No.3 seed Jessica Pegula moved through to the third round of Roland Garros after Camila Giorgi retired from their match after one set played on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Wednesday.
Pegula was leading 6-2 when the Italian retired after just 37 minutes on court, as she called the physio to court in between sets. Pegula won the first four games of the match, and hit 12 winners in the eight games the pair played.
Feel better soon, Camila Giorgi ❤️
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 31, 2023
Jessica Pegula advances to the third round 6-2 ret.#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/Y2E8YN6y1u
The American is through to the third round at a Grand Slam for the ninth time in the last 10 major tournaments, and the abridged win is Pegula's eighth in 10 career meetings against Giorgi, and her fifth in a row.
She'll next face No.28 seed Elise Mertens, who beat Colombian lucky loser Camila Osorio 6-3, 7-6(3) after coming from a break down twice in the second set. The Belgian raced out to a 4-1 lead en route to taking the opener, but trailed 3-1 and 4-3 with Osorio serving in set two. In the ensuing tiebreak, Mertens won the last four points to put herself in the third round of a major for the 21st time in 24 career Grand Slam main draws.
Mertens has, in fact, reached the last 32 in all seven of her trips to Paris, and reached the fourth round in 2018 and 2022. She has also beaten Pegula in their previous two meetings both of which came on hard courts. Their last match was a 5-7, 7-5, 6-0 win for Mertens in the quarterfinals in Dubai in 2021.