Craig Gabriel: Tennis Correspondent on the third round of the French Tennis Open

Defending champion Iga Swiatek has powered into the last 16 of the French Tennis Open with a straight sets win over Romania's Jaqueline Cristian. 

World number one Aryna Sabalenka, Jasmine Paolini, Qin-Wen Zheng, and Elena Rybakina are also through. 

Tennis Correspondent Craig Gabriel joined D'Arcy Waldegrave to discuss the results of the third round from Roland Garros.   

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the All Sport Breakfast podcast with Darcy
Waldgrave from News Talk ZEDB.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
We go now to Paris the French Open, and Craig
Gabriel joins us will be summation of the overnight accent
and what's still to come over the next couple of hours.
Good morning to you, well our time anyway, Craig, I
hope you're will.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
Hey Darcy, I'm okay. It's been another busy day here
and I'm going to give you breaking news just been
put out. Is that asked a Feast, who was due
to play andre rube Lev in the third round tomorrow,
has just withdrawn from the tournament due to an injury.
They're having to quite specified what the injury is, but

(00:47):
he is out of the tournament. So Andrei Rublev goes
through to the last sixteen. And that's disappointing because I
was looking forward to that match in particular. Feast is
an amazing young player, and rube Lev, well, you never
know what you get when he steps on the course,
so unfortunately that is not going to be and andre

(01:08):
Rublev through to the last sixteen. Was this.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Expected that's come out of nowhere? Was an injury. Maybe
he picked up on his last match.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
Yeah, during his last match, he did receive treatment and
was able to continue. And here's the amusing side of this,
because he had the treatment, came back and defeated Jamie Muna,
who later said there's nothing wrong with him, he was
only cramping and he shouldn't be allowed to get treatment

(01:39):
for cramping. Well, I think he's eating his words because
pieces had to withdraw from the tournament.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, sad news for him, sad news for the tournament.
What's actually happened overnight though, since we've all been sleeping
and you've been wide awake, anything major has gone through
both women and men's side.

Speaker 3 (01:58):
Well, let's just run through some of the results we've got.
Ben Shelton is through to the last sixteen, winning in
straight set. Tommy Paul gosh, he seems to be the
iron Man of the tournament so far because he's just
won the second back to back five set match and
he deviated Kna Hashanov six three in the fifties. Now

(02:19):
going to come up against Australia's Alexei Popprin, who's in
the last sixteen for the very first time at the
French Open, and for the second time at the majors.
He did it at the US Open last year. Old
Garuna another one who went five sets, and he's going
to be playing sorry, Lorenzo Mussetti in the last sixteen.

(02:40):
So that's on the men's side. On the women's side,
Arena Sabolenka and Justmine Paulini, Egot Frantek all moving through
pretty comfortably. Saber Lenka is next going to play Amanda Anisimova,
which I think will be an intriguing match.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
There's just change any of your opinions in the last
twelve hours and through the last spoke around what's going
to happen in this Open, it's still very much running
to call because like grain slant tennis, who knows right, well.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, exactly right. I mean, you know, you're playing best
of five sets, which doesn't happen that often on the
tour these days. It only innocence happens at four tournaments,
the Australian, French, Wimbledon, and the US Open. So that
adds a different element and you'll just find some things
will suddenly happen with players, and that you're on a

(03:34):
surface that can change so dramatically with the weather. Conditions
as well, So anything's expect the unexpected at one of
these tournaments, and especially the French Open.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Well, Tommy Paul, how many players can get through continued
five setters and actually still maintain anything towards the point
at the end of the competition.

Speaker 3 (03:57):
Gosh, I mean, there are very few players that would
be able to do it. You know if you well,
let me put it this way, you have to win
seven matches. Who we're a major, and you know, you
start having back to back five set matches over five
consecutive matches, you're going to run into trouble. You know,

(04:19):
we've seen that happen in the past, not too often,
but it has happened. And you know you start to
see by the time the fourth or match, or the
third match or even the fifth, they're absolutely running on fumes.
So it is pretty exhausting physically and mentally.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
So the American twelfth seed going through in five and
in so Compatriot thirteenth seed Shelton going through reasonably easy
and straight sis. So it's happy days for American friends
in France.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeah, absolutely, And so as I was saying, Tommy Paul,
Ben Shelton all through and Daniel Outmeyer a little bit
of a surprise packet. There's an example. He's also through
to the last sixteenth German beating how much Majedovich in
four sets, and I thought Majeddovich was actually going to

(05:11):
probably pull the plug earlier in that match because he
was getting treatment. He was doubled over sitting on the
court side benches, but he did go through and finish
it and lost in four sets.

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Thanks very much for your time, mate. You have a
wonderful rest of the tournament. You know what I'm like,
I'll probably ring you tomorrow even though I'm not on air.
Thanks for your time.

Speaker 3 (05:31):
Fair enough.

Speaker 1 (05:32):
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