Paris Olympics 2024: Zverev stays cool to reach third round, Paolini suffers early exit

Zverev reached the French Open final this year and looked perfectly at home on the Parisian clay as he maintained a strong start to his bid to repeat his Tokyo gold.

Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates after winning his match against Tomas Machac of Czech Republic. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Defending Olympic champion Alexander Zverev kept cool in soaring temperatures to march into the third round of the men’s singles.

Zverev reached the French Open final this year and looked perfectly at home on the Parisian clay as he maintained a strong start to his bid to repeat his Tokyo gold.

He was pushed hard in the second set as the heat took its toll but turned on the afterburners at 5-5 with two searing forehand passes earning him the crucial break of serve before he sealed the contest a game later.

With temperatures soaring into the mid-30s Celsius (90s Fahrenheit) at Roland Garros, organisers of the International Tennis Federation invoked the extreme heat protocols that allowed for a 10-minute break after the second set of singles matches.

It came too late for Britain’s Jack Draper though, as he was beaten in the second round by American seventh seed Taylor Fritz despite edging a first-set on the tiebreak, afterwards saying he could not keep his water bottles cool.

“I’m a big sweater so to retain fluid was tough. It was pretty poor,” he said. “They give bottles to the players but the bottles don’t stay cool, so, you know, you’re drinking hot water out there. That’s not fun in those sorts of conditions.”

Germany’s Angelique Kerber, a singles silver-medallist in Rio de Janeiro, will retire after the Olympics but moved in sight of a spectacular final chapter to her career as she beat Canada’s Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals.

There was better news for Canada though with Felix Auger-Aliassime thrashing Maximilian Marterer 6-0, 6-1 to reach the third round of the singles.

Later on Tuesday, the men’s doubles take centre stage with Spain’s dream team Rafa Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz continuing their gold quest with a second-round against Dutch duo Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof.

Britain’s former world number one Andy Murray, who like Kerber will quit after the Olympics, will also be in doubles action, playing alongside Dan Evans.

Italy’s Paolini makes early exit in Paris Olympics

Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova swatted aside fourth-seed Jasmine Paolini in three sets 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 and advanced into the quarter-finals, the second high-level defeat in the Paris Olympics on Tuesday after American Coco Gauff.

After leading 5-3 in the first set, the Italian had a dip in form, having a hard time returning some of Schmiedlova’s long groundstrokes, so much that she conceded it 7-5.

Paolini, who was a contender for a medal after reaching the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon this year, won the second set easily, but a new load of unforced errors - 52 against 32 in the whole match - and a lack of focus made her lose the third despite having served for the match at 5-4.