French Open: Wawrinka, Azarenka dumped
PARIS: Former French Open champion Stan Wawrinka continued to struggle with form and fitness as he was dumped out in the first round by Guillermo Garcia-Lopez on Monday, a defeat which will send his world ranking plummeting, while Victoria Azarenka also suffered a shock exit.
Wawrinka, who lost to Rafael Nadal in last year’s final and won the 2015 title, was beaten in a five-set thriller 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 by the Spanish world number 67 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
The 33-year-old has been plagued by a knee injury and arrived at Roland Garros having won just one match on clay in Geneva last week, his first event in three months.
The defeat means that the three-time Grand Slam champion will slip from 30th in the world to outside the top 250 after the tournament, having failed to defend the ranking points he gained in 2017.
The 23rd seed looked to be really struggling as he quickly dropped the first set, but found his rhythm from nowhere in the second, crunching two massive forehands to break for a 3-1 lead.
A fired-up Wawrinka duly levelled the match, having saved a break point in the seventh game thanks to some magnificent defending in a brutal rally under the Paris sunshine.
Wawrinka saved a break point to serve out the third set after breaking in the opening game, as 34-year-old Garcia-Lopez threw his racket to the ground in disgust. The match looked to be all but over when Wawrinka broke in game five of the fourth set, but he became ragged and GarciaLopez forced a decider by edging a tie-break.
Wawrinka’s form totally deserted him in the fifth set, and Garcia-Lopez comfortably wrapped up victory.
Former world number one Victoria Azarenka’s return to Grand Slam tennis lasted just two sets as the Belarusian slumped to a 7-5, 7-5 loss to Katerina Siniakova.
Petra Kvitova also found life hard, but the two-time Wimbledon champion fought back from a set down to beat Paraguay’s Veronica Cepede Royg 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 on Court Philippe Chatrier. Results: (Men, 1st rd) Marco Trungelliti (ARG) bt Bernard Tomic (AUS) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, Guillermo García-López (ESP) bt Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI x23) 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), Ernests Gulbis (LAT) bt Gilles Muller (LUX x29) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.
(Women, Ist rd), Katerina Siniaková (CZE) bt Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 7-5, 7-5, Madison Keys (USA x13) bt Sachia Vickery (USA) 6-3, 6-3, Naomi Osaka (JPN x21) bt Sofia Kenin (USA) 6-2, 7-5, Petra Kvitova (CZE x8) bt Verónica Cepede (PAR) 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.