Roland Garros - 25/05
Good morning and welcome back to TIE-Breakfast: all the tennis you need over breakfast.
Ace Cream's daily newsletter during Masters 1000 and Grand Slams, every morning at 8:30.
Today is Monday, May 25, in Paris it's 08:30 and it's 21 degrees. Okay, let's go.
On the menu today
- 🇮🇹 Cinà beats Opelka in five and lands his first career Slam win
- 🇺🇸 Fritz, the No. 7 seed, out on debut against Basavareddy
- 🇨🇿 Krejcikova falls right away to Baptiste, the first upset in the women's draw
- 🇮🇹 Today Paolini and the all-Italian derby Cobolli-Pellegrino open the Italian schedule
WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY:
🇮🇹 Cinà beats Opelka in five
Federico Cinà, nineteen, from Palermo, beat Reilly Opelka 3-6 6-4 6-2 6-7(6) 6-4 after five sets, claiming his first win at a Slam tournament on his outright debut. To find an Italian this young winning in Paris you have to go back to Sinner, and that alone says something about the context in which the day unfolded. More than the score, it's the manner that impresses: against an opponent built on serve and inches, Cinà mixed drop shots and patient rallies without ever looking overawed. In the second round he faces either Wawrinka or lucky loser De Jong, and in either case it will be a different kind of test.
🇺🇸 Fritz exits in the first round
Taylor Fritz, the No. 7 seed, was eliminated by Nishesh Basavareddy 7-6(5) 7-6(5) 6-7(9) 6-1 on Suzanne-Lenglen, the first of the top ten seeds to leave the draw. Fritz arrived in Paris short of matches, sidelined for much of the clay swing by a knee problem and with only the Geneva stop in his legs. Basavareddy, twenty-one and a wild card, found the key precisely in variations and drop shots to keep the American's serve from taking flight. It's the kind of result that, on clay and in the first round, says more about the form of the loser than the merits of the winner, even if both matter here.
🇨🇿 Krejcikova out right away
Barbora Krejcikova, who has already written important pages in Paris, was beaten by Hailey Baptiste 6-7(7) 7-6(6) 6-2 in a match that hung in the balance for a good two sets. The Czech had started ahead, had the match within reach in the second set, then gradually faded in the third. More than an upset in the strict sense, it looks like the latest chapter of a season in which physical consistency has eluded her, and a first day that, between Fritz and her, has already removed two big names from their respective quarters.
WHAT'S ON TODAY:
- 🇮🇹 Paolini - Yastremska (WTA, first round) - On Simonne-Mathieu, Jasmine Paolini, a finalist here two years ago, opens against Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska, someone who can hit big off the ground when she finds her timing. A first round less straightforward than the rankings suggest.
- 🇵🇱 Swiatek - Jones (WTA, first round) - The No. 3 seed opens the program on Philippe-Chatrier against young Australian Emerson Jones. Clay remains the surface where Swiatek has built much of her story, and it's worth seeing how she feels stepping back onto it.
- 🇮🇹 Cobolli - Pellegrino (ATP, first round) - An all-Italian derby between Flavio Cobolli, the No. 10 seed, and Andrea Pellegrino, through from qualifying. One of those matches where the favorite has everything to lose and little to gain.
- 🇫🇷 Monfils - Gaston (ATP, first round, night session) - Under the Chatrier lights, the French derby between Gael Monfils and Hugo Gaston, in what could be one of Monfils's last appearances at this tournament. More than the outcome, what matters is the atmosphere in the stands.
Dig deeper
- Roland Garros 2026 - Cinà, what a show! Reilly Opelka goes down in the fifth set
- Roland Garros: how good is Cinà! He beats Opelka in the fifth, first win at a Slam
- Nishesh Basavareddy stuns Taylor Fritz at Roland Garros
- Roland Garros 2026: Full order of play, Monday 25 May
- Krejcikova out on debut: Baptiste saves two match points and wins
Enjoy your breakfast and have a great day.
See you tomorrow at 08:30 with TIE-Breakfast
