Roland Garros: Five things we learned on Day 9 – sunshine and a brain drain

And after all the damp and drizzle, we got sunshine but still no blue skies thinking on the night session.

Inequality session

Alexander Zverev and Holger Rune were the lads out late on Day 9. That it was an enthralling match is irrelevant. That made it nine out of nine night sessions featuring a tie from the men's draw.

Djokovic express

After playing from 10.30pm on Saturday night until l just after 3am on Sunday morning, top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic started his last-16 match against the 23rd seed Francisco Ceundolo at the godly hour of 4pm. And it made not a jot of difference. He was on court for four hours and 39 minutes in another five-setter. He battled with a gammy knee for a couple of hours during the encounter before the win – a record 370th at one of the four Grand Slam tournament events in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York. That demotes that Roger Federer to second place.

Planning

Adieu

Fast track?

Mirra Andreeva's advance into the last eight made her the second-youngest woman in the 21st century to reach the quarter‑finals at the French Open. So congratulations to the 17-year-old. The youngest? A certain Sesil Karatantcheva from Bulgaria who was 15 when she surged to the quarters in 2005. Andreeva should be wary. Karatantcheva never again reached such lofty heights following a two-year ban for taking performance enhancing drugs. So much for emergence.

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