DOWN AND DIRTY
AFTER a stunning performance in New York that took him to the US Open quarterfinals, Australia’s Alex de Min a ur crashed back to earth on the Roland Garros clay.
De Minaur lost 7-6 (11-9), 6-4, 6-0 in the first round of the French Open to Italian qualifier Marco Cecchina to.
The 25th seed in Paris, De Minaur fought hard in a three-hour match, but was unable to adapt to the change in surface.
The tournament, which was pushed back from its traditional May-June slot because of the coronavirus, began in steady drizzle and temperatures struggling to reach 10 C.
Fellow Aussie Jordan Thompson was also knocked out, losing to world No.53 Radu Albot 6-2,6-4,6-1.
But Daria Gavrilova, severely restricted by a foot injury for the past two years, made a successful return, upsetting 24th seed Dayana Yastremska, 6-4,6-3.
Gavrilova, whose world ranking has plunged to 788, next meets Canadian Eugenie-Bouchard.
West Australian Astra Sharma, who got a late callup to the tournament as a “lucky loser” in qualifying, made the most of the opportunity. She beat Russian Anna Blinkova, 6-3,2-6,7-5.
US Open women’s finalist Victoria Azarenka walked off the court, complaining it was “too cold” to play tennis.
“It’s too cold, it’s 8C, I live in Florida. This is getting a little ridiculous. I’m not waiting ,” she said, before storming off to seek shelter during a rain delay. She returned for a 6-1, 6-2 win against Danka Kovinic, playing in black leggings and a track suit top.
The rain had cleared by the time 2015 champion Stan Wawr ink a and Andy Murray walked out on to Court Philippe Chatrier, with the new retractable roof opened for the first time in the day.
Murray, playing his first claycourt match since losing a five-set semi-final to the Swiss star in 2017, may have wished it had remained shut as 16th seed Wawrink a swept by him in a 6-1,6-3,6-2 win.
Top seed and 2018 champion Simona Halep swept into the second round with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Spanish world No.70 Sara Sorribes Tormo.
“The perfect present was that I won today ,” said Halep, who turned 29 on Sunday.
Venus Williams, who played her first Roland Garros in 1997 and is now 40, saved two match points but not the third as she fell to a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Slovakia’s Anna Karo lin a Schmiedlova.