Medvedev lands

“I hate the earth,” Daniil Medvedev said long ago. A lapidary phrase that he has gradually reversed at Roland Garros. Last year he was a quarterfinalist after losing four seasons in a row in the first round. And in 2022 his feelings are even better. This Saturday he swept a good player, Miomir Kecmanovic (6-2, 6-4 and 6-2 in 1h48) and reaches the round of 16 without having lost a set and having yielded 24 games. Croatian Marin Cilic awaits him who won 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 against a tired Gilles Simon (37 years old), who says goodbye to the tournament in the year of his retirement. His behavior is being very good and He looks like he can go far. His balance on clay is still negative (18-22), but he looks like he will turn it around soon.

And that skipped almost the entire campaign for a hernia operation. He returned to compete in Lyon, where he did not pass the debut against Gasquet, but has arrived surprisingly fit at the French Grand Slam. So far, he has lost his serve five times, none to the Serb who came close to beating Alcaraz in Miami. He landed 42 winners on it, more than in previous matches. And he doesn’t make many unforced errors (26 this time). With that solidity it is very dangerous for any opponent.

His compatriot Andrey Rublev is not bad either, although he has needed four sets to win all his matches. The Muscovite defeated Chilean Christian Garín 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 and 7-6 (11) in 3h09, a specialist who endorsed him with 50 winners. They will be seen in the round of 16 with Jannik Sinner, who defeated the American Mackenzie McDonald (6-3, 7-6 (6) and 6-3 in 2h51). The Italian, who suffered to beat Roberto Carballés on Thursday, hopes to repeat the success of 2020, when he was a quarter-finalist and lost to Nadal.

Tsitsipas and Hurkacz, forward

Two of the top seeds also advanced without too many problems in the third round matchday. Stefanos Tsitsipas continues to clear up the doubts he left behind in his first match (he came back from 0-2 against Musetti) and won 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 in 1h32 against the Swedish Elias Ymer. The Greek will face the Danish Rune or the French Gastón, who close the day in the night shift of the plant. Hubert Hurkacz, from less to more, got rid of the Belgian Goffin (7-5, 6-2 and 6-1 in 1h49). The Pole, who hit nine aces, will run into the Norwegian Ruud or the Italian Sonego.