Zheng Qinwen is safe to advance in the matinee, who is the worst in the seven five-set battles? Dimi retired injured and Yuan Yue was promoted

Three minutes a day, knowing about tennis in the world. Hello fans and friends, today is Wednesday, May 28, 2025, and welcome to the afternoon newsletter brought to you by "Home of Tennis".

Let's first focus on China's first sister Zheng Qinwen. On the fourth day of the French Open, Zheng Qinwen, the only remaining Chinese player in the singles field, will play the first matinee match at Susan Lenglen Stadium to face Colombian Arango, the opponent of the second round, with kick-off at 5pm Beijing time today.

Zheng Qinwen and Arango had a meeting in the ITF junior field, when Xiao Zheng won in two sets. For the first duel between the two in the Grand Slam arena, the vast majority of fans believe that there is no suspense for the Chinese first sister to win. Comparing the performance of the two on the professional stage, especially on the clay court, Zheng Qinwen has an overwhelming advantage. Of course, Xiao Zheng can't be taken lightly, and he must play in good shape to avoid being upset. Zheng Qinwen, come on!

Let's get back to the field. This morning, Beijing time, the first round of singles matches at the French Open was over. There were seven matches on the day that were played in five sets, and some of the highly-seeded players were upset.

Men's Singles: Sixth seed and Serbian star Novak Djokovic made his debut with a 6-3 6-3 6-3 6-3 victory over American McDonald. In the second round, he will face French player Moutai. Third seed Zverev Jr. also made it through with ease, beating rising American star Lerner Chin 6-3 6-3 6-4. Next, he will face Dutchman de Jong, who narrowly defeated Italy's Pazaro 3-2 in five sets.

Fifth seed and England's Draper came up against Italy's Bellucci 3-6 6-1 6-4 6-2 to face France's veteran Monfils in the second round. Monfils, who is about to turn 39, fought back from a desperate situation of 0-2 down, and finally fought hard for 3 hours and 36 minutes, and reversed Bolivian Drion in three consecutive sets.

Russian star Dmitry Medvedev, the 11th seed, wasted a fifth-set service win and was knocked out 7-5 6-3 4-6 1-6 7-5 by Briton Norrie to become the worst loser of the day in five sets. Canadian star Aliassime led 2-0 and was reversed by Italian star Arnaldi in three sets in a row, and also became a sad exit in the first round. Russia's Rublev beat South Africa's Harris 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-1 to qualify.

Bulgarian Dimitrov, the 16th seed, suffered an injury while leading 6-2 6-3 2-6 and eventually retired to secure Quinn. Brazilian teenager Fonseca, who is playing French Open for the first time, eliminated 30th seed and last week's Geneva runner-up Hurkacz in straight sets, 6-2 6-4 6-2. Other debutants include Mensik, Walton, Bubrick, Rocha, Herbert, Shevchenko and Gomez.

Women's Singles: The U.S. players who played that day played well, with a record of 5 wins and 1 loss. Second seed Gauff defeated Australia's Gadeki 6-2 6-2; No.3 seed Pegula beat Romania's Todoni 6-2 6-4; Parks eliminated 14th seed Mukhova of the Czech Republic 6-3 2-6 6-1; Baptiste defeated 23rd seed and Brazilian No. 1 Maia 4-6 6-3 6-1; Krueger eliminated Dutchman Lamens 6-3 6-4.

Elsewhere: Sixth seed and rising Russian star Milla Andreeva beat Spaniard Buksa 6-4 6-3 to make it through the first round. 31st seed American Kenin defeated local Gracheva 6-3 6-1 to advance to the second round against Belarusian Azarenka, who swept past Belgian Wickmayer 6-0 6-0.

Players such as Fletcher, Vondrousova, Jacmo, Glenjoanna, Putintseva, Kalinina, Boisson, Ann Lee, Nao Hibino, Bouzkova, Qatar, Valentova and others also won to advance to the second round. Women's Doubles: In the first round, the Chinese and Singapore pair Yuan Yue/Sun Lulu defeated Blinkova/Sheriff 6-2 5-7 6-3 to advance to the second round.

At 5 p.m. Beijing time today, the fourth day of the French Open began. In addition to Zheng Qinwen's focus match with Arango, there will also be a Grand Slam title showdown between Swiatek and Raducanu. Aryna Sabalenka, Paolini, Rybakina and Ostapenko in Women's Singles and Alcaraz, Ruud, Rune and Tsitsipas in Men's Singles will all be on the stage.

Finally, let's guess and recognize. The picture below is of a player on vacation. Can you recognize who he is without prompting?

In the last guess, some golfers gave the correct answer. That's right, the person in the picture is the Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Maverick)