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WTA Backspin by Todd Spiker: RG.3- Emma’s Parisian Persuasion

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WTA Backspin by Todd Spiker: RG.3- Emma’s Parisian Persuasion

For Emma Navarro, this year’s Roland Garros has already been more of a success than last year’s version. In 2025, the then #9-seed exited Paris in the 1st Round, crashing out as the victim of Jessica Bouzas Maneiro by a stunning 6-1/6-0 score.

What was unknown then was that at the time Navarro was experiencing ongoing illness and emotional issues while *also* trying to traverse the world tennis tour, not always a user-friendly experience even when those involved in the swirl are 100% up to snuff. Fatigue, weight fluctuations and overall trouble persisted into 2026 as she continued to move forward with a full schedule. She started the year at 4-9 before finally stepping back to take a two-month break (missing her hometown event in Charleston) in order to head home and get things straight.

In her initial return match this spring in Rome, Navarro fell in straight sets to Elisabetta Cocciaretto, and she lost twice in her first three clay matches before the former U.S. Open semifinalist (2024) seemed to begin to find her groove again in Strasbourg, feeling more “like (her)self.” By then, she’d nearly fallen outside the Top 40 after having been in the Top 10 as recently as last July.

Strasbourg showed a more in-form Navarro than we’d seen in quite a while, as her success grew over the course of the week, resulting in her first career WTA clay title, first Top 10 win on the dirt (over Vicky Mboko in the final), and an immediate pre-RG improvement of *14* spots in the rankings (from #39 to #25) .

In her RG opener on Day 3, Navarro continued the “better vibes” portion of her story, taking out Janice Tjen in straight sets, 6-4/6-3.

She’s one of thirteen Bannerettes (of the 19 in the draw) to post 1st Round wins in Paris this year.

To be continued…

=DAY 3 NOTES=

…in today’s match-up between #12 Linda Noskova and Maria Sakkari, it was very easy to have something of a mindbending experience when considering the two players.

On one hand, you had Noskova, a Czech who came into RG with a chance to crack the Top 10, having maintained her position and even moved up in the rankings a bit over the course of the first five months of this season. And yet… and yet.

At least from this space, it’s been hard to shake the feeling this year that Noskova has also taken something of a half-step *back* in 2026, leaving enough possible upward movement on the table in the first half of the year for it to be noticeable.

It’s somewhat akin to what has become Noskova’s career pattern in match-ups with Iga Swiatek, against whom her big-hitting game presents an obvious challenge (if not danger), and at times in-match she looks fully capable of dusting off the former #1. But Noskova ultimately remains both just good enough *and* not *yet* good enough to complete “a BIG move.” Hence, in her seven meetings with Swiatek, though the Czech won their second (at AO24) and has often significantly pushed back against the Pole (forcing opening set TBs in three of their five matches since, as well as tight 6-4 1st sets in the other two, going three in consecutive meetings in a stretch), it’s Swiatek who holds a commanding 6-1 lead in their h2h, winning five straight times.

Just good enough, but not quite good enough.

Noskova came into Paris behind a season with one big result (Indian Wells SF), a few very good ones (Madrid QF/Rome 4r) and an “okay” AO run (3r), but also three 2nd Round exits in 1000 events and zero appearances in finals after reaching three during the ’25 season. To extend the “not quite” narrative a little bit further, Noskova has one of the worst career records in WTA finals (1-5) of any current top ranked player, even while being one of the few top Czechs who manages to avoid having her training and match play limited by a series of injuries.

Noskova’s clay season hasn’t been spectacular, but has also been good enough (with multiple wins in all three of her events) to envision at least a good run into the second week of RG.

Meanwhile, on the other hand, her opponent Sakkari is clearly not at the level she was a few years ago when she reached multiple slam semis (both in ’21) and enjoyed a very long stretch (some of it justified) in the Top 10, but she’s also one who has flashed some comeback potential in ’26 after re-teaming with former longtime coach Tom Hill *last* clay season. The Greek notched two wins at the United Cup (def. Osaka), and reached the Doha semis with a pair of Top 10 upsets over Jasmine Paolini and Swiatek before losing to eventual champion Karolina Muchova in three sets.

But while Sakkari has *seemed* to be tilting upward a bit in ’26, at the start of the day she stood at just 9-10 on the year, was ranked #49 and was 1-4 on clay (though her lone win came via a love 3rd set victory over rising teen Lilli Tagger), with 1st Round eliminations in Charleston, Madrid and Strasbourg, and a 2nd Round loss in Rome. Her last six losses came via straight sets, as have nine of her ten on the season.

Coming in, Noskova seemed to have the edge, but the questions regarding both (negatively for the Czech, a bit more positively for Sakkari) lingered, and ultimately proved to be the catalyst for what would occur.

It was Sakkari who grabbed an early 3-1 lead in the 1st set, but Noskova’s late competitive arrival to the proceedings saw her surge to take a 5-4 lead, only to come up short by dropping serve at 5-5 and then seeing Sakkari take advantage of the moment, holding at love to win 7-5.

Noskova led 4-1 in the 2nd, and was well on her way to forcing a 3rd set when she took a 5-2 lead, holding triple BP/SP at love/40 a game later. But a series of ill-timed unforced errors proved her undoing there, and then led to the Czech being broken at love in the following game, as well. A set that was seemingly in Noskova’s back pocket went to a TB.

Knotted at 3-3, and with servers having won each of the first seven points in the breaker, Noskova dropped *both* serves to fall behind 6-3. Sakkari completed her sweep of the final five points, taking the match 7-5/7-6(5) for her first win in Paris since the 1st Round in 2022. She’d been 1-5 at RG since defeating Swiatek in the ’21 QF to reach her maiden slam semi five years ago.

Though she has just ten wins on the season, this was the fourth vs. a Top 20 opponent for Sakkari in ’26. The Greek continues to poke her head out of the proverbial water, now it’s just about pulling herself fully to the surface. Maybe this will be the spark?

Meanwhile, Noskova falls to 15-15 in slams for her career, 9-9 since reaching her first major QF at AO24. Ranked as highly as she is, she *should* have better numbers than that, right?

Yet that also somehow feels “just about right.”

…elsewhere, the Naomi Osaka fashion parade sent another outfit (two versions of it, really) down the runway.

I guess this will continue to be a thing. Which is fine.

It’s been something of a tradition in majors, starting a while back with Serena Williams, usually at the U.S. Open. But for Williams it was simply a *side* show made possible due to her stature and continuing success, as she’d have her fashion fun and then go on to add big trophies to her collection, while with Osaka — though she’s managed to climb and stick (for now, anyway) in the Top 20 — it’s teetering on the edge of being *the* show.

When asked the other day about her model exploits, Osaka wondered what was wrong with being “a little extra.” The answer: nothing, but for a four-time major winner, it’s only “extra” if there’s something *else* going on. Otherwise it’s just a distraction in lieu of actual results.

Osaka hasn’t won a WTA title since 2021. Today’s was just her fifteenth match of this season, and her name isn’t Krejcikova. Actually, as Day 3 began the perpetually-on-the-comeback Czech (w/ 14) had played the same number of matches this year as Osaka (and Barbora only had *one* less win). In her most recent match, in Rome, Osaka clocked just three games vs. Iga Swiatek.

Meanwhile, Osaka gets as much (far, more actually, by a wide margin) attention for appearing at the Met gala and hosting private parties these days than for her tennis, as the ongoing coverage of her showgirl dress (and debates over what she’ll wear next) will surely attest over the next 48 hours.

Playing today against 38-year old Laura Siegemund, the second oldest woman in the women’s draw (just behind fellow 38-year old German Tatjana Maria), Osaka wasn’t served the sort of game style in an opponent that someone who prefers straight-up ball striking would prefer. The two hadn’t played since 2018, and Osaka had lost their only match on red clay (Rome ’17), though she did win on the green kind in Charleston in ’18.

#16 Osaka played well in the 1st, but was lured out of her typical go-for-it approach in the 2nd. Siegemund served for the set at 5-3, only to see her work to get back into the match put out to pasture by a string of unforced errors that came from nowhere (well, other than the pressure of serving out the set). She dropped serve because of that, then it continued into the next game as Osaka held at love for 5-5. The Osaka points streak went to eight in a row with one more add to start off game 11, most of them courtesy of Siegemund’s sudden charity.

Still, Siegemund managed to hold for 6-5, saving three BP in an 11-minute game, and soon things went to a TB. There, again, Osaka went on a points run that carried over from another love hold in game 12, taking six straight to hold a mini-break TB edge at 2-0. Osaka wasn’t pristine the rest of the way, but Siegemund ended the match by ultimately losing five of her six service points in the breaker, falling 7-3 as Osaka’s final run included sweeping the match’s last four points to win 6-3/7-6(3).

Osaka has never advanced past the 3rd Round in Paris, with the last time she got that far coming in 2019.

…for the most part, the Bannerettes have been in fine form in the 1st Round of this RG. Going into the last women’s match of the day, the U.S. women were a combined 13-5.

#5 Jessie Pegula seemed about to move along, as well, as she led Aussie Kimberly Birrell 6-1 and held a break edge for 2-1 in the 2nd. But from there forward the veteran’s hopes simply went off the rails as the world #83 rallied to pull off the biggest upset of her career, winning 1-6/6-3/6-3.

While model-of-consistency Pegula had had just one 1st Round exit in a major since the 2020 RG (at last year’s Wimbledon) until today, up until her loss in the Rome QF to Iga Swiatek she’d started 2026 with a 28-0 record this season against anyone not named Elena Rybakina (0-3) or Marta Kostyuk (0-2).

Birrell had lost her last *nine* 1st Round matches in majors, and was just 3-13 in slam opening matches in her career.

…meanwhile, the Pastries *did* finally get off the mat to post a win today, when Elsa Jacquemot became the first French woman (after an 0-6 collective start, all losses by players the FFT handed MD wild cards… so, good job there to all involved — actually *all* the WCs went 0-8) to reach the 2nd Round, defeating Linda Fruhvirtova 6-4/6-3.

A year after reaching the semifinals as a wild card, though, Lois Boisson fell in straights today to #22 Anna Kalinskaya, 6-2/6-2. Later in the day, Diane Parry prevented Jacquemot from immediately claiming “Last Pasty Standing” honors, posting a good win over Anhelina Kalinina. Parry has won six of her last seven matches.

Unfortunately (for them), it’s still not enough to keep the French women from claiming the “Nation of Poor Souls” designation for this major. 2-7 in the 1st Round, with a qualifying shutout (none of the 14 FRA in the Q-draw reached the MD), 0-6 mark from wild card entrants, and ’25 star Boisson putting in just a cameo appearance this time around is more than enough to sink the group to the bottom.

(The 0-3 Hungarians give a sigh of relief.)

Meanwhile, the Polish women earn “Revelation Ladies” honors with their second straight 4-0 1st Round mark in ’26 majors, while the Swiss (even while Simona Waltert’s loss to Katerina Siniakova took the group out of the undefeated category) are the “Upset Queens” with wins over two of the seven seeded women ousted in the 1st Round (Bandecchi def. #31 Bucsa, Teichmann def. #20 Samsonova).

…I DON’T CARE ABOUT DRAKE, BUT THIS WAS A (though belated) GOOD COMEBACK FROM THE TOURNAMENT SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM… ON DAY 3:

Also (FYI), and a very good point made…

And, I know the irritation…

…Hmmm… ON DAY 3:

Last year, Coco Gauff’s rackets “got lost in the transition” on her trip to Paris, and she went on to win the title. This year…

Haha, good one!

…”Française Forehand” HAD A LOT OF HIGHLIGHTS AT RG25… ON DAY 3:

This was pretty much her only one at RG26…

…”COCO IN ACTION PHOTOS” STRIKES AGAIN… ON DAY 3:


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**RG 1st ROUND BY NATION – alphabetical**
1-0 – ARG
2-2 – AUT
2-4 – AUS
1-1 – BEL
1-0 – BLR
0-1 – BRA
1-1 – CAN
2-3 – CHN
1-1 – COL
2-1 – CRO
4-5 – CZE
0-1 – DEN
1-0 – EGY
2-4 – ESP
2-7 – FRA
2-1 – GBR
2-3 – GER
0-1 – GRE
0-3 – HUN
0-1 – INA
1-2 – ITA
1-1 – JPN
2-0 – KAZ
1-0 – LAT
0-1 – MEX
0-1 – MNE
0-1 – PHI
4-0 – POL
1-2 – ROU
4-5 – RUS
0-1 – SLO
4-1 – SUI
0-1 – SVK
0-1 – TUR
1-0 – UZB
5-2 – UKR
13-6 – USA
===
TOTAL MD NATIONS: 37
MOST IN 2nd RD. (26 diff. nations): 13-USA, 5-UKR, 4-CZE, 4-POL, 4-RUS, 4-SUI
UNDEFEATED 1st RD.: 4-0 (POL); 2-0 (KAZ) (1-0 = ARG,BLR,EGY,LAT,UZB)
BEST NON-UNDEFEATED 1st RD.: 4-1 (SUI); 5-2 (UKR); 2-1 (CRO), 2-1 (GBR)
WORST 1st RD.: 0-3 (HUN); 2-7 (FRA); 2-4 (AUS); 1-2 (ITA,ROU)
SEEDS OUT: 7 (2-RUS; 1-CAN,1-CZE,1-DEN,1-ESP,1-USA)
DEF.SEEDS: 2-SUI; 1-AUS,1-COL,1-GRE,1-UKR,1-USA
SLAM MD DEBUTS: 10 (2-AUT,2-FRA; 1-BEL,1-CHN,1-ESP,1-RUS,1-SUI,1-USA)
FIRST-TIME SLAM 2nd Rd.: 6 (2-ESP; 1-CRO,1-GBR,1-SUI,1-UKR)

*RECENT RG “REVELATION LADIES” WINNERS’ NATION/REGION*
2016 France
2017 Muslim women
2018 Romania
2019 Russia
2020 Romania
2021 Czech Republic
2022 Czech Republic
2023 Russia
2024 China
2025 United States
2026 Poland

*RECENT RG “UPSET QUEENS” NATION/REGION*
2016 South America
2017 South America
2018 Ukraine
2019 Russia
2020 Australia
2021 Slovenia
2022 France
2023 Italy
2024 United States
2025 Czech Republic
2026 Switzerland

*RG “NATIONS OF POOR SOULS”*
[2018]
LAT (both DC Ostapenko & Sevastova out 1st Rd.)
[2019]
ITA (0-2; first none in RG 2nd Rd. since 1982)
[2020]
USA (4 seeds pre-3r, Serena w/d 2r, US QF/SF Rogers/Brady 1r, Venus 1r, Gauff 2r w/ 19 DF)
[2021]
GER (0-3 in 1st Rd.; Kerber FSO 2 con GS/2 of 3 RG; Siegemund 1r)
[2022]
HUN (0-4 in 1st Rd.; Galfi 2 MP in loss)
[2023]
CZE (3-9 in 1st Rd.; four seeds out 1r; Krej. 0-2 since ’21 title; 24 con. slam WD streak ends)
[2024]
GER (1-5 in 1st Rd.)
[2025]
AUS (2-5 in 1st Rd.; wins in AUS/AUS match-up and by new Aussie Kasatkina only)
[2026]
FRA (0/14 from Q-draw reach MD; wild cards 0-6; 2-7 overall 1st Rd.; ’25 SF Boisson out 1r)


*RECENT RG “LAST WILD CARD STANDING”*
2018 Pauline Parmentier/FRA (3rd Rd.)
2019 Lauren Davis/USA, Priscilla Hon/AUS & Diane Parry/FRA (2nd)
2020 G.Bouchard/CAN, C.Burel/FRA & T.Pironkova/BUL (3rd)
2021 Astra Sharma/AUS & Harmony Tan/FRA (2nd)
2022 Leolita Jeanjean/FRA & Dasha Saville/AUS (3rd)
2023 L.Jeanjean/FRA, E.Navarro/USA & D.Parry/FRA (2nd)
2024 Chloe Paquet/FRA (3rd Rd.)
2025 Lois Boisson/FRA (SF)
2026 0-8 in 1st Rd.

*RECENT RG “CRASH-AND-BURN”*
2018 Alona Ostapenko, LAT (1st Rd., earliest RG DC since ’05)
2019 Alona Ostapenko, LAT (1st Rd.; zero RG wins before/after ’17 title)
2020 U.S. Open ’20 SF (Osaka DNP, Brady 1r, Serena w/d 2r, Azarenka 2r – in 24 hrs)
2021 Ash Barty, AUS and Naomi Osaka, JPN (#1 seed ret. 2r; #2 seed w/d 2r)
2022 Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (1st/DC) and Ons Jabuer, TUN (hottest non-Iga on clay)
2023 Barbora Krejcikova, CZE (0-2 at RG since winning ’21 title)
2024 Maria Sakkari, GRE (1st Rd. in 4 of 5 slams)
2025 Emma Navarro, USA (1st Rd.; #9 wins just 1 game vs. Bouzas Maneiro)
2026 Jessie Pegula, USA (1st Rd; #5 to #83 Birrell, who’d lost 9 con. GS 1r)

*MAIDEN CAREER SLAM MD WINS – 2020-26*
-ROLAND GARROS (37)-
2020 Irina Bara, ROU
2020 Clara Burel, FRA
2020 Jasmine Paolini, ITA
2020 Nadia Podoroska, ARG
2020 Anastasia Rakhimova, RUS
2020 Clara Tauson, DEN
2020 Martina Trevisan, ITA
2020 Renata Zarazua, MEX
2021 Hailey Baptiste, USA
2021 Tereza Martincova, CZE
2021 Harmony Tan, FRA
2022 Fernanda Contreras, MEX
2022 Elsa Jacquemot, FRA
2022 Leolia Jeanjean, FRA
2022 Katie Volynets, USA
2023 Mirra Andreeva, RUS
2023 Elina Avanesyan, RUS
2023 Julia Grabher, AUT
2023 Emma Navarro, USA
2023 Linda Noskova, CZE
2023 Iryna Shymanovich, BLR
2023 Peyton Stearns, USA
2023 Simona Waltert, SUI
2024 Moyuka Uchjima, JPN
2025 Emiliana Arango, COL
2025 Sara Bejlek, CZE
2025 Lois Boisson, FRA
2025 Joanna Garland, TPE
2025 Victoria Mboko, CAN
2025 Leyre Romero Gormaz, ESP
2025 Tereza Valentova, CZE
2026 Susan Bandecchi, SUI
2026 Marina Bassols Ribera, ESP
2026 Francesca Jones, GBR
2026 Oleksandra Oliynykova, UKR
2026 Kaitlin Quevedo, ESP
2026 Antonia Ruzic, CRO


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UFC as in the Ultimate Fighting Championship league, or whatever? Why is there a *UFC* event at the *White House*? Why are they doing construction on the White House for it? Is the White House now available to be rented out for parties and weddings, too?

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— daniel22223333.bsky.social (@daniel22223333.bsky.social) May 26, 2026 at 12:01 PM

hard to find a way to make “UFC event on the White House lawn” more embarrassing but “it’s a birthday party for the President” somehow does it

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— Rodger Sherman (@rodger.bsky.social) May 26, 2026 at 12:07 PM


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Some of you have forgotten that only three years ago you were perfectly capable of writing a text, writing an email, telling a bedtime story to a child, and it should worry you that powerful companies have convinced us we can’t do things we’ve been doing since the dawn of time.

— Boze the Library Owl (@sketchesbyboze.bsky.social) December 23, 2025 at 3:24 PM

I find Gmail’s new “write this for me” feature deeply sinister. They’re trying to convince you that you are dumb and helpless. Don’t let them steal your ability to formulate thoughts and communicate. You were capable of writing an email in 2022 and you’re capable now.

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— Boze the Library Owl (@sketchesbyboze.bsky.social) January 15, 2026 at 2:49 PM

On that note, maybe it was just me, but I found it a little disturbing the other day when Swiatek — a noted book nerd — a little sheepishly admitted that she sometimes used AI to compose emails. A small thing, but also a slippery slope.


TOP QUALIFIER: Claire Liu/USA
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): x
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): x
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q1: Oceane Dodin/FRA (PR) def. Kayla Day/USA 6-4/2-6/7-6(15-13) – saved 2 MP in TB, wins on MP #5
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): x
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F/Jr.-WC): x
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: #27 Marie Bouzkova/CZE (def. Bronzetti/ITA)
FIRST SEED OUT: #21 Clara Tauson/DEN (1r – lost to Snigur/UKR)
FIRST SLAM MD WINS: Susan Bandecchi/SUI (1st MD), Marina Bassols Ribera/ESP (2nd MD), Francesca Jones/GBR (7th MD), Oleksandra Oliynykova/UKR (2nd MD), Kaitlin Quevedo/ESP (1st MD), Antonia Ruzic/CRO (3rd MD)
UPSET QUEENS: Switzerland
REVELATION LADIES: Poland (4-0 1st Rd. in consecutive ’26 majors)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: FRA (none of 14 in Q-draw reach MD; wild cards go 0-6 year after WC Boisson to SF; 2-7 1st Rd.; Boisson out 1r)
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: in 1r: Susan Bandecchi/SUI, Marina Bassols Ribera/ESP, Maja Chwalinska/POL, Alina Korneeva/RUS, Claire Liu/USA, Kaitlin Quevedo/ESP, Mayar Sherif/EGY, Wang Xiyu/CHN
LUCKY LOSER WINS: —
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: 0-8 in 1st Rd. (including 0-5 FRA)
PROTECTED RANKING WINS: Jil Teichmann/SUI (in 2r)
LAST PASTRY STANDING: in 2r: Elsa Jacquemot, Diane Parry
Ms./Mademoiselle OPPORTUNITY: x
IT “??“: x
COMEBACK: x
CRASH & BURN: #5 Jessie Pegula/USA (1r- lost to #83 Birrell, who’d lost 9 con. slam 1r matches and 3-13 career; Pegula led by 6-1/2-1 w/ break; second 1r loss in major since RG20)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF PARIS: Nominees: Baptiste (1r- saved 2 MP at 6-4 in 2nd set TB vs. Krejcikova; McNally (1r- trailed set and double-break 3-0 vs. Tomljanovic); F.Jones (1r- trailed Haddad Maia 6-1/4-2; gets maiden slam MD win); Snigur (1r- trailed Tauson set and 5-3, Tauson served 5-4); Svitolina (1r- trailed Bondar 3-1 in 3rd; avoided first 1r RG loss in 13 app.)
DOUBLES STAR: x
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): x
Mademoiselle/Madame OF THE EVENING: —
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: x
Legion de Lenglen: 100th anniversary of Suzanne Lenglen’s last “grand slam” titles (RG WS/WD/MX sweep) in 1926 (she’d retire after controversial Wimbledon withdrawal and join professional tour that summer)
Coupe LA PETIT TAUREAU: (award given on Henin’s birthday, June 1)

All for Day 3. More tomorrow.

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