3 Nadal
Again Nadal puts everything in the forehand inside-in. Once again, Thompson can only stare in amazement at the felt ball. The Spaniard races to win the game with zero.
16:16
Thompson 1-2 Nadal
Nadal can do anything with the forehand – now inside-in for a change. 30:0! The record champion of Roland Garros is increasingly dominating the matter.
16:15
Thompson 1-2 Nadal
Nadal wants to focus on that. It would certainly be in his interest to get through in three sets and save energy. The Spaniard prepares with the forehand and then executes overhead.
16:13
Thompson 1-2 Nadal
Nadal grabs it immediately and plays it out very strongly. With the forehand stop, the Mallorcan lures the opponent forward and then deliberately pushes his backhand into the open field. There’s the early break for the favorite.
16:12
Thompson 1-1 Nadal
Then Thompson ignites the first ace. Afterwards, however, Nadal scores strongly with the forehand longline and gets the first breakball.
16:10
Thompson 1-1 Nadal
Thompson opens the following game with the first double fault of the match. Then his first serve comes for the second time today – and brings the point to 15 both.
16:09
Thompson 1-1 Nadal
A good first serve from the 5th seeded Spaniard follows. Thompson doesn’t get his forehand return under control, which consequently sails wide. This is how Nadal equalizes to 1: 1.
16:08
Thompson 1-0 Nadal
Like Thompson, Nadal now has the matter under control on his own serve and also quickly has two balls at hand. But then the Australian Open winner misses a backhand longline.
16:05
Thompson 1-0 Nadal
Nadal isn’t getting going yet. The 35-year-old tries to dictate the rally with powerful forehands. But the edge of the net thwarts his plans.
16:04
Thompson 1-0 Nadal
However, the Australian does not allow more. Although the first serve has only come once so far, the 28-year-old holds his service quite easily and submits.
16:03
Thompson 0-0 Nadal
It’s no longer raining in Paris. Therefore the roof was opened before this match. Meanwhile, Thompson ends a fairly long rally with a backhand error.
15:59
1 sentence
Now Jordan Thompson opens the match – does it on the second serve. In the subsequent rally, Nadal immediately tries to build up pressure. But on the way forward, the Mallorcan catches the opponent’s forehand pass ball down the line.
15:53
invasion
At that moment, our protagonists enter the square. After a few steps of preparation, which the Spaniard carries out conscientiously as usual, you meet at the net to vote.
15:36
Briefly
The unseeded French player Diane Parry has just converted her first match point and surprisingly beats world number three Barbora Krejčíková 1:6, 6:2 and 6:3. This means that the Court Philippe-Chatrier is now free for our men’s match, which could even start shortly before 4:00 p.m.
15:22
More patience
In the meantime, the women’s match has developed into an extremely competitive affair. Sometimes the games are fought fiercely. Progress is correspondingly hesitant, which demands even more patience from us. In the meantime we have to gradually orientate ourselves in the direction of 4:00 p.m.
15:12
Head 2 Head
For the second time, the two opponents face each other on the tennis court. Appropriately, the only duel so far also took place in the French capital. In the round of 16 of the Paris-Bercy Masters 2020, Nadal won in straight sets.
15:02
Thompson at Roland Garros
Thompson is in the main draw of the French Open for the seventh time and survived at least the opening match unscathed on his debut in 2016. He only managed to do that in 2019, where he recorded his best result so far in Roland Garros as a participant in the 3rd round. Today the unseeded Australian faces the greatest possible hurdle on the sand of Paris – even if Nadal is “only” number 5 on the seeding list.
14:52
Thompson 2022
Thompson even played Challenger this season, but did so without any notable success. So the best result of this year goes back to the 250 in Dallas. There, the now 28-year-old reached a quarter-final. The moderate match record for 2022 shows seven wins and ten losses.
14:42
longer wait
Sometimes things change quickly in tennis. Our hopes have not been fulfilled. The favorite Barbora Krejčíková just had to accept the set equalization. A third sentence is now necessary for the decision-making process. For us, that means a waiting time of around 3:30 p.m.
14:32
state of things
Diane Parry and Barbora Krejčíková are currently working on the Philippe-Chatrier court. The Czech, who was seeded 2nd, quickly secured the 1st set. The second round is currently underway. If the end is imminent, it could be our turn around 3:00 p.m.
14:26
Thompson without a tournament win
While the track record of the two-time Olympic champion Nadal (2008 in singles, 2016 in doubles) reads extremely impressive, it looks really poor what Jordan Thompson has to show for merits. The number 82 in the world was listed at position 43 three years ago. It has not yet been enough to win a tournament on the ATP tour. At the 250 on the lawn of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Australian made it to the final at least once in 2019, losing it to Adrian Mannarino in two sets. In addition, the right-hander had to settle for seven Challenger titles in previous years. On the big stage, it never went beyond the round of 16. He achieved that once at Masters level in Miami 2019 and the following year at the US Open.
14:16
Nadal 2022
In total, Nadal has now won 21 Grand Slam titles (no one has more), the last one he got at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year. In general, the 35-year-old started this season like a completely unworn youngster and seemed to have completely banished losing. In a row, the Spaniard won the 250 in Melbourne, the Australian Open and the 500 in Acapulco. Only in the final of the Indian Wells Masters was Nadal stopped by Taylor Fritz and a rib injury. So there was a break. After that, the fifth in the world rankings no longer continued in the early form, failed at the clay court Masters in Madrid and Rome in the quarterfinals and round of 16. The match record for 2022 is 23:3.
14:06
Mr Roland Garros
Of course we will be there live when clay court king Nadal honors himself. Mister Roland Garros has won an incredible 13 tournaments at the Major in Paris – all in singles. And that with 17 participations so far. That’s a record for eternity. When the Mallorquin competed, the man did not reach the final four times. In 2016 he retired early due to an injury. That being said, the left-hander has lost a miserable three matches at Roland Garros – the last in the 2021 semifinals.
13:56
bon jour!
Welcome to the French Open. In Roland Garros, the second day awaits us with first-round matches. And as usual, there is a lot on the agenda at the start of a Grand Slam tournament. On the uncovered outdoor courts, however, play is suspended due to rain. But that doesn’t bother us under the umbrella of the Court Philippe-Chatrier. We expect the duel between Jordan Thompson and Rafael Nadal from 2:30 p.m.