FRENCH OPEN DIARY: Lucas Pouille on comeback trail and Felix Auger-Aliassime needs a break

The second day of the French Open saw victories for Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.

The two are on the same half of the draw and could meet in the semi-finals.

But Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime became the first men’s top-10 seed to leave the clay court major.

The 10th seed lost 6–4, 6–4, 6–3 to Italy’s Fabio Fognini in his fourth first-round defeat in five years. Roland Garros.

Here, LEWIS STEELE from Mail Sport rounds up some of the great stories from Paris.

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Pouille fights back from the edge

Lucas Pouille, Cameron Norrie’s second-round opponent, has a heartbreaking backstory.

After peaking at No. 10 in 2018, the Frenchman’s struggle with a recurring elbow injury led him to alcoholism and depression.

“I had a dark side, I slept an hour a night and drank alone,” he told L’Equipe this week.

“I sank into something eerie, I cried after every defeat. I had to stop or I would have ended up with the madmen.’

Felix needs a break

The injury-plagued Felix Auger-Aliassime is likely to take a pre-Wimbledon break following his surprise defeat here against Fabio Fognini.

The Canadian said: ‘It’s a difficult time. I got a little sick last night, didn’t sleep.

“I played with painkillers, but now I have to let[his shoulder]get better.”

Child’s play for Svitolina

Elina Svitolina gave birth to her first child in October with former world No. 6 Gael Monfils.

After returning from maternity leave, she won a title in Strasbourg last week and continued her recovery here with a victory over last year’s semi-finalist Martina Trevisan.

“Our baby is half French and half Ukrainian,” Svitolina said. “Maybe you’ll see her playing tennis here one day!”