Roland Garros - 02/06

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Ace Cream's daily newsletter during Masters 1000 and Grand Slams, every morning at 8:30.

Today is Tuesday 2 June, in Paris it's 08:30 and it's 17 degrees. Ok, let's go.

On today's menu

• 🇮🇹 Cobolli, Berrettini and Arnaldi: three Italians in the quarters, never before in the Open Era
• 🇧🇾 Sabalenka handles Osaka and stays without a set dropped
• 🇷🇺 Kalinskaya and Shnaider into the quarters on the same day
• 🇩🇪 Zverev against Jodar opens the men's quarters in the afternoon
• 🇧🇷 Fonseca and Mensik, the quarter of the youngest in the night session

WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:

🇮🇹 Three Italians in the quarters, for the first time

Cobolli, Berrettini and Arnaldi all won on Monday, and for the first time in the Open Era Italy takes three men to the quarters of the same Slam. Cobolli held the thread long enough to get past Svajda 6-2 6-3 6-7(3) 7-6(5), after watching a 5-1 lead evaporate in the fourth and losing his first set of the tournament; Berrettini bent Cerundolo 6-3 7-6(2) 7-6(6), returning to the last eight at a Slam for the first time since the 2022 US Open, after seasons spent more on recovery than on playing. More than the single win, it's the coincidence that stands out: three different paths crossing in the same round, with the Berrettini-Arnaldi derby already guaranteeing an Italian in the semifinals. Matches like these, on a surface that has historically given little to Italian tennis, usually tell a story that goes beyond the draw too.

🇮🇹 Arnaldi-Tiafoe, five and a half hours for a first Slam quarterfinal

Arnaldi beat Tiafoe 7-6(5) 6-7(5) 3-6 7-6(3) 6-4 in five hours and twenty-six minutes, climbing back from 1-4 and two breaks down in the fourth set. He was two points from defeat with Tiafoe serving, before finding the tie-break and then two breaks in the fifth. It's his first quarterfinal at a Grand Slam, and his second straight five-set win: in total he has spent nearly eighteen hours on court, more than anyone else among the quarterfinalists of a Slam since 1991. Winning this way, after coming through a match that at one point looked lost, usually leaves a different feeling than a straightforward win, and it remains to be seen what it will leave in his legs heading into the derby.

🇧🇾 Sabalenka gives Osaka no room

Sabalenka got past Osaka 7-5 6-3 in the evening session on Chatrier, staying without a set dropped at this Roland Garros. Against a player who was in her first second week in Paris, the world number one leaned on a serve that worked in the moments that mattered, starting with a first set that stayed in the balance for a long time. More than the score, it's the consistency that says something: on a surface that for a long time was her toughest, it's the kind of solidity that weighs at this point of the tournament.

🇷🇺 Kalinskaya And Shnaider, Two Quarters On The Same Day

On the same afternoon came two quarterfinals with a different flavor: Kalinskaya came back to beat Potapova 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(10-7) after her opponent had twice served for the match, claiming her first quarter in Paris, while Shnaider eliminated 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys, closing with a 6-0 in the third, in her first career Slam quarter. They are two different stories, one of nerve held until the last point and one of a final surge, that converge on the same milestone. More than the single result, it's interesting to see how many players are finding a new depth at a Slam right here.

WHAT HAPPENS TODAY:

• Andreeva vs Cirstea (11:00, Chatrier) - The women's quarters open with the nineteen-year-old Andreeva against the experience of Cirstea: a clash of generations that says a lot about the bottom half of the draw.
• Svitolina vs Kostyuk (12:10, Chatrier) - A Ukrainian derby for a place in the semifinals, two paths crossing in a match that carries emotional weight too.
• Jodar vs Zverev (13:20, Chatrier) - Spain's Jodar tries to surprise the world number three: for Zverev it's the chance to confirm himself among the favorites on clay.
• Mensik vs Fonseca (20:15, Chatrier) - The night-session quarter pits two young guns at their first Slam quarter against each other, with Fonseca arriving four days after eliminating Djokovic in the third round.

Dig deeper

• Cobolli, Berrettini and Arnaldi: for the first time three Italians in the quarters of a Slam
• Italy dreams at Roland Garros, Cobolli-Berrettini into the quarters
• Matteo Arnaldi makes jaw-dropping comeback, stuns Frances Tiafoe in 5:26
• Cobolli holds nerve to reach last eight
• Roland-Garros wrap, Monday 1 June
• French Open 2026: full order of play, Tuesday 2 June

Enjoy your breakfast and have a great day.

See you tomorrow at 08:30 with TIE-Breakfast