The Last Days of the Qualifying at Roland Garros 2018

Written by: Staff on 25th May 2018

The Last Days of the Qualifying at Roland Garros 2018 |

Croissant or Crepe with a cafe au lait to start this morning’s adventure to Roland Garros.

We decided to go in the general admission entrance today. It was not a great experience… There is a preliminary bag check as you walk on the side street towards the venue gates. Then the 2nd stop for a thorough bag check and a full body pat-down (just think of the airport). The final stop before Roland Garros is the Identification check – to match the name on your ticket and your face.

After the whole ordeal you are finally welcomed by the signs that read, “Bienvenue to Roland Garros” and the new court 18. In which Francesca Schiavone and Ernest Gulbis have both had amazing wins in the qualifiers to the main draw.

First off, we pushed our way through the Parisian crowd to watch our close friend, Ruben Bemelmans vs Thomaz Bellucci. Bellucci took the first set and Bemelmans took the second both at 6/2 . The French crowd was cheering for Ruben. It was hot and both guys were perspiring a ton but continuously served very fast and wide. After a very intense third set, Ruben had a double fault, which was the third of the game; which we believed cost him the match. Ruben played well and served 5 aces! Final score – Bellucci : 6/2, 2/6, 7/5

We received a text reminder that Andrea Petkovic and Jelena Ostapenko were going to practice at 1pm, so we scurried and made our way over to Court 1. This court seems to play faster than the other courts. Ostapenko’s coach seems to feel the same way. It is always interesting to watch as the coaches help tweek and perfect a player’s swing or return. Once, Petkovic and Ostapenko warmed up, they decided to play for points. The practice match became very intense we almost forgot that we were watching a practice/friendly match. Both girls have amazing returns. They continuously stay on the ball and hit hard. Ostapenko seemed to have a hard time serving. Dusan Vemic, Petkovic’s coach and 10sBalls.com ambassador, seems to always have encouraging conversations with Andrea. Which seemed to help her because she won the friendly match.

Caroline Dolehide vs Marie Bouzkova was a pretty fast match. Caroline was serving big which seemed to give her the win. She had a total of 4 aces and 6 double faults. Caroline’s movement was great and seemed to control the entire match. 6//4, 6/3

It started to sprinkle, so we decided to grab a small cheese and ham baguette sandwich and headed out for the day.