Tsonga bows out as big guns cruise on

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal reached the third round yesterday but Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s late-night heroics proved in vain as he suffered his first opening-round loss at a grand slam in a decade.

The Frenchman was on the ropes against world No 91 Renzo Olivo when play was finally stopped at 9.55pm on Tuesday.

Tsonga had just broken back to trail 5-4 in the fourth set and by two sets to one, meaning he immediately had to serve to stay in the match when it resumed.

But he lasted just one game, albeit a dramatic one. After pulling back from 40-0 to huge cheers from the crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier, Tsonga missed a chance to level at 5-5 before Olivo took his fourth match point to win 7-5 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 6-4.

It was the biggest shock of the men’s draw so far, and a disappointment to both Tsonga and the French public, as he had arrived in Paris on the back of his first clay-court title in Lyon.

Tsonga was keen to keep things in perspective, saying: “I’m not a beginner. I have been playing tennis for a number of years.

“Tennis runs in cycles. There are victories, there are disappointments.

“Last week I won my first ever clay tournament. And today I lost at the French Open. It’s the paradox of tennis.

“What I’m interested in is the future, and I hope I’ll play better in the next tournaments and pick up a couple of trophies, because there is still a lot to be done out there.”

Olivo, playing in his first French Open, meets Britain’s Kyle Edmund in round two.

Djokovic and Nadal posted identical scorelines, with the defending champion seeing off Joao Sousa 6-1 6-4 6-3 before fourth seed Nadal beat Robin Haase.

Title favourite Nadal was the more impressive of the two, hitting 33 winners and denying Dutchman Haase a single break point.

“I think I played a good match,” he said. “I was more or less in control during the whole match, so I’m very happy.”

Djokovic felt he improved from his win over Marcel Granollers, although he allowed Sousa into the match in the second set and might have trailed 4-2 in the third.

“In some important moments I was kind of hanging in there,” said Djokovic. “Especially in the third set, he missed an easy forehand to go a break up in the third. It was quite close.

“The way I ended the match and the last couple of games were positive. The way I started, as well. Generally, I felt better than the first round, so that’s exactly what I wanted.”

Britain’s No 3 Aljaz Bedene lost 6-3 6-3 4-6 6-3 to Jiri Vesely, while there was a dramatic encounter out on Court Six, where 25th seed Steve Johnson put grief aside to defeat young Croatian Borna Coric 6-2 7-6 (10-8) 3-6 7-6 (8-6).

The American was furious after being given a point penalty for ball abuse on match point at 5-4 in the fourth set and called referee Wayne McEwen on to court to argue his point.

It was to no avail but Johnson held himself together to clinch victory in the tie-break before his emotions took over.

While Johnson, who lost his father unexpectedly earlier this month, sobbed at the net, Coric angrily destroyed his racket in a series of full-blooded blows.

There were also victories for top-10 seeds Milos Raonic, Dominic Thiem and David Goffin.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: first-round defeat for the home hope.