Kostyuk outgunned but sticks to her guns
PARIS: The famously fickle Paris crowd made itself heard on the opening day of the French Open, booing when Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk refused to shake hands after her firstround defeat by Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, yesterday.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, the runnerup in Paris in 2021, was later dragged into a dogfight by Czech Jiri Vesely before he advanced in four sets and seeds Karen Khachanov and Hubert Hurkacz also battled their way into the second round.
Kostyuk had warned she would not shake hands with Russian and Belarusian players due to Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour and she kept her word on a sunkissed court Philippe Chatrier after losing 63, 62 to world No 2 Sabalenka.
Sabalenka, who initially thought that the boos were for her, theatrically bowed to supporters before thanking them for their backing and later said she understood Kostyuk’s choice to skip the customary gesture.
She added the Ukrainian did not deserve to leave the main showcourt in the manner she did, but Kostyuk urged Sabalenka to take a stronger and more personal stand against the war.
‘‘She [Sabalenka] never says that she personally doesn’t support this war, and I feel like journalists should change the questions you ask these athletes because the war is already there,’’ Kostyuk said.
‘‘It’s been 15 months since the war has begun.’’
Fifth seed Tsitsipas was made to work hard by Vesely, who is on the comeback trail following a lengthy injury absence, before winning 75, 63, 46, 76 (97).
‘‘I said to myself there’s no chance this is going to a fifth set,’’ Tsitsipas said. ‘‘Jiri was a difficult obstacle. He gave me a hard time and I’m happy I overcame it in such a fashion.’’
Khachanov defeated local favourite Constant Lestienne 36, 16, 62, 61, 63 and the 11th seed was joined in the second round by 13th seed Hurkacz who battled past David Goffin 63, 57, 64, 26, 64.
Australian wild card Thanasi Kokkinakis pulled off an upset by downing British 20th seed
Dan Evans 64, 64, 64. Monte Carlo champion Andrey Rublev, the seventh seed, overcame a midmatch wobble to beat Laslo Djere 61, 36, 63, 64.
Eighth seed Maria Sakkari became an early casualty on
Court Suzanne Lenglen as she fell 76 (75), 75 to Karolina Muchova, who also beat the Greek player in straight sets at last year’s tournament.
Leylah Fernandez downed 21st seed Magda Linette 63, 16, 63 while Magdalena Frech sent 29th seed Zhang Shuai packing after a 61 61 victory.
Earlier, spectators lined up in huge numbers under panama hats and umbrellas as the year’s second grand slam tournament began in bright sunshine.
After a record 50,000 people,, compared to 29,000 last year, attended the qualifying event, fashionably late fans queued to get their seats despite temperatures reaching 27degC in the afternoon as watervending stands were busy all day.
There will be an unfamiliar feel to this year’s tournament with holder and 14times winner Rafa Nadal out injured.
‘‘Of course, it’s a big miss. My son wanted to see Nadal but now we will be supporting [Carlos] Alcaraz,’’ Gerald Furst, who runs a tennis club in the south of France.
‘‘I like [Novak] Djokovic as well. He’s an amazing player. I believe it’ll be a semifinal between Alcaraz and Djokovic. We want to see this match.’’ — Reuters