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French Open 2026: Raducanu v Sierra; Zverev eases through on day one at Roland Garros – live | French Open 2026
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And she’s broken again, now down 0-6 1-3 to Sierra. She’ll do well to get out of this one, and though we might argue that, having won a major, she’s done more than anyone ever thought possible, it does feel like she’s letting her career run away from her. A clear run of fitness isn’t something she can control, but settling with a coach and trusting them would, I think, help her a lot.
Solidarity, Raducanu-style.
He makes his way to net, doesn’t do enough with his volley … and Pavlovic nets! Fonseca leads 7-6!
I’ve ducked off Raducanu for a moment as Fonseca leads Pavlovic 7-6 in their first-set tiebreak…
She said don’t cry till you finish the tournament but she’s been through a lot this year and this is her favourite surface. At the start, Haddad Maia used her experience, going for stuff and playing more aggressively, but she found her way in, though she reckons she looks like a tomato in the weather. And, er, that’s it.
Raducanu is on the board against Sierra, trailing 0-6 1-1, but forget here for a minute because here’s Fran!
Basavareddy leads Fritz 5-4 in the breaker, and a terrific point, serve-volleyed then finished with a spinning backhand at net, means he has set point … spurned with a slightly wild backhand, swiped long. Oh, but then Fritz opens a lane to go down the line on backhand … overhitting! The 21-year-old leads 7-6, the number 7y seed with a match on his hand!
Oh man, this is awesome. Jones, almost in tears at match point, runs to the crowd and hugs a woman I presume is her mum – imagine the pride and gratefulness here. They’ll have dreamed of this moment together for so many years, all the sacrifices and miles travelled, and in one overwhelming afternoon, she’s made it all worthwhile. Well done both of them.
Fran Jones beats Bea Haddad Maia 1-6 7-6(4) 6-2
Wow! An incredible win for Jones, her first in a slam, and after losing the first set so resoundingly, against a player who’s made the last four of this competition. Next for her: Bouzkova.
Basavareddy holds to 15, forcing a first-set breaker against Fritz, while Jones has 30-40 and match point against Haddad Maia!
Jones holds quicksmart and is now a game away from her maiden grand slam win; Fonseca leads Pavlovic 6-5 in the first, on serve, as Fritz does Basavareddy.
Sierra closes out a bagel set against Raducanu, who didn’t manage a single winner in it. Can she build on … nothing? Back with Jones, she’s just broken Haddad Maia, now up 4-2 in set three, and the biggest win of her career is but two holds away. Which makes securing it sound much easier than it is.
Raducanu just can’t get it going; she trails Sierra 5-0 in the first, but will know that, though this set is gone, she’s good enough to do something in the second. Back on 14, Jones leads Haddad Maia 3-2 in the third.
On Court Six, Federico Cina, an Italian qualifier, leads Reilly Opelka, a political philosopher, 4-2 in the fifth, while on Mathieu, Fonseca and Pavlovic are 4-4 in the first.
Raducanu hasn’t played much lately, a lone I should save somewhere, having been ill, and Sierra breaks her, consolidates, then breaks her again. She leads 3-0, but at 0-30, perhaps Raducanu is appearing into the match.
Elsewhere, Fritz leads Basavareddy 4-3 on serve and, as I type, Jones breaks Haddad Maia back for 2-2 in the third.
While we’re here, I’m sure you’ll all join me in celebrating one of life’s great coincidences … or not. Happy birthday Bob Dylan, 85 today, and happy birthday Eric Cantona, 60 today. How lucky we are to live in their time.
She was really happy to play on Chatrier and on day one. She’s practised against Forro a lot, so expected a tough game, and is, of course, “super-happy” with the win.
Sometimes she gets tense, but today told herself that whatever happens happens and even after sending down three doubles, told herself it’s not easy to come back and if her opponent does, good for her. It’s always special to be in Paris and she’s hoping to do better than last year.
I’d not be remotely shocked if Haddad Maia’s consolidation game chugs through numerous deuces but, in the meantime, let’s look at the Mirra.
Mirra Andreeva (8) beats Fiona Ferro 6-3 6-3
She looked great too – against limited opposition, it’s fair to say. Next for her: Bsssols Ribera or Arango.
Haddad Maia breaks Jones immediately in set three, but then finds herself down 30-40 – no one familiar with her oeuvre will be surprised – nor that she quickly gained deuce with two big forehands.
Fritz and Basavareddy are settling in on Lenglen, the no 7 seed up 2-1 on serve. Clay is far from his favourite surface, and his 21-year-old compatriot will fancy himself – he’s a percentage player, keeping the ball in play because he lacks big power to finish points, which might just work for him in this matchup, on this surface. Other hand, the weather makes the clay more like a hard court, so Fritz’s power could be more effective than is ordinarily the case.
That being the case, I’m going to watch their third set, I’m swapping Andreeva for Fritz v Basavareddy, and I’m also on Raducanu v Sierra.
Now then! I can’t lie, I sort of assumed she was done, but Fran Jones has just levelled against Haddad Maia, winning a second-set breaker to four, forcing a decider in the process.
Next on Court 13: Emma Raducanu v Solana Sierra.
The men’s no 23 seed has gone, Nuno Borges dealing with Tomas Martin Etcheverry 3,4 and 2. Next for borges: Miomir Kecmanovic.
The highest-ranked seed in Fonseca’s eighth is Djokovic, with Ruud also there; in the section he’d meet the winner of the last eight, there’s Rublev, who he beat in Australia, and De Minaur.
Elsewhere, Joao Fonseca, seeded 28, is under way against Luka Pavlovic, a French qualifier. He’s another ridiculous talent who has every chance of winning a slam one day, and will want to improve on last year’s third round appearance.
And, as I type, Andreeva breaks Ferro to lead 6-3 2-1. She’s nearly there.
Mirra Andreeva, who might face Baptiste in the last eight, has taken the first set against Ferro 6-3, and as ever, the question is whether she’s now ready to push into a grand slam final. She made the last four here in 2024, only to lose 3 and 1 in a winnable match against Paolini – who was then gubbed 2 and 1 by Swiatek in the final – but she’s a more mature player now. Does she, though, have the power, or the smarts to do without the power, to beat the elite when it really matters?
Next on Lenglen: Taylor Feritz (7) v Nishesh Basavareddy.
Baptiste says it’s not easy to come back when you’re down match points, but it was a mental and physical battle, so she’s really pleased to come through. She knew that being mad with herself or negative isn’t going to help, so her mentality was to do what it took to win the match.
She had to save match points when she beat Sabalenka too, and is using that experience to push her through but, before then, she’s two days off in which she plans to shop, her favourite pastime in any city.
Hailey Baptiste (26) beats Barbora Krejcikova (7)6-7 7-6(6) 6-2
We said this looked like the match of the day and, though it took a while to get going, it did not let us down. Next for her: Xiy Wang.
And serving for the match, she races to 40-0, pressure resting easily on her very, very serious shoulders…
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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