PARIS: The opening match of the day pitted Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, ranked No. 333, against the French Open's 28th seed Elise Mertens. It lasted three hours and nine minutes. A Bollywood saga without A-listers, but it made an invaluable point.
Women's matches bookended Sunday's schedule on Court Philippe-Chatrier with the world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka taking on the seasoned American Sloane Stephens in the night match. A showstopper. It is the first time this fortnight that women have been slotted for prime time.
