Djokovic shakes off rust in France
Wawrinka falls as Kvitova survives a scare in Paris
Novak Djokovic opened his French Open campaign with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva yesterday.
The 12-time Grand Slam winner was well below his best on Court Philippe Chatrier, though, and dropped serve three times against the world number 134 Dutra Silva.
Djokovic, whose form has been steadily improving since returning from a right elbow injury earlier this year, was still far too good for his opponent and will next play either David Ferrer or qualifier Jaume Munar.
“It was good to start this year with a win. I wasn’t at my best, he played with a lot of spin. I didn’t play very well, but I won in three sets,” said the 31-year-old.
The Serbian has not won a major title since completing the career Grand Slam at Roland Garros in 2016, and lost in last year’s quarter-finals to Dominic Thiem. Second seed Caroline Wozniacki held off the challenge of American Danielle Collins to ease through their first-round match 7-6 (7/2) 6-1.
The Australian Open champion has never reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros, but after a tight first set, she was too strong for surprise Miami semi-finalist Collins, who was making her French Open debut.
The 27-year-old Dane will take over from Simona Halep as world number one if she lifts the title a week on Saturday.
Wozniacki will next face Spanish qualifier and world number 219 Georgina Garcia Perez for a place in the last 32.
Earlier, former champion Stan Wawrinka continued to struggle with form and fitness as he was dumped out in the first round by Guillermo Garcia-Lopez yesterday, a defeat which will send his world ranking plummeting, while Victoria Azarenka also suffered a shock exit.
Wawrinka, who lost to Rafael Nadal in last year’s final and won the 2015 title, was beaten in a five-set thriller 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 by the Spanish world number 67 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
The 33-year-old has been plagued by a knee injury and arrived at Roland Garros having won just one match on clay in Geneva last week, his first event in three months.
The defeat means that the three-time Grand Slam champion will slip from 30th in the world to outside the top 250 after the tournament, having failed to defend the ranking points he gained in 2017.
Worrying signs
There were worrying signs for his fans when he pulled up with the same left knee injury that has plagued him in recent months and called for a medical timeout after just six games. The 23rd seed looked to be really struggling as he quickly dropped the first set, but found his rhythm from nowhere in the second, crunching two massive forehands to break for a 3-1 lead.
Petra Kvitova also found life hard, but the two-time Wimbledon champion fought back from a set down to beat Paraguay’s Veronica Cepede Royg 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The 28-year-old Kvitova is one of the favourites to win a maiden Roland Garros title after winning four titles this season, including on clay in Prague and Madrid.
“I’ve won 12 matches straight on clay, but I’m still a long way from Rafa,” she said in reference to Rafael Nadal’s upcoming bid for an 11th men’s singles crown.
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 yesterday, short of match practice 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 Leo in 2016 but then put her career on hold again after a judge in California had ruled that her son Leo should not leave the state until custody was resolved.
The former world No. 1 returned to Europe at this month’s Madrid Open, her first claycourt tennis in two years. She is currently ranked 82 in the world. “Even though I am doing good things in practice, I’m not able to transfer it to the match,” Azarenka told a postmatch news conference.
Azarenka showed signs of a comeback after surrendering the first set, 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.
“I’m pretty happy with the serve today. I just didn’t use the opportunities I created with the serve. The first shot was not aggressive and giving me that feeling of going forward,” she said.
The months-long custody fight over her son Leo has been a painful distraction for Azarenka. In an open letter last year, the 28-year-old, who won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013, said no one should ever have to decide between a child and their career.
Different rules?
Asked if Serena Williams, winner of 23 Grand Slam titles, should have been seeded on her return from maternity leave by the French Tennis Federation, Azarenka said the WTA was discussing making a distinction between a return from injury and a return from childbirth.
“I think that’s real important, [they] cannot go under the same rule,” said Azarenka, who sits on the players’ council. But, she added, the Grand Slam organisers needed to be consistent.
“This conversation was not on the table last year when I was coming back, and I was not seeded in Wimbledon. And this year [Wimbledon] are going to be seeding Serena,” Azarenka said. “So if we talk about a rule, the rule has to be for everyone.”
Azarenka said she would play a tournament in Mallorca and a couple of grasscourt exhibition matches in Britain ahead of Wimbledon.