Medvedev cruises to win, Rune strikes blow for teens in Paris
PARIS: World No 2 Daniil Medvedev eased into the French Open second round on Tuesday as Denmark’s Holger Rune reminded Roland Garros that Carlos Alcaraz is not the only teenager dreaming of the title. Medvedev, who came into Paris with just one match on clay this year following hernia surgery, routed Argentina’s 103rd ranked Facundo Bagnis 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 on the back of 35 winners and eight breaks of serve. “I love Roland Garros, especially since last year,” said Medvedev, who had lost in the opening round on his first four trips to Paris before reaching the quarter-finals in 2021. “I hope this year I can go further.”
Rune, 19 and just a week older than the highly-rated Alcaraz, marked his main draw debut with a 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (4) dismissal of 14th seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov.
Rune, the boys champion in 2019 and a former world junior No 1, entered Paris at a careerhigh 40 having started 2021 outside of the top 400. In the current clay season, he won his first title in Munich, beating world No 3 Alexander Zverev on the way. Shapovalov committed 53 unforced errors in a tie played at breakneck speed.
“I didn’t really show up today but Holger played great tennis,” said Shapovalov, a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2021.
Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev survived a first-set scare to move past Kwon Soon-woo 6-7(5) 6-3 6-2 6-4 and will next face either Adrian Mannarino or Federico Delbonis.
The 24-year-old let his frustrations boil over after losing the tiebreak as he angrily whacked a ball, which struck his chair and narrowly missed the head of a groundsman.
Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who lost last year’s final to Novak Djokovic after leading two sets to love, has a dangerous assignment against Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in the night session on Court Philippe Chatrier. The 20-year-old, ranked 66, also led Djokovic by two sets in the last 16 in 2021 before injury curtailed his challenge.
Ostapenko wins
Jelena Ostapenko, who was a shock Roland Garros winner in 2017, defeated Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti 6-1, 6-4 to end a fivematch losing streak having started the year winning 14 of 18.
Ostapenko became the latest player to cast doubt on her appearance at Wimbledon after the tournament was stripped of ranking points in response to its banning of Russian and Belarusian players. “If there are no points, I’m not really sure what I’m going to,” said the Latvian. “Maybe they are going to change their mind. I’m not sure about points. But a lot of things may happen within the next week or two weeks.”
American Madison Keys came back from a break down in the deciding set to close out a 6-3 3-6 6-4 win over Anna Kalinskaya. She will play home favourite Caroline Garcia, who beat Taylor Townsend in straight sets, for a place in the third round.
Bopanna-middelkoop enter second round
Rohan Bopanna and his Dutch partner Matwe Middelkoop progressed to the men’s doubles second round with a 6-4, 6-1 win over local wildcards Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg and Luca Van Assche here on Tuesday.