Knife victim wins, Kerber bows 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.
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.’’
Defending champion Novak Djokovic enjoyed a winning French Open start under new coach Andre Agassi on Monday, cruising past Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-3 6-4 6-2 in the first round.
The 12-times grand slam champion parted company with his entire coaching team earlier this month after a string of disappointing results before inviting American great Agassi to work with him during the French Open.
The 30-year-old Serbian, without a tour title since January, found little resistance from Granollers, grabbing two breaks early on in the first set as he chased the 77th-ranked Spaniard around the court.
With Agassi, sporting a black t-shirt and sunglasses, quietly sitting in the stands along with the Serb’s entourage, it was a similar story early in the second set with the world number two returning everything Granollers tried to throw at him.
With Agassi making a fast exit from the stands at the conclusion of the match, Djokovic heaped praise on his new coach.
‘‘It is an incredible honour and good luck to have him with me on the team,’’ Djokovic said. ‘‘Every day is special with him. I amlearning something every day. I changed everyone (coaches). But I will not change my wife. My wife never.’’
Rafael Nadal kicked off his pursuit of a 10th French Open title with a comfortable 6-1 6-4 6-1 first round victory over France’s Benoit Paire.
Nadal has a remarkable record at Roland Garros and his defeat of Paire marked his 73rd win at the French Open. The Spaniard has only been beaten twice at the tournament, against Robin Soderling in 2009 and Djokovic in 2015.