Roland-Garros wrap - Friday May 23

The two-time RG doubles champion hasn’t revealed exactly when her career will come to an end, but this will be her 14th and final visit to her home Grand Slam.

Caroline Garcia photo gallery

Play began across eight courts at 11am with 22 third round men’s and women’s qualifying matches to settle to bring the curtain down on Opening Week.

Friday Qualifying results

The first big story came from Czech teenager Sara Bejlek when she took out the women's top seed Yuliia Starodubtseva 6-0, 6-4.

That performance also provided one of the photos of the week (below), Bejlek almost in mid-air and completely horizontal as the 19-year-old scrambled to get a ball back into play. Having led 6-0 5-1, she finally sealed it on her seventh match point. 

Ninth-seeded Argentine Solana Sierra comfortably beat China's Wang Xiyu and afterwards revealed she's enjoying a trial period at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca. 

Austria’s Filip Misolic was another qualifier we enjoyed some one-on-one time with and he told us how important Dominic Thiem, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic have been during his development as a player.

Next there was big news from Court 9 where Benjamin Hassan became just the second Lebanese player in the Open Era to qualify for a Grand Slam men’s singles main draw. Hassan beat Japan's James Trotter 6-2, 7-6(5).

Aussie Daria Saville won a tight one against American sixth seed Taylor Townsend 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, while Juan Manuel Cerundolo outplayed Daniel Galan in straight sets to join big brother Francisco in the 128-player field.

Eighteen-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko was too good for Slovenia's Kaja Juvan 7-5, 6-3 on Court 12 to guarantee her Grand Slam debut. The teenager didn't drop a set all week.

South African Lloyd Harris took out former world No.3 Marin Cilic 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 later on Friday. Cilic had the bonus of getting in as one of four lucky losers however, so will still get a shot in the main draw. 

While the qualifiers were scrapping for a golden ticket, the higher ranked players were either practising, being grilled by journalists during media day - or a bit of both.

Jannik Sinner says he knows which areas of his game he needs to fine-tune after reaching the final in Rome last weekend, while the man who beat him at the Foro Italico - Carlos Alcaraz - is simply happy to be back to defend his crown.

Alcaraz had been preparing to face Japan's Kei Nishikori, but late on Friday discovered the former world No.4 had withdrawn with injury. Alcaraz will take on Giulio Zeppieri in round one instead.

Women’s defending champion Iga Swiatek knows she must improve on her recent level to make it five Roland-Garros trophies, while world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka told the press she loves dealing with the added pressure of being the best in the world. 

Roland-Garros celebrates Yannick Noah Day on Saturday when the Paris venue becomes a tennis carnival for a few hours. 

Gates open at 10am with fun and activities - on and off court - guaranteed for all ages.

First round matches begin on Sunday with round one action across both draws spread over Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.