Key events
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Parry shocks Anisimova 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (10-3)!
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Kalinskaya ousts Osorio 6-3, 0-6, 6-2
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Aryna Sabalenka beats Daria Kasatkina 6-0, 7-5
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Anismova wins the second set 6-4 against Parry
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Parry wins the first set 6-3 against Anisimova; Sabalenka leads Kasatkina 6-0
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Svajda shocks Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3
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Osaka beats Jovic 7-6, 6-7, 6-4!
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Shnaider and Cobolli reach round four
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Jovic takes the second-set tie-break 7-3 against Osaka
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Today’s singles order of play
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Osaka wins the first-set tie-break 7-5 against Jovic
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Preamble
Meanwhile Anne Keothavong, in the TNT Sports outdoor studio, is wearing an Arsenal scarf in the 30C heat. The former British No 1, who grew up in London, reveals she used to do tennis training on the indoor pitch at Highbury. There’s not too much tennis chat going on at the moment, but I can tell you Gauff is still a break down against Potapova, trailing 4-2.
Suzanne Lenglen, however, is still packed, with Kouame going through his first period of adversity, at 4-2 down in the second set. Perhaps his five-set, near five-hour win in the second round is starting to catch up with him, and the crowd are a little low in energy too. But they’re back on their feet when Kouame, at 30-40 on Tabilo’s serve, fires a forehand winner past the left-handed Chilean. Kouame leads 6-4, 3-4.
The atmosphere is rather muted as Potapova, who beat Britain’s Katie Boulter in the second round, breaks Gauff to love in the opening game and consolidates the break for 2-0. The Chatrier stands are almost empty after Parry’s victory – and it remains to be seen how many spectators will return, with the Champions League final soon to get under way. Gauff gets on the scoreboard with a hold to 15 for 1-2.
Parry’s win means Coco Gauff, the defending champ, is next on Chatrier, against the Russian-born Austrian Anastasia Potapova. Elsewhere, Berrettini and Comesana are going the distance, with Berrettini taking the fourth set 6-4, while Juan Manuel Cerundolo is level at one set all and into a third-set tie-break against Nadal’s protege Martin Landaluce, who moved to Mallorca as a teenager to train full-time at the academy of the 14-times French Open champion.
Parry has to wait for the noisy crowd to stop singing before she can do her on-court interview. “I’m exhausted but so happy,” she says. “It was a fantastic atmosphere, you supported me to the end, thank you very much. It wasn’t easy, it was a rollercoaster.” She’s then asked about the potential spanner in the works that is her second-round women’s doubles match. “I really want to watch the Champions League final, it’s something dear to my heart. I might get on for the doubles immediately but I want to watch PSG this evening so we’ll see how it goes.”
You can follow all the Budapest build-up here:
Another set point for Kouame at 5-4 in the first set, at his advantage on serve. It’s set point No 6 to be exact, and this time the 17-year-old gets it done with an inside-out forehand winner! PSG shirts are being waved in the stands. With Parry winning, and Kouame a set to the good, the PSG fans in the crowd will be hoping these things come in threes. As an Arsenal fan, I definitely don’t. COYG.
Parry shocks Anisimova 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (10-3)!
Anisimova, serving at 4-3 down, is well behind the baseline but opts for a crunching winner, which doesn’t come off. 5-3 … and Anisimova’s ball toss is all awry and she double faults! 6-3. These aren’t match points though – they’ll play to 10 rather than seven as it’s the final set. But now it’s 7-3, 8-3 and 9-3 and Parry has the luxury of SIX match points … just as Kouame has a set point against Tabilo. “KOUAME, KOUAME,” chant the Suzanne Lenglen crowd. “PARRY, PARRY,” chant the Philippe Chatrier patrons. It’s hard to know where to look – this is turning into a Parisian frenzy. And Parry gets the job done when Anisimova’s volley goes long! The sixth seed is out as the 23-year-old Parry secures only the second win of her career against a top-10 player.
Gasps as Anisimova double faults to gift Parry a 3-1 lead … but Anisimova gets the mini-break back with a wonderful drop shot on the run! 3-2 to Parry. Parry decides to get in on the drop shot act, Anisimova gets the ball back but is a sitting target at the net, but Parry inexplicably nets! They change ends at 3-3, and this is very, very edgy and error-strewn …
Parry nervelessly holds from 30-all, which means this match will be settled by a tie-break, which is exactly what it deserves. Anisimova’s wild forehand is greeted by huge cheers on on the opening point, and she’s equally errant on the third point, as Parry moves to 2-1 on serve …
Kalinskaya ousts Osorio 6-3, 0-6, 6-2
A remarkable turnaround for Kalinskaya. Feeling the heat literally and metaphorically after losing the second set 6-0, she then turned into the coolest woman in the house to complete a three-set victory and reach the fourth round of a major for the first time since Wimbledon 2024. The 22nd seed will face Coco Gauff or Anastasia Potapova in the last 16.
“Oooh la la,” cries Parry as she’s befuddled by a bad bounce and Anisimova moves 40-15 ahead on serve. Anisimova slices and dices Parry into submission, before unleashing on her favourite side with a backhand bomb, which Parry can’t defuse as she nets. Game Anisimova, 6-5. So Parry once more must hold to remain in this.
Anisimova holds to 15, her most straightforward hold for quite some time, at the most important time, and it means Parry is serving to stay in the match at 4-5. Parry starts inauspiciously, sliding 15-30 down, but Anisimova lets her off the hook with a wild return. The American is screaming at herself, and then puts her hand to her face after Parry edges 40-30 ahead, and Parry seals the game with an ace. From two points away, Anisimova is now two games away at 5-5. How quickly tennis can change.
It’s definitely not silent on Suzanne Lenglen, where Kouame broke courtesy of a Tabilo double fault, and has now backed that up for 3-1 in the opening set. And Comesana has claimed the third-set tie-break 7-4, to lead Berrettini by two sets to one.
Parry breaks! Could this be the decisive move? Anisimova’s legs look heavy and she’s puffing for air after a draining duel at 30-40 ends in Parry’s favour. The Frenchwoman leads 4-3, two games from victory. But Anisimova finds a second wind and comes straight back at Parry for 0-30, which turns into 15-40. A ninth ace repels the first BP, and another snarling serve saves the second. Deuce. “I’ve got no idea what’s going to happen, I’m just going to be quiet now,” quips Chrissie Evert on the commentary. And amid the silence, Anisimova accelerates through the next two points to break straight back for 4-4!
Kalinskaya has bounced back from her heat break remarkably well to lead Osorio 4-1 in the third set, but there’s nothing between Anisimova and Parry, with the pair locked at 3-3 in their decider. Sinner’s conqueror, Juan Manuel Cerundolo, is into a second-set tie-break against Spain’s Martin Landaluce, having won the first set 6-4, while Matteo Berrettini is into a third-set breaker against Francisco Comesana, after they split the first two sets.
It was Vallejo, by the way, who came under fire yesterday for saying his match against Kouame shouldn’t have been umpired by a woman, claiming Ana Carvalho didn’t have the “courage” to handle the partisan crowd.
Kouame, the world No 318, on his grand slam debut, needed nearly five hours to defeat Paraguay’s Adolfo Vallejo in the second round in his first ever five set match, so he’ll need to get through this encounter significantly quicker if he’s to watch his beloved PSG against Arsenal in just over an hour and a half’s time. Tabilo drowns out the noise to hold to 30 in the opening game.
Anisimova has a sniff on Parry’s serve at 2-1, 15-30 in the deciding set. That swiftly becomes 15-40. But just as last year’s Wimbledon and US Open runner-up looks to have finally found her groove, Parry pings a winner and then an ace on the break points! Nerveless stuff. So it’s deuce. And the Frenchwoman sees out the game from there for 2-2. Cue a huge Parisian roar. And speaking of home hopes … the 17-year-old Moise Kouame is warming up on Suzanne Lenglen with cheers greeting his every shot, while his opponent, Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, is being booed every time he hits the ball.
Thanks David! Talking about Kalinskaya struggling in the heat, Osaka has just come into the TNT Sports studio, and reveals she celebrated her hard-earned win over Iva Jovic with a “really long ice bath”. The 2x US Open and 2x Australian Open champion is asked about what has changed for her to reach the last 16 for the first time. “Just trusting myself,” she replies. “Obviously I don’t have the best record on clay but I want to continue growing.” She’s then asked about that dress, and says she was nervous before the tournament about whether people would like it. I think if I were wearing that, I’d be more nervous about whether I had the tennis to back it up. She strangely isn’t asked about facing Sabalenka next.
I’ll now hand you back to Katy Murrells for that Parry-Anisimova decider. It’s 1-1 in the third as I pass the baton.
Out on Court 14 there’s been a dramatic turnaround. Anna Kalinskaya won the first set 6-3 against Camila Osorio but has been bageled in the second. There’s a clear explanation for that 0-6 though. Kalinskaya has called for both the trainer and doctor and currently has an ice pack on her head as she tries to gather herself for the deciding set. It looks like the 22nd seed is really suffering in the hot and muggy conditions.
Aryna Sabalenka beats Daria Kasatkina 6-0, 7-5
The Belarusian top seed finally breaks free from 5-5 in the second to close out the match in one hour and 16 minutes. Plenty of room for improvement there and she knows it. Next up for Sabalenka is four-time Grand Slam-winner Naomi Osaka in the fourth round.
Anismova wins the second set 6-4 against Parry
This is Anisimova’s first clay tournament of the year and she’s looked rusty, especially in that first set which she lost 6-3. But, despite not eradicating the errors, she’s found more flow in the second and is favourite now to win the decider.
On Court Simonne-Mathieu, Argentina’s Francisco Comesana levels things up at one set each against Italy’s Matteo Berrettini. He wins the second set 7-5 to restore parity.
Meanwhile, Aryna Sabalenka is trying to close out her match with Daria Kasatkina but is getting more and more frustrated. After breezing through the first set 6-0, it’s 5-5 and 30-all in the second with Sabalenka serving.
Parry holds for 4-4. She’s two games away from knocking out the sixth seed. The unforced error count is really starting to rack up on both sides of the net: Anisimova 27-22 Parry. But Anisimova gathers herself in game nine and holds to love to nudge 5-4 ahead. This one really could go either way.
Back on Philippe Chatrier, Asimova breaks for 4-2. A backhand winner to start her own service game is promising but then she’s long with a forehand. That’s her 22nd unforced error according to Tracy Austin in commentary. The mistakes continue giving Parry two break points and she takes the second as Asimova drives into the net. As you were in this set. It’s back on serve with Parry one set up and 3-4 down in the second.
Thanks Katy. Yes, I watched the Cobolli interview. John McEnroe in typically roguish mood, trying to show the Italian how the draw has opened up for him and teasing him that the USA are playing in the World Cup and Italy are not. Cobolli adds that despite the big guns going out he’s “staying humble”.
Right, I’m off to get some lunch so David Tindall is here to hang with you for a bit …
A victorious Cobolli is in the TNT Sports studio and the Italian is asked about the Champions League final. He reveals he has a soft spot for Arsenal, having played at Roma’s academy alongside Riccardo Calafiori. A man of many talents. You can get all the match build-up, by the way, along with Liverpool’s unexpected move to interrupt the Champions League narrative, here: