(Paris) It wasn’t easy, but Germany’s Daniel Altmaier managed to oust eighth seed Jannik Sinner 6-7 (0), 7-6 (7), 1-6, 7- 6 (4), 7-5 after five and a half hours of play, Thursday, in the second round of the French Open tennis tournament.

Sinner had two match points as he served for the 5-4 victory in the fourth set, but was unable to convert a single one. Altmaier, 79^e player in the world, seized his chance and crowned his comeback with an ace at 178 km/h on his fifth match point.

“I don’t know if it’s a historic game,” Altmaier said, wiping the tears from his cheeks, “but I think it will be remembered for a long time. »

Casper Ruud (no 4), Frances Tiafoe (no 12) and Borna Coric (no 15) all triumphed as well.

For his part, the Australian Alex de Minaur bowed out before the Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-3.

Elena Rybakina goes to 3^e round

Earlier in the day, Elena Rybakina showed that she is increasingly comfortable on clay as she got rid of another young Czech player en route to the third round of the women’s draw.

The Wimbledon champion, seeded fourth at Roland-Garros, beat 18-year-old Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-3 on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

You would think she was always comfortable on clay after winning the Italian Open, but the six-foot Kazakh draws her confidence on this playing surface from her imposing size.

“It’s my weapon of choice,” she said. But at the same time, it’s not easy to move around on clay. I always have to anticipate my movements and, of course, be patient during the exchanges. »

The Australian Open finalist slammed 30 winners, against 16 for Noskova, and the two players committed 26 unforced errors.

“I had trouble with my service,” admitted Rybakina, who was born in Moscow.

Rybakina, who defeated Brenda Fruhvirtova in the first round, will now find Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo on her way.

Mirra Andreeva at 3^e round of his first Grand Slam

Elsewhere, Mirra Andreeva continues to turn heads at her first career Grand Slam tournament.

The 16-year-old Russian ousted France’s Diane Parry 6-1, 6-2 in the second round. Andreeva conceded just six games in the first two rounds.

For its part, the 20^e top-seeded Madison Keys committed an impressive 74 unforced errors en route to a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 loss to fellow American Kayla Day on Simonne-Mathieu Court.

Day, a 23-year-old player who won the U.S. Open junior title in 2016, is ranked 138^e in the world and had to make it through the qualifying board before ending up in the main program. She defeated the French Kristina Mladenovic in the first round.

The elimination of Keys adds to the many surprises that have occurred so far among the ladies in Paris. Bernarda Pera notably dismissed Donna Vekic, the 22^e seeded, in three sets of 3-6, 6-4 and 6-3.

The logic was however respected for Iga Swiatek (no 1) and Ons Jabeur (no 7), who won in consecutive sets.

Later today, Coco Gauff — last year’s tournament runner-up — will cross swords with Austria’s Julia Grabher.