By Julien Pretot and Shrivathsa Sridhar
PARIS, May 24 (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev earned comfortable wins to begin their French Open campaigns but seventh seed Taylor Fritz became an early casualty as the year’s second Grand Slam got underway on Sunday.
Djokovic and Zverev are both determined to make the most of their chances in Paris this year with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz ruled out with a long-term wrist injury, leaving world number one Jannik Sinner as the overwhelming favourite.
Djokovic, looking to defy the odds and claim a record 25th Grand Slam trophy, began his latest hunt with a 5-7 7-5 6-1 6-4 win over big-serving French favourite Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard under the lights.
“I played him for the first time and it’s practically impossible to see where he’ll serve,” Djokovic said after safely negotiating the tricky challenge.
“It’s something I’ve seen one or two times in my career with Reilly Opelka or Ivo Karlovic.
“In a match like that, you have to stay focused and wait for an opportunity. It was a bit difficult but in the end I found my best tennis and best return game at the right moment.”
Denied for years by the golden generation of men’s tennis that Djokovic is the last active member of, Zverev began his bid for a maiden major in more challenging conditions but the second seed overcame the heat to beat Benjamin Bonzi 6-3 6-4 6-2.
The 2024 runner-up never allowed world number 95 Bonzi into the contest on the main showcourt, as he secured a second-round meeting with Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic.
“Very good start to the tournament, it’s always good to start with a win in straight sets especially against Benjamin who can be a tricky opponent,” Zverev said.
The morning sun did not deter fans who streamed into Roland Garros, which felt more like the Riviera than claycourt grind as alleys echoed with a violin rendition of Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” and other soft-rock staples.
As the temperature exceeded 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), Russian Karen Khachanov downed French hope Arthur Gea on Court Suzanne Lenglen before 11th-seeded Swiss Belinda Bencic took out Sinja Kraus of Austria.
Though heat was less of a factor for Fritz in his late afternoon match, the American’s limited claycourt preparation showed as he fell 7-6(5) 7-6(5) 6-7(9) 6-1 to unheralded compatriot Nishesh Basavareddy.
STANDING OVATION
World number 148 Basavareddy said the biggest surprise was hearing his name chanted by Court Suzanne Lenglen fans.
“That’s something I definitely wasn’t expecting,” he added.
Fritz conceded that his opponent outplayed him.
“I mean … the drop shots were crazy,” he said.
“When someone is drop-shotting me too much, I tell myself ‘I need to hit the ball deeper’. He was hitting insane drop shots, like, off balls that were landing on the baseline. He killed me with that, and there’s not really much I can do about it.”
Eighth seed Mirra Andreeva earlier dished out a barrage of baseline winners as she made light work of France’s Fiona Ferro 6-3 6-3 to advance.
The 19-year-old Russian was never in trouble on a sun-drenched Court Philippe Chatrier and sealed victory on her first match point when Ferro made her 24th unforced error.
Tennis tactics were farthest from Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk’s mind early in the morning after a missile landed near her family home in Kyiv, but she took to the court and beat Russian-born Spaniard Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-2 6-3.
The 23-year-old later said she was overwhelmed with anxiety after receiving pictures of the damage close to the house where her mother and sister were staying.
“I felt sick just for the thought that if it was 100 metres closer, I probably wouldn’t have a mum and a sister today,” she added in her press conference.
Fan favourite Joao Fonseca of Brazil made smooth progress to the next round after a 7-6(6) 6-4 6-2 victory over Luka Pavlovic but it was the end of the road for Briton Emma Raducanu as the 2021 U.S. Open champion fell 6-0 7-6(4) to Solana Sierra.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot and Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris; Editing by Ken Ferris, Andrew Cawthorne and Ed Osmond)
Comments