Zverev loses on day of upsets on French Open showcourt
On a day of upsets on Court Philippe Chatrier, up-andcoming youngster Alexander Zverev lost to Fernando Verdasco when their first-round match resumed at the French Open yesterday.
The match was suspended on Monday because of darkness after the players split the first two sets and the ninth-seeded Zverev was eventually beaten 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.
No. 7 seed Johanna Konta of Britain had earlier lost 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 to 109th-ranked Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan on the showcourt. Considering the setting, the result is not all that surprising: Konta has now lost all three matches she’s played at the French Open in her career.
The 33-year-old Verdasco pinpointed the third set as the turning point of his match.
“It was a really tough first set, the first one of today. And I think with many games for both of us with chances to win one or the other,” the Spaniard said.
“And, you know, I think that that moment of winning the third set gave me a lot of confidence and a lot of air to play the fourth. And I think it was hard for him on the other side. Like, you know, to start again and have to win two more sets.”
Zverev was one of the outside favorites after impressing on his way to victory at the Italian Open earlier this month. But the 20year-old German grew more frustrated as the match went on and broke his racket during the fourth set.
“You sometimes play bad. It’s just this is our sport,” Zverev said. “There is no regrets. I mean, what can you do? In Rome I played fantastic, I won the tournament. Here I played bad, I lost first round. That’s the way it goes.
“But the world doesn’t stop now. I mean, I’m still No. 4 in the race to London and I’m still doing OK this year. I won three tournaments so far. It’s not the end of the world, OK? I lost a match, but, I mean, pretty much everybody loses a match every single week they play.”
Meanwhile, Juan Martin del Potro returned to Roland Garros for the first time in five years and the 2009 U.S. Open champion had little trouble picking up a victory.
After a series of wrist operations kept him off the tour for months at a time, Del Potro once again used his big forehand to great effect.
He beat qualifier Guido Pella 62, 6-1, 6-4 in an all-Argentine matchup, showing no sign of the shoulder and back problems that hampered him at the Lyon Open last week and did not face a single break point.
Stan Wawrinka is also safely through to the second round after a 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-3 win over Jozef Kovalik of Slovakia.
Wawrinka started his clay season poorly before emerging with a title at the Geneva Open last week. The No. 3 seed kept up his momentum in Paris.
“I enjoyed it very much,” said Wawrinka, who won at Roland Garros in 2015. “It was not necessarily easy after I played in Geneva until Saturday to get into gear. I’m feeling good, I’m playing good tennis and I’m happy to be back in Paris.”
Other winners included No. 18 Nick Kyrgios and No. 5 Elina Svitolina.
Isner wins; only 2 US men left in French Open
John Isner hit 31 aces and, more surprisingly, converted all three of his break points in a 6-3, 4-6, 76 (5), 6-3 victory over Jordan Thompson of Australia to reach the second round at the French Open.
In all, of the 11 men from the United States who entered the main draw at Roland Garros, only Isner and No. 25 Steve Johnson remain in the tournament. It’s the first time since 2011 that as few as two Americans got to the second round in Paris.
The 21st-seeded Isner saved 6 of 8 break points that he faced Tuesday.
Isner, best known for winning the longest match in tennis history at Wimbledon in 2010, has one of the best serves on tour. His game’s biggest weakness has been returning opponents’ serves. But he did well in that department against the 92nd-ranked Thompson.
The other seeded American man in action Tuesday, No. 27 Sam Querrey, lost to Chung Hyeon of South Korea 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Meanwhile, top-seeded Andy Murray is safely through to the second round of the French Open after beating Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Murray, who was runner-up at Roland Garros last year, has been struggling in 2017 and looked uncomfortable at times during the second set.
But the world No. 1 got into his stride and saw out the final set in just 27 minutes, sealing the match with a forehand down the line after winning eight successive games.