1) Roland Garros is raucous

If there is one thing above all that we have learned from the Olympic Tennis Event on the second day here in Paris, it’s that the crowd is loud. And never more so than when one of the host country’s players are in action.

The noise emanating from Court Suzanne Lenglen when Gael Monfils was taking on Lorenzo Musetti this afternoon drowned out everything in its surroundings.

“The atmosphere is a bit different than during the [Roland Garros] tournament,” explained Diane Parry, who picked up a win in front of fervent home support against Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska. “The people coming to watch, I think they are not the same as during the tournament, so it’s a crazy atmosphere. You can hear on the big courts, yeah, it’s just crazy how they are. When you’re French, even more.”

Poland’s Magda Linette said she was privileged to always receive support from her home country, no matter where in the world she was playing, but pointed to the fact that the Paris 2024 crowd may well be newcomers to world-class tennis.

She explained: “I feel like I always get some Polish support, which is unbelievable. This is a different crowd. It’s less tennis specific, which is a good thing.”

And Canada’s Bianca Andreescu clearly enjoyed her experience out on Court 11 this morning. Playing against Denmark’s Clara Tauson, the crowd in attendance were all bedecked in red (being the national colour of both teams), which helped to accentuate the patriotism on show.

“I don’t think there’s any words to describe this,” Andreescu said. “The crowd was incredible, from both sides. It was a super-fun atmosphere.”

2) Medals aren't the only silverware that the Chinese players are targeting

Wang Xinyu and Wang Xiyu, both of whom scored singles victories while making their Olympic debuts today, revealed that tennis is not the only game that their team is playing during this year’s Games.

Wang Xinyu explained that the Chinese players, all of whom are staying in the Olympic Village, are on a mission to collect as many pins as possible.

She added: “Seeing all the athletes around the world, changing pins, it’s really nice. I have my own collection!”

For Wang Xiyu, there is a real sense of symbolism with the pin swapping.

“All the country’s pins are so special,” she said. “I really want them all! I’m still collecting. Other players get pins all around their neck. I feel so heavy. I feel the heaviness from the country.”

And when asked what the best pin they have so far is, Wang Xinyu was particularly proud of her pin from Mauritius.

“That’s a tough one to find!” she said.

3) USA's Collins has recruited Tauson to help build her pin collection

Over in Team USA, the pin-collecting rivalry is heating up between Danielle Collins and US team captain Kathy Rinaldi.

“It’s got so intense, the pin collecting. I have about 40. My goal is to get to 100. Kathy Rinaldi has 85 right now,” said Collins. “Sometimes I’ve been going up to people saying, ‘Can I exchange pins’ and they say, ‘we already exchanged with Kathy.’”

Collins has recruited Denmark’s Clare Tauson, who lost in the first round to Andreescu on Sunday, to build up her collection. “She’s in the Village and staying in a building where there’s some athletes from some smaller countries. With fewer athletes, those are the rare pins.”

“Clare is hopefully going to help me get Somalia, and I’m hoping like Saudi Arabia. Hopefully I’m not putting too much pressure on her, but she said she would help me, and it was very nice of her.”

4) Hassan is thrilled to make history

Benjamin Hassan carved his name into the history books as the first Lebanese player ever to win a tennis match at an Olympic Games.

The 29-year-old scored a huge upset by defeating USA’s Christopher Eubanks 6-4 6-2 on day two at the Olympic Tennis Event, but he isn’t done yet.

“Unbelievable happy,” said Hassan after securing his place in the second round of the men’s singles event. “I’m also proud of myself but it’s not over yet. We also have doubles today. Just need a quick rest, get some food and then hopefully play good doubles too.”

Hassan, who received incredible support from the Lebanese fans on site at Roland Garros, explained that he used his laissez faire attitude to his advantage by trying not to expend unnecessary energy until the match was won.

“It was unbelievable atmosphere,” he added. “I was just trying to be calm because I didn’t want to waste too much energy. I’ve had that in the past, where I lost too much energy throughout the match. I tried to be calm and focussed and when I win, I can let it all out.”

5) Stan shows no sign of slowing down

Thirty-nine-year-old Stan Wawrinka roared into the second round on Saturday, beating Pavel Kotov 61 61 in less than an hour.

This is Wawrinka’s first Olympics for 12 years, and in two previous Olympic singles outings the three-time Grand Slam champion hasn’t been past the second round, so could yet break new ground at Paris 2024. He does of course own a doubles gold medal with Roger Federer from Beijing 2008.

Stan is the oldest player to compete in Olympic singles since tennis returned to the Games at Seoul 1988, and is the last Swiss player standing following Viktorija Golubic’s loss to Jessica Pegula earlier on Saturday.