Jannik Sinner and Coco Gauff were among the players making the very most of their final practice sessions at Roland Garros before the main draw action got underway.
That main draw action is indeed now underway in the French capital, where many eyes will be on Sinner and Gauff.
The Italian is the top seed in the ATP draw and is chasing the Career Grand Slam, while the American is the defending champion in the WTA draw.
And both players made use of ‘official’ Roland Garros practice sets on Saturday, which included umpires and a scoreboard.
Is Coco Gauff going back-to-back at Roland Garros with this draw?
Jannik Sinner and Coco Gauff win Roland Garros practice sets
Sinner took on young Belgian Alexander Blockx, who recently reached the Madrid semifinals, and won their practice set 6-2.
And Gauff earned a similar result against Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah, beating her French opponent 6-3 in practice.
But they certainly weren’t the only high-profile players involved in such matches ahead of the clay-court Grand Slam.
Most significantly, Elina Svitolina defeated Jessica Pegula 6-4, and Elena Rybakina overcame Sorana Cirstea by the same scoreline.
Elsewhere, Taylor Fritz eased past Miomir Kecmanovic 6-1, and Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Sebastian Baez 6-3.
Jannik Sinner is now a bigger favorite to win Roland Garros than Rafael Nadal ever was
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Roland Garros breaks Opening Week record
Of course, the scoring from the practice matches means very little, but the run-outs on clay will have been very valuable to all the winners and losers.
Players will have learned many of their strengths and weaknesses from the sets, with the intensity of the practice certain to stand them in good stead for the main draw.
Elsewhere, there was also fantastic news for tournament organizers just ahead of the opening matches in Paris.
And that arrives in the form of attendance, with a record 138,000 people passing through the gates during the six days of Opening Week.
It is a very welcome boost for Roland Garros, arriving at a time when many players have been expressing their concerns over prize money.
Among those involved is WTA number one Aryna Sabalenka, who cut short her opening press conference in protest at the 15% of revenue that Roland Garros currently offers.
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