Tennis- As we leave Rome (and the ombrelli) it's off to Paris- pack the parapluie!

[Raahh]

I am not paying attention to thread lengths these days .

Ofner's name rings a bell, but I don't think I've ever actually watched him.

I think his coach is Domi's dad. Which is all I know about him

He doesn't look like a tennis player

I'm only really half watching things -but the Sabalenka /Stephens match isnt doing much to persuade anyone that it's worth scheduling women's matches at night. It's 20 minutes in, and Sabalenka is 5-0 up.

But Sloane is winning some points now, which is good.

And she has a break.

Maybe it's all turning round

All looks pretty easy for Stef.

No real thriller match today

Ofner's mum looks like Eileen from Corrie

Well done Stef

Great fight back from Sloane! I’m glad it’s turned into a bit more of a contest, otherwise they might never schedule a women’s match in the evening again.

Ubuntu eh Stef

Ice yes, I'm glad it's turned around, because it was all one way traffic. I've always really like Sloane, and it was a shame she didn't really follow up her previous wins.
Aryna seems to be beating herself.
This is an excellent fight back.

Wonder if Sloane has a problem with her shoulder

Evening all!!

Just a reminder that the 3 parter on tennis in the '70's starts tonight, 9pm, BBC2

Aww, good effort from Sloane, she could have had that set- not sure if she is struggling a bit now. She did very well to turn it round.

I have set it to record, kazza.

Whether I remember to watch it, is another matter

Kato got disqualified in the doubles for hitting a ball girl with the ball

Sabalenka looks too powerful here but Stephens is clinging on somehow. I hope there will be a 3rd set.

Don’t forget Gods of Tennis at 9pm on BBC2 tonight - Battle of the Sexes film is on C4 later I think (from your TV correspondent! )

Will record everything.

Well done Aryna

Sorry I missed Kazza’s reminder earlier

Well done Aryna - depressingly not sure if much has changed since Billie Jean’s campaign for equality

Lots of chat with Tim about getting disqualified for hitting a ball girl

Poor Tim will never be allowed to forget that!

I'm a long time lurker and Rafa fan, definitely not a DjokeOvich fan (I like Mac's pronunciation of that name :) )

Very sad that Rafa is nearing the end of his career :( And in case it's not been mentioned before, if you have access to Eurosport/DiscoveryPlus, they have 4 full matches between Rafa and DjokeOvich at Roland Garros on at the moment, 2014, 2015, 2021 and 2022. I'm going to binge on them and enjoy both aspects of Rafa's victories and DjokeOvich's defeats.

There are also highlights only of their 2007 and 2008 matches.

Thanks for all your tennis threads.

Just saw the lovely clip of the ball kids singing Feliz Cumpleanos to Rafa