Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
No worries for Norrie as he keeps on winning
BRITISH No 1 Cameron Norrie maintained his fine recent form by making short work of French wildcard Manuel Guinard at the French Open.
Norrie, fresh from winning his first title on clay in Lyon at the weekend, took a tight first set and then cruised to a 7-5 6-2 6-0 first-round victory.
The 26-year-old, ranked 11 in the world, said: “It was a battle in the first set and I just had to hang in there.
“It’s so nice to get my first win here this year. I have to be really patient on the clay. When I’m playing really well I can love it and then when I’m not I have moments where I don’t like it so much. It feels really good to win.”
Norrie’s victory set up a secondround meeting with Australian qualifier Jason Kubler.
Dan Evans finally won a match at Roland Garros at the fifth time of asking.
The British number two, a firstround loser in each of his four previous main draw appearances, beat Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (3) 6-4 6-4.
Harriet Dart narrowly avoided a dreaded double-bagel for the second time at a grand slam, losing 6-0 6-2 to Italy’s Martina Trevisan.
The 25-year-old from London failed to win a game in a first-round defeat by Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open in 2019.
Dart must have feared a repeat at 6-0 3-0 down, but she at least managed to get a couple of games on the board. Dart can console herself with almost £53,000 in prize money for her hour and 25 minutes’ work.
Heather Watson fared little better, going down in straight sets to Elsa Jacquemot of France.
The 30-year-old from Guernsey was a break up in the second set but still slipped to a 6-3 6-3 defeat.
Rafael Nadal shrugged off his ongoing battle with injury after beginning his bid for a 14th Roland Garros title with a straight-sets win.
The Spaniard, seeded five, swept aside Australia’s Jordan Thompson 6-2 6-2 6-2 despite a recurring foot problem which scuppered his bid for a first title on clay this season at the Italian Open earlier this month.
“Of course the confidence is higher when you win in Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, or Rome,” said the Spaniard.
“Without a doubt, things are easy in this world to understand, no? When you are winning more matches and more tournaments you have better confidence.”
Nadal also touched upon the ATP’s decision to strip Wimbledon of ranking points for its ban on Russian and Belarusian players.
“At the end, I understand both sides,” he said diplomatically. “I respect and I understand Wimbledon’s position, without a doubt, but on the other hand, I understand and I respect too that the ATP is protecting its members.
“That’s it. Is not that one is doing a negative thing and the other one is doing the good thing. Everyone half.”