PARIS: World number one Novak Djokovic took another confident stride closer to an 18th Grand Slam title with his 70th win at Roland Garros on Thursday as Jelena Ostapenko stunned second seed Karolina Pliskova, throwing the women’s draw wide open.
Djokovic, the 2016 champion, needed just 83 minutes to complete a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 demolition of Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis.
The top seed went level with Roger Federer for victories at the tournament, although still 25 behind Rafael Nadal’s all-time best.
He will now face Colombian lucky loser Daniel Elahi Galan, ranked 153, for a place in the last 16.
“It was difficult for Ricardas in the third set as he had an injury and couldn’t move very well,” said Djokovic whose afternoon stroll was eased by his opponent needing treatment on a back problem after the second set.
“But I felt good just as I did in the first round and I want to continue like that.”
Djokovic, bidding to become the first man in half a century to win all four majors twice, also dropped only five games in his first round match against Mikael Ymer who likened facing the Serb to a “snake killing its prey.”
Victory stretched his 2020 record to 33-1, his only defeat coming via disqualification from the US Open.
Former champion Ostapenko swept second seed Pliskova out of the tournament, triumphing 6-4, 6-2 on the back of 27 winners.
In a women’s draw reeling from the injury-enforced withdrawal of Serena Williams, and the absence of world number one and defending champion Ashleigh Barty, as well as US Open winner Naomi Osaka, world number 43 Ostapenko pressed her case for a second Paris title after her shock 2017 breakthrough.
She will now face Spain’s Paula Badosa who put out Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open winner and 2018 runner-up in Paris, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
Pliskova, 28, made the semifinals in 2017 but has now failed to get beyond the third round in her eight other appearances.
“I tried to be aggressive but not miss too much as she’s such a great player,” said 23-year-old Ostapenko who had lost in the first round in her last two visits.
Adding insult to injury, Garbine Muguruza, the 2016 champion from Spain, knocked out Pliskova’s twin sister Kristyna, 6-3, 6-2.
Ninth seed Denis Shapovalov committed 106 unforced errors as he crashed out following a 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 3-6, 8-6 loss to Roberto Carballes Baena.
Spanish world number 101 Carballes Baena prevailed after a five-hour battle on Court Suzanne Lenglen to set up a clash with 18th seed Grigor Dimitrov.
Shapovalov, who reached the quarter-finals of the US Open, twice served for the match in the final set at 5-4 and 6-5 but was broken three times in succession.
“Scheduling is absolutely awful. It’s just complete trash,” raged the Canadian on having to return to the court later to play doubles.
Dimitrov downed Slovakia’s Andrej Martin 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 to reach the third round for a fourth successive year.
Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who made the fourth round last year, downed claycourt specialist Pablo Cuevas 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 having needed to come back from two sets down against Jaume Munar in his opener.
Next up for Tsitsipas is Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene, the world number 56.
Also moving on was two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova, whose best Roland Garros run was to the semifinals in 2012.
The seventh seed defeated Italy’s 94th-ranked Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-3 to register her 25th French Open win.
Kvitova next faces 18-year-old Leylah Fernandez of Canada, last year’s junior champion, who reached the last 32 of a Slam for the first time by seeing off Polona Hercog 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
Australian Open champion and fourth seed Sofia Kenin needed three sets to see off Ana Bogdan of Romania, winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 while eighth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus took down Russia’s Daria Kasatkina 7-6 (8/6), 6-0.
Kasatkina has now gone two years without beating a top 10 player.
Djokovic storms to 70th win at Roland Garros, Ostapenko stuns second seed Pliskova
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Djokovic storms to 70th win at Roland Garros, Ostapenko stuns second seed Pliskova
Young future stars of Saudi golf enjoy a moment alongside the big names at LIV Golf Riyadh
- Participants in ROSHN Rising Stars program to develop golfing talent in the Kingdom play friendly competition at Riyadh Golf Club before round 3 of the season opener tees off
- ‘Golf is such a fundamental sport for development … The values of golf can be correlated to the values of society: confidence, resilience and integrity,’ says LIV Golf’s Jake Jones
RIYADH: While much of the spotlight during LIV Golf’s 2026 season opener in Riyadh this week has of course been on the return of some of the sport’s biggest names for the new campaign, a new generation of Saudi golfers is also quietly taking its own first steps into the game.
Participants in the ROSHN Rising Stars program, an initiative designed to introduce and develop young golfing talent across the Kingdom, gathered at Riyadh Golf Club on Friday afternoon for a friendly competition a few hours before the third round of the main event teed off under the lights.
“The real focus is getting golf into the lives of young people in the Kingdom,” Jake Jones, LIV Golf’s senior vice president of impact and sustainability told Arab News as the young golfers took to the course under cloudy skies.
“We wanted to do something a little bit different, something sustained, with a long-term outcome, and that’s how this program was created.”
The program runs for 20 weeks, during which the participants receive weekly coaching and instruction sessions at Riyadh Golf Club from Golf Saudi professionals.
“This takes them from never having held a golf club before to reaching a point where they’ve now played in a competition,” Jones said.
The fact that the LIV Golf season opens in Riyadh provides another key benefit for the participants, as they get to experience the professional game up close, and this access to world-class players and events forms a key part of their journey.
“We give them exposure to our LIV Golf events, here and internationally,” Jones added.
Beyond this, and teaching people how to play the game, the program offers participants insights into the wider aspects of the world of golf, including career opportunities.
“They’ve had behind-the-scenes tours, pitch-and-putt sessions, long-drive competitions and visits to places like the media center,” Jones said. “It’s about showing them what it’s like not just to play golf, but work in the sport as well.”
Friday’s event in Riyadh marked the conclusion of the 20-week program for its participants.
“Today is really the celebration point,” Jones said. “We’re at the graduation phase of this journey, where they’ll compete in a three-hole challenge. We then crown a winner and celebrate with them back at the ROSHN Fan Village.”
As golf continues to grow in popularity in the region, Jones believes initiatives such as Rising Stars will have a lasting effect on the development of next generation of players.
“Golf is such a fundamental sport for development; it’s not just about physical activity and having fun,” he said. “The values of golf can be correlated to the values of society: confidence, resilience and integrity.
“Imagine playing golf and you miss the ball or you end up in the sand; you have to get back up and try again. You block the noise around you and focus on the ball to make the right shot.”
Jones highlighted in particular the importance of integrity as one of golf’s defining characteristics, and how that can help shape personal development.
“The rules of golf are reliant on you following them,” he said. “That sense of honesty and self-discipline is something young players can carry beyond the course” into the roles they play in their communities, societies and countries.
“The role that golf can have with young people in Saudi Arabia is actually another layer of baking in those core societal skills, to ensure that they are fit and robust for the future,” Jones added.
This is particularly important given the youthful nature of the Saudi population, more than half of which is under the age of 30, he said, and they now have the chance to benefit from golf in one way or another.
“Golf is now another avenue that they can explore. Whether it’s playing, working in the sport or simply finding a community, we want to give them another reason to get excited.
“We believe that golf can do all of that and, hopefully, it can spark a lasting passion among the Saudi youth.”
