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          ICYMI at French Open: John Isner earning more freebies than anyone in Paris

          John Isner has not dropped serve through two matches at the French Open so far this year. AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino

          PARIS -- Serve, ace. Serve, ace. Serve, ace. Serve, ace.

          You get the picture and probably know by now that we're talking John Isner.

          Altogether, the towering rocket-launcher has 66 aces through two matches, which is 27 more than anyone else in this year's French Open.

          Truthfully, it's not all that surprising. Isner has won 90 percent of his first-serve deliveries and won all 39 of his service games.

          HonestMan's assessment is spot on. On Thursday, Isner took down Horacio Zeballos with a terrific 6-7 (8), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2), 6-2 win.

          Isner smacked 38 of those tournament-high 66 aces and hit an astounding 82 winners.

          Next up for Isner, the No. 17 seed, is Pierre-Hugues Herbert, a Frenchman, who no doubt will have the support from his ravenous home fans.

          But an ace here, 20 more there ought to silence the crowd.

          So what have you done for us lately, Maria Sharapova?

          On Thursday, she handled Donna Vekic in a tight straight-setter, 7-5, 6-4, to reach the third round of the French Open.

          But after her match, reporters were only interested in what's coming up next, which is a sensational battle Saturday against No. 6 Karolina Pliskova.

          The showdown will feature two of the biggest hitters in the game, and a stern test for both. Sharapova played well in Rome two weeks ago, where she made the final four, while Pliskova reached the semis of Madrid the week before that.

          So we have to ask the obvious question, Maria: What do you expect?

          "Obviously, creating looks on second balls after the return and after the serve, getting in position, there is a lot of hard hitting," she said Thursday in press. "I don't expect extremely long rallies against an opponent like that. But sometimes it's not what it takes to win a match, and I think you have to kind of take care of your service games, and I have to serve better than I have been and take care of the return."

          And then, of course, there's the bigger-picture stuff:

          Maria Sharapova needs only five more wins at this year's French Open to join a couple of names you may have heard, Chris Evert and Serena Williams, in becoming the third woman since the start of the Open era to win a major in her teens, 20s and 30s.

          Matt Wilansky, ESPN.com6y ago

          No need to pontificate on what Rafael Nadal's latest lopsided win against Argentine Guido Pella means. Instead, let's go to the numbers:

          • 35 straight winning sets at Roland Garros (second only to Bjorn Borg)

          • 20 straight wins against South American opponents.

          • 17th Grand Slam match dropping fewer than five games (tied for fourth all time)

          Will Rafa's next round be any more difficult? He faces Richard Gasquet, and here's what these stats have to say about that:

          After his match, Nadal was asked in Spanish for his thoughts on Zinedine Zidane. Here's Rafa's response:

          "I was a bit surprised logically, because he had said that he wanted to continue, from what I had heard. It's a day that is not a pleasant for the family, because he's a great person. He's a person who has done a lot of good in the club, and he's a person who, apart from being one of the best coaches in the world who's had an incredible success, first as a player and then as a coach, he's a person who's always carried an exceptional behavior all along, and even as he's leaving, he's a normal person. In difficult moments, he always wears a smile. He never criticizes the referees or the players or the club.

          "Last winter when things were going very badly, as it was the case in Madrid, he never complained. He just trusted his players. He went at least to the outside world. I don't know what was happening inside, but he always showed trust and respect for everyone, and he accepted the sport for what it is: a sport. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. And there are good and bad moments. This is the way it is."

          Teenager Denis Shapovalov lost a tough battle against Germany's Maximilian Marterer in the second round Thursday, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 7-5, 6-4.

          Whatever you do, Denis, Do. Not. Smash. Your. Racket.

          Oh well.

          Fun matchup between hometown Gael Monfils and David Goffin on Friday.

          Your thoughts, Gael?

          "We call him the geometer," Monfils said. "He's super accurate, stronger physically, much stronger than many people think."

          But "geometer"? Is that a euphemism for "nerd"?

          No matter what Monfils meant, it was no doubt meant as a compliment. Now let's see how well Monfils measures up to his eighth-seeded opponent.

          Here's the scoop on Garbine Muguruza, in case you were wondering:

          After her second-round loss in Paris, Belinda Bencic confirmed splitting with coach Iain Hughes. They began working with each other earlier in the season, but it was not a successful pairing. A one-time world No. 7, Bencic, who has been beset by injuries for a good part of her career, is only 3-6 this season.