Author: Barkha Roy
Brazilian men’s qualifier Felipe Alves dominated Taiwan’s Wu Tung-Lin to win the first round of the Roland Garros qualifier in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0. The Brazilian’s dominance was so great that he had twice the winning percentage on his first serve (72%), while the Taiwanese had just 36%. Alves also won two aces in the match and lost just one game in the entire match. In addition, he won 50 points, while his opponent won 22. Alves will next face Chilean Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera on May 24, after the latter beat Slovak Jozef Kovalik, the 31st seed, in straight sets, 6-3 and 7-5.
Meanwhile, the country’s other men’s singles qualifier, Thiago Seyboth Wild, beat tough Swiss qualifier Antoine Bellier in straight sets, 7-6 and 6-1. Throughout the match, the Brazilian won three of the eight break point chances he had, while his opponent failed to win the only chance he was presented with. He also recorded 80% of his wins on the first serve, while 70% of his victories came from the second serve. He won four consecutive matches and won 10 games in a row, compared to his opponent’s four. Wild will now face Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis on May 24 in the second round of qualifying, after the 32-year-old defeated Italian qualifier Raul Brancaccio, seeded 30th, in a tough three-set match, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.
Elsewhere, in the women’s singles event, Brazil’s Carolina Alves pulled off a surprise win over German 32nd seed Eva Lys in a three-set match. Alves beat Lys 6-2. 3-6, 6-3 in a match in which the Brazilian won six of the 17 break points she was offered in the match, while her opponent won just four points out of a possible 12. His dominance was so great at one point that Alves won seven games in a row. On May 24, she will face Frenchwoman Fiona Ferro, who beat Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain in three sets: 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.
Finally, Brazilian Laura Pigossi, the 22nd seed, beat Belarusian Olga Govortsova in straight sets, 6-1 and 6-3, to qualify for the next round against Germany’s Noma Akugue Noha on May 24. Pigossi won five of his 12 break point chances and also recorded nine games and 11 games in a row.