Goffin arrived in Paris with only 10 wins for the season, while Nadal only won his first title for the year two weeks ago in Rome, a lighter clay-court trophy haul by his standards. “It is probably the ultimate challenge,” Goffin said of facing Nadal in a best-of-five match at Roland-Garros. “I need to use angles. I need to play early.”
Karolina Pliskova v Petra Martic
World No.2 Pliskova firmed into Roland-Garros title contention when she won Rome leading in. On Wednesday, she continued her recent red-hot run, winning her seventh straight clay-court match to book a third-round showdown with Croatia's Martic, whom the Czech saw off in their only previous meeting en route to the Miami final in March.
Both players cruised through their second-round assignments; Pliskova dropping just four games against Kristina Kucova and Martic thrashing home hope Kristina Mladenovic. “My analysis is very simple: She just dominated me in every single field of the game today,” Mladenovic concluded.
*Find out how to follow all the Roland-Garros 2019 action on TV here.