French Open 2022 lookahead: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz in action on Day 6

LOOKAHEAD TO FRIDAY

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic, 13-time champion Rafael Nadal and rising star Carlos Alcaraz are all on the schedule as the third round of the French Open gets started on Day 6. Defending champion Djokovic faces Aljaz Bedene at Court Philippe Chatrier. 

In another afternoon match, No. 5 Nadal plays Botic Van De Zandschulp. The 19-year-old Alcaraz will be under the lights on center court against Sebastian Korda of the United States. 

Alcaraz, who is seeded sixth and leads the tour with four titles in 2022, lost to Korda on clay in Monte Carlo last month. That was Alcaraz’s only loss in 19 matches on the surface this season. No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev will take on another American, Brandon Nakashima. 

In the women’s draw, the youngest player remaining — 18-year-old Coco Gauff of the United States — will face the oldest — 36-year-old Kaia Kanepi of Estonia. Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic plays 2021 U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez in the first match on Court Philippe Chatrier.

FRIDAY’S FORECAST

Partly cloudy. High of 73 degrees Fahrenheit (23 Celsius).

THURSDAY’S KEY RESULTS

Women’s Second Round: No. 1 Iga Swiatek beat Alison Riske 6-0, 6-2; No. 3 Paula Badosa beat Kaja Juvan 7-5, 3-6, 6-2; No. 7 Aryna Sabalenk beat Madison Brengle 6-1, 6-3; Shelby Rogers beat No. 9 Danielle Collins 6-4, 6-3; Qinwen Zheng beat No. 19 Simona Halep 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Men’s Second Round: No. 2 Daniil Medvedev beat Laslo Djere 6-3, 6-4, 6-3; No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Zdenek Kolar 6-3, 7-6 (8), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (7); No. 7 Andrey Rublev beat Federico Delbonis 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; No. 8 Casper Ruud beat Emil Ruusuvuori 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; No. 11 Jannik Sinner beat Roberto Carballes Baena 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

STATS OF THE DAY

1976, 2022 — The only two times in the Open era that just three of the top 10 women’s seeds at the French Open reached the round of 32.

2009 — The last time all of the top 12 men’s seeds made it to the third round.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The last point, I was just like: ‘Can this just end? Like at some point, either me lose or you win, I don’t care anymore.’ It was like, ‘I just want this to be over.’ It was so stressful.” — 11th-seeded Jessica Pegula of the U.S., who needed eight match points to close out her 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Anhelina Kalinina in the second round Thursday after needing 10 match points to finish off her first-round victory on Tuesday.

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