Knife victim wins, Kerber bows out

Erakovic out

In a French Open theatre of contrasting emotions, just swinging a racket in a competitive match was a victory in itself for Petra Kvitova, while another grand slam champion could hardly wait to get off the court.

Five months after a burglar stuck a knife through her playing hand, Czech 15th seed Kvitova became the first player to advance to the second round with a 6-3 6-2 win against American Julia Boserup.

The 27-year-old two-time Wimbledon champion dropped her racket and hid tears behind her hands after match point.

‘‘This match was special to me,’’ said Kvitova, saying that just entering the Open was a victory in itself.

‘‘I think it doesn’t really matter how I played, but I won,’’ she said. ‘‘I won for the second time.’’

Addressing her guest box, which included her parents and brother, she said: ‘‘Thank you for everything you helped me through [in] this difficult time.’’

If Kvitova was crying for joy, another double grand slam winner who followed her onto the main Philippe Chatrier showcourt, world number one Angelique Kerber, cut a troubled figure in gaining an unwelcome distinction that brought a difficult season to a new low.

Bowing out at the hands of 40thranked Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-2 6-2, the German became the first top seeded woman to lose in the opening round of the French Open since the sport turned professional in 1968.

Kerber, 29, has struggled this year, withdrawing from the Madrid Open with a thigh injury and going down in straight sets to qualifier Anna Kontaveit in Rome.

‘‘Right now I think that I have to find myself again and just trying to forgot the claycourt season as soon as possible,’’ she said. New Zealand tennis No.1 Marina Erakovic suffered defeat in the first round of the French Open in Paris.

The 29-year-old Aucklander was beaten 7-6(4) 6-4 by 49thranked American Shelby Rogers, who reached the quarterfinals at Roland Garros last year.

Erakovic made a bright start, leading 4-2 in the first set and 4-1 in the tiebreaker, but couldn’t close it out. It continues a losing trend for Erakovic who has not won a tour level match in 2017.

Her ranking is likely to be outside the top 150 at the end of the tournament.

‘‘It was a tough one today and it is disappointing and I feel it,’’ Erakovic said. ’’But I played the best I could today, I did the game plan and controlled my emotions pretty well and there were just a few key moments that didn’t go well.’’

Tenth seed Venus Williams battled through on Court Suzanne Lenglen to beat China’s Wang Qiang 6-4 7-6(3), hitting 44 unforced errors in an untidy display.

The American fell a break behind in the second set but regained her composure to force a tiebreak, which she won easily.

Eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova completed a 7-5 6-4 victory over American Christina Mchale, while 31st-seed Roberta Vinci fell to Olympic champion Monica Puig 6-3 3-6 6-2.

In the men’s draw, Austrian sixth seed Dominic Thiem blazed through his first-round match with a 6-4 6-0 6-2 demolition of Australian Bernard Tomic.

‘‘He killed me from the start,’’ Tomic said.

Twenty sixth seed Gilles Muller of Luxembourg was the only men’s seed to fall, losing in four sets to Guillermo Garcia-lopez of Spain.