Bonjour, Court 18: New French Open venue already leaving an impression

PARIS—Moments. Places. People. In tennis, this troika sparkles most brilliantly at the majors. But not always in the ways commonly expected. Just walk, smell, look, listen.

This year’s French Open has now reached the quarterfinal stage. Soon enough, Court Philippe Chatrier and Court Suzanne Lenglen will be the site for the matches of consequence that will conclusively define the 2018 rendition of the tournament.

Now go elsewhere, far from what will be etched into the record books—but instead will surely linger in the hearts and minds of those who witnessed so much first-hand. Welcome to Roland Garros’ newest venue, Court 18.

An intimate amphitheater, a tidy rectangular bowl holding 2,200, Court 18 is located beyond the furthest western edge of Roland Garros, far from Chatrier, beyond Lenglen, even past rows of practice and field courts. Across languid mornings that burst into sunshine, late afternoons of lengthening shadows, Court 18 emerged as this year’s ingénue.

A sober reality of covering pro tennis is that it can be very seductive to mostly pay attention to major courts and, for reasons both good and bad, remain tethered to the press room, where each desk is equipped with a monitor that allows writers to bounce back and forth between matches. Deadlines and many other demands make it possible—often even necessary—to rarely venture beyond Chatrier or Lenglen.

Court 18 offered another premise, one less of permanent history and more of transient sensuality. There would be audible intrusions from nearby, random beeps from local traffic and ambient clutter from the neighbors. Near at hand came the familiar sounds and smells from the fans, the tidy 2,200 who sought not just to be spectators, but participants in any brewing drama. And there would be blood, all the competitive fury you’d expect from a court rapidly dubbed, “Le Petit Cauldron.” Petit: how delicate. Cauldron: one hoped.

I had heard been rumblings of compelling qualifying matches at LPC, then later of a first round five-setter won by the veteran Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco.

Past 4:00 p.m., last Tuesday, Court 18 was the site for the sober and dramatic finish of the match lost by 14th-seeded Jack Sock versus 136th-ranked Jurgen Zopp. Few things make a small court come alive more than the scent of an upset. Vultures flew around Sock’s weary carcass, a body burdened even more by its owner’s technical shortcomings and his opponent’s unwavering concentration. Sock also repeatedly castigated the chair umpire, reinforcing the notion of him as an Ugly American. The crowd screamed, clapped, yelled, stomped its feet. Sock melted. Zopp survived. And the cauldron’s cult grew. You didn’t know what exactly was going to be on the menu. But surely it was worth checking out.

Twenty-four hours later, another American, Jared Donaldson, dispatched memories of Sock with an impressive, all-out effort versus fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov. Donaldson took a two sets to one lead. Again, the vultures, keen for another dismembered favorite. Dimitrov, flung into the pit, labored and leveled the match.

Deep into the fifth, now in the longest match of his young career, the 21-year-old Donaldson cramped. Successive trainer visits treated each of his legs. Twice, Donaldson struck underhand serves. Dimitrov, attempting to serve out the match at 8-7, failed. The shadows grew longer, the clay aorange, brown, dusty. From any seat, you could see the dirt flecked across each player’s socks.

Dimitrov recovered and triumphed, 10-8 in the fifth. But unlike the prior day’s Court 18 epic, harshly ruthless and jarring amid Sock’s petulant finish, Dimitrov-Donaldson was a moment where each competitor could come away feeling victorious. The crowd had been ennobled.

Court 18 continued to crackle. Friday at 11. At some events, an under-filled field court on a late morning. Not here. There was Court 18, filled to capacity for a match between Daria Kasatkina and Maria Sakkari. At the start, Kasatkina’s proficiency and Sakkari’s sluggish start offered only the possibility of the routine. Kasatkina took the opening set, 6-1. But all changed as Sakkari leveled it by the same score; and soon, in only its first week, Court 18 delivered more war cries. Kasatkina scraped this one out. TGIF? TGI Court 18.

More again Saturday, the first match of the day on Court 18 commenced with another overtime effort for an American. In this case, reigning US Open champion Sloane Stephens, up against the relentless but erratic firepower of Camila Giorgi. Relentless but erratic is a recipe for precisely what Court 18 fans want: uncertainty in all its dramatic shades.

The crowd thrilled to Giorgi’s winners, struck with the speed of a race car driver. But what to do with those frequent crashes, of balls steered wide and thundered long? Like those sitting in the stands, Stephens too was often an innocent bystander, engaged in an effort to calibrate patience with aggression.

The cauldron thrilled through all of it. Giorgi won the first set, 6-4, lost the second 6-1, served for it twice in the third. In the end, though, the vultures were dispatched, Stephens holding on, 8-6 in the third.

So in one brisk and brazen debut week, the cauldron of Court 18 had bubbled, burst, blossomed. What better taste for tennis zealots than that of blood?

Roland Garros tournament director Guy Forget on the tournament's upcoming renovations:

—Tennis Channel Plus features up to 10 courts of live action from Roland Garros beginning Sunday, May 27 at 5:00am ET.

—Catch up and watch all your favorite stars anytime on-demand with Tennis Channel Plus.

—When you buy Tennis Channel Plus, your 12-month subscription gets you access to every ATP Masters 1000 tournament played outside the U.S., and every round through the finals of WTA Indian Wells, Miami and Cincinnati.

(The availability of matches or events on TC Plus is subject to change.)