In a Davis Cup atmosphere at the limit of reasonable, Rinderknech (78th in the world) fell shortly after 23:00 against the American Taylor Fritz (8th) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

After the forfeit, the night before of Gaël Monfils victim of a wrist injury during his breathtaking first round Tuesday, and the defeats of Diane Parry and Océane Dodin, Rinderknech was the last hope to see a Frenchman in the third round. But there will be no Blues in the third round of the men's draw. This has only happened once in the Open era, in 2021 and that year, no French woman had made it past the second round either.

Never before in the Open era had such a double absence been recorded so early in the Open era.

Rinderknech, very loudly supported from the entrance by the audience of the court Suzanne-Lenglen, took the lead in the first set against Fritz.

But the American then regained his efficiency on serve and dominated the rest of the match.

Several Marseillaises were sung and the public did everything possible to destabilize Fritz, without worrying about the remonstrances of the referee.

To the point that once the match ball was won, Fritz waved for a long time to the audience to be silent with his finger on his mouth... This only had the effect of increasing the boos tenfold.

"So awesome"

"The crowd was so great, they cheered me on so hard that I absolutely wanted to win," he quipped at the only question asked by Marion Bartoli on court.

For women, the case had been heard since the early evening. There will be no French in the third round at Roland-Garros, as in 2021, 2019, 1986 and 1981 counting only the Open era (since 1968).

American Taylor Fritz beats France's Arthur Rinderknech in the second round of Roland-Garros, June 2, 1 in Paris © Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP

On Court Simonne-Mathieu, buried in the greenhouses of Auteuil, Parry (79th) was stopped net 6-1, 6-2 by the young Russian nugget Mirra Andreeva (143rd), who plays her first Grand Slam tournament at 16 years old.

In the first round, the 20-year-old Frenchwoman had signed a nice performance by dominating the 26th player in the world and recent finalist in Rome, the Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina (26) 6-2, 6-3.

But it is the Russian teenager who will try to reach the 8th finals by facing the outgoing finalist and 6th world Coco Gauff, or the Austrian Julia Grahber (61st).

So far, Andreeva has not lost a set of the tournament, including all three qualifying rounds.

"Cushioning works"

In turn, on Court Philippe-Chatrier, Dodin (122nd) was dominated by Tunisia's Ons Jabeur (7th) 6-2, 6-3.

The 26-year-old Dodin was playing a second-round match at Roland Garros for the second time after 2017, but she never made it past that stage of the tournament or any other Grand Slam.

"She plays very hard, so we had to vary a lot, make cushions... Besides, the audience was really with her, so I did my best," Jabeur commented.

France's Oceane Dodin against Tunisia's Ons Jabeur at Roland Garros on June 1, 2023 in Paris © Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP

"Cushioning works well against players like Oceane who hit hard but don't like to run forward," explained the Tunisian with an exceptional touch. In particular, she managed several cushioning directly on the service of the Frenchwoman.

Jabeur became the first player from the Arab world to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament, in 2020 in Australia.

She has since played the final at Wimbledon and the US Open last year, but has never exceeded the 8th at Roland Garros (reached in 2020 and 2021).

She will try to do at least as well by facing Serbian Olga Danilovic (105th) in the third round.

Jabeur, a former world No. 2, won her first victory on the circuit since injuring her calf in the semifinals in Stuttgart in April in the first round at Roland Garros.

© 2023 AFP