Open’s big stage on Friday and delivered a sizzling performance by blowing past 18th-seed Caroline Garcia 6-0 6-4 to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows. Cricketers and other sports personalities took to social media and wished their fans on the festival. On most days, they sparred among themselves while at times, they grappled with teenaged French wrestlers who trained at the club. A WFI official said Indians did that out of ‘generosity’ and to teach the French youngsters a few tricks. It was only the second time in the match that they had levelled the scoreline and they made it count. Only Karolina Pliskova and Elina Svitolina can deny the 2016 Roland Garros winner from reaching the top spot for the first time in her career. Memories of seven-times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher, a five-times winner with the Italian team at the circuit outside Milan, still have a powerful resonance. “All the participating nations will be there, so we will ensure our wrestlers get some good practice. It summed up India’s woeful preparation, resulting in none of the 24 wrestlers crossing the quarterfinal stage of the world championships, which concluded in Paris last week. They have been in touch with Japanese and Iranian federations but even after a year, the WFI is yet to identify his successor.