French Open 2023: Coco Gauff wins after waiting out marathon; Alcaraz, Djokovic on court June 2
The Hindu
French Open 2023: Coco Gauff wins after waiting out marathon; Alcaraz, Djokovic on court June 2
Coco Gauff thought she was about to head out on the court to play her second-round match at the French Open.
"I was probably about 70% done with my warmup," last year's runner-up at Roland Garros would say later.
Made sense: In the contest preceding hers in Court Suzanne Lenglen on June 1, No. 8 seed Jannik Sinner was serving for the victory while up 5-4 in the fourth set against Daniel Altmaier. Then Sinner was one point away. Except he couldn't convert that match point — he had a chance for a putaway overhead, and instead basically sent the ball right at Altmaier, whose forehand in response hit the top of the net tape and fluttered past Sinner — or another that arrived soon after.
They would play on for another 1 hour, 43 minutes, until Altmaier finally cashed in his own fifth match point with a 111 mph ace down the middle to seal the 6-7(0) 7-6(7) 1-6 7-6(4) 7-5 victory.
"A great turnaround," said Altmaier, who cried and cried after the nearly 5 1/2-hour marathon.
"The emotions were crazy."
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