Halep overcomes early jitters
Djokovic scrapes through as Kvitova, Svitolina victorious
Former champion Novak Djokovic reached the French Open third round for the 13th consecutive year by beating Spanish qualifier Jaume Munar 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, 6-4 yesterday, while women’s top seed Simona Halep battled to victory in her opening match.
Djokovic, the 2016 Roland Garros champion and former world number one, is seeded 20 this year after struggling to rediscover his best form after returning from a right elbow injury.
He wasn’t at his best on Court Suzanne Lenglen, but goes on to face Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut for a place in the last 16.
The Serbian 12-time Grand Slam champion fired 39 winners but 33 unforced errors and was broken three times by Munar, the world 155.
“I am very happy to be here on Suzanne Lenglen and see so many people and see the support,” said Djokovic.
“Jaume is a great player, he has lots of quality and good concentration. I congratulate him on a great match today.”
Bautista Agut, the 13th seed, saw off Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 7-5, 6-3, but Czech 17th seed Tomas Berdych lost a raininterrupted first-round match to home hope Jeremy Chardy on the showpiece Court Philippe Chatrier 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (10/8), 1-6, 5-7, 6-2.
The unlikely adventure of Argentinian world number 190 Marco Trungelliti, who became the eighth lucky loser in the draw after driving back to Paris from Barcelona, came to an end as he lost 6-1, 7-6 (7/1), 6-1 to Italian Marco Cecchinato in the second round.
Halep fights back
World number one Halep fought back after a disastrous opening set to beat American Alison Riske 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 in their delayed first-round match.
Halep, the runner-up in Paris in 2014 and 2017, slumped 0-5 down in the opening set to world number 83 Riske whose only win at the tournament came in 2014.
The Romanian committed 16 unforced errors in the set but stepped up a gear from that point on to book a second-round match against Taylor Townsend of the United States.
“It’s always difficult in the first round of a Grand Slam, you are always nervous,” said Halep.
The 26-year-old, who is still looking for a first Grand Slam title, will play for the second straight day today, after the match with Riske was pushed back from Tuesday due to rain.
“I think I’ll be ready tomorrow, I feel strong in my legs,” said the top seed.
“Anything can happen with the rain so all we can do is rest and try to be at our best when we step on the court.”
Halep needs to reach the semifinals or better if she is to retain the world top spot.
Eighth seed Petra Kvitova eased into the third round with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena on Court One.
The two-time Wimbledon champion has now won 13 consecutive matches on clay after claiming titles in Prague and Madrid, and will face Estonia’s 25th seed Anett Kontaveit for a place in the last 16. Czech Kvitova, 28, has not reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros since a run to the last four in 2012.
Ukrainian fourth seed Elina Svitolina reached the last 32 for the fourth straight year by brushing aside Viktoria Kuzmova in straight sets. The 23-year-old, who arrived in Paris having won her second straight Italian Open title, saw off her Slovakian opponent 6-3, 6-4.
Svitolina, a two-time quarterfinalist at Roland Garros, will next take on Romanian 31st seed Mihaela Buzarnescu.
Elsewhere, charismatic Japanese 21st seed Naomi Osaka came through a tight match with Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas 6-4, 7-5.
The 20-year-old Osaka is seeded for the first time at a major tournament, having lifted the prestigious Indian Wells title earlier this year before beating Serena Williams in Miami the following week.
The return of Serena Williams to Grand Slam tennis after pregnancy has dominated the early headlines at the French Open, but there are plenty of other players who have seen their careers changed by parenthood in recent months.
Williams’ comeback has highlighted the fact that women who return after having a child are treated the same way as those sidelined by injury.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion has seen her ranking slip to 451 and is unseeded in Paris, a decision criticised by many, including Serena’s long-time rival Maria Sharapova and even US President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka.
Serena herself, though, has never publicly called for a change to the seeding rules, instead saying the biggest difference for her since becoming a mother is wanting to get away from court a bit quicker.
“The biggest difference is definitely that I’m semi on time (for her press conference) today, two minutes late, because I want to get home and see Olympia, because I have been here all day,” she said after her first-round win over Kristyna Pliskova on Tuesday, her first Grand Slam match since the 2017 Australian Open final when she beat sister Venus while two months pregnant.
Serena’s fellow former world number one Victoria Azarenka was forced to miss the majority of last season after becoming embroiled in a custody battle over her son.
With a current ranking of 84, Azarenka was beaten in the first round at Roland Garros by Katerina Siniakova.
Luxembourg’s Mandy Minella incredibly played while four and a half months pregnant at Wimbledon last year, having found out she was expecting a child just before going out on court.
Real shock
“It was a real shock. My whole body was sweating and I was shaking but we were happy straight away,” Minella, who also lost in French Open first round, said last July.
With the demands of touring the world while playing a very physical sport, parenthood can also have a big affect on the top male players.
David Ferrer, who blew a two-set lead against fellow Spaniard Jaume Munar to lose in the Roland Garros for the first time in his career, pointed out that being a father isn’t all fun and games.
After all, even 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer suffered a knee injury while running a bath for his twins in 2016.
“Being a father is very nice, but it also has drawbacks,” said the 36-year-old Ferrer. “It makes me laugh that many parents only talk about the beautiful, but it’s also hard and there are sacrifices.”
Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas, whose second child was born before the French Open, doesn’t necessarily agree with Ferrer.
“I see it as an enjoyment, although sometimes it’s tiring, but sometimes there are tiring things that give you energy,” said the world number 75, who will face sixth seed Kevin Anderson in the second round today.