(Paris) The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, 5^e worldwide, quite easily opened the doors of the 3^e round of Roland-Garros after a victory in three sets on Wednesday in a 4^e day marked by the cropping of the sports minister after Djokovic’s messages on Kosovo.

The introduction of the Greek had been sluggish in the first round, hooked by the Czech Jiri Vesely, a player ranked beyond 400^e place in the world, and as a result certain doubts had appeared.

But Tsitsipas put things in order on Wednesday by getting out of a match without any problem which had everything from a trap typical of the Parisian tournament against a Spanish player, never a good draw on the ochre.

Certainly Roberto Carballes, 57^e world player, is not strictly speaking a clay court specialist, but his victory in Marrakech in April made him a client to be feared.

In the end, Tsitsipas adapted perfectly well, refocusing during the second set tiebreaker, the only time he was really hooked, to deliver a much more convincing performance than his first round (6-3, 7-6, 6-2).

“During a Grand Slam, there is no plan. Things happen to you and you have to react and adapt,” explained Tsitsipas, when asked about this notable development between his first two rounds.

The obstacle was therefore cleared without concern for Tsitsipas, thus signing his 20^e victory at Roland-Garros, but whose ambition this season does not correspond with his results on earth, with only one semi-final in Rome as his best performance.

American Jessica Pegula, 3^e world, only had to pocket a single set in 37 minutes before her opponent Camila Giorgi (37^e) throws in the towel, visibly hurt, to gain access to 3^e round.

It took a little longer for the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, ex-3^e world player down to 192^e place after giving birth to a daughter in October, to get rid of the Australian Storm Hunter (204^e), 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

“Not appropriate”

But the most impressive blow of the day is to be credited to Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, who denounced on France 2 Djokovic’s message on Monday on Kosovo, “the heart of Serbia”.

“It’s not appropriate,” said the minister as northern Kosovo has been the scene for several days of clashes between members of the international force led by NATO (KFOR) and Serb demonstrators.

“It must not start again,” she said, taxing this message as “militant” and “very political”.

The Serb, world No.3 and big favorite of the tournament with Carlos Alcaraz, is due to play Wednesday night against the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.

Invited to comment on the expression of political positions during this Grand Slam tournament, such as those of Ukrainian athletes since the Russian invasion of their country, the minister stressed that she did not put “the two subjects on the same level”.

“We live in a free world, so why not give your opinion? “, Elina Svitolina also estimated after her victory at a press conference.