Azarenka bites the dust, Kvitova survives a scare

While Azarenka lost 5-7, 5-7 to Katerina Siniakova in the first round, Kvitova came within three points of falling in the first round before defeating Royg 3-6, 6-1, 7-5

PARIS: Two-time Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka crashed out of the French Open in the first round losing 5-7, 5-7 to Katerina Siniakova on Monday, playing only her fifth tournament of the year after a legal battle over the custody of her son.

The Belarusian returned to tennis in June last year following the birth of her son in 2016 but then put her career on hold again as she fought a legal battle against her former partner. A judge in California had ruled that her son Leo should not leave the state until custody was resolved. Philippe Chatrier court.

Djokovic, who didn’t play a competitive match between Wimbledon last July and Melbourne, endured a tough run into Roland Garros. He fell in the second rounds at Barcelona and Madrid before reaching the semifinals in Rome, where he was defeated by world No. 1 Rafael Nadal.

He has never lost to a player ranked as low as Dutra Silva at No. 134, but the claycourt specialist pushed his opponent around the court drawing frequent outbursts of frustration from the Serb.

After losing the first set, Azarenka showed signs of a comeback, winning a fierce-hitting baseline exchange to go to 2-2. But she was unable to build momentum even as her Czech opponent lost her cool over a handful of disputed line calls.

Former world No. 1 Azarenka has endured a tough return to Europe’s clay courts, losing in the second round at the Madrid Open before being dumped out of the first round in Rome. She is currently ranked 84 in the world.

Meanwhile, Petra Kvitova came within three points of falling in the first round before three successive aces and her nerves of steel carried her to a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 win over little-known Paraguayan Veronica Cepede Royg.

The Czech, who suffered careerthreatening injuries on her playing left hand after being attacked in her home by a knife-wielding intruder in December 2016, arrived in Paris on the back of an 11-match winning streak.

However, Cepede Royg came close to snapping that run as she edged 5-4 and 0-15 ahead on Kvitova’s serve in the third set.

But the woman who proved even her surgeon wrong by coming back to play top level tennis just five months after the attack unleashed three successive aces to survive that scare.

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