Author: Barkha Roy
The Brazilians didn’t play on the opening day of the tournament, but the fans are looking forward to Wilde, Monteiro and Haddad Maia’s matches in singles and Melo’s in doubles. Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev advanced to the second round of the tournament by beating Laslo Djere 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. In another match, Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Jiri Vesely 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(7). Meanwhile, Karolina Muchova caused an upset on the first day of Roland Garros in the women’s singles event, beating number 8 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece 7-6(5), 7-5. In addition, No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka beat Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 6-2 in just 1 hour and 11 minutes to book her place in the next round.
Rublev, seeded seventh in the tournament, faced a tough challenge when Djere broke serve in the third set, with the match tied at one set apiece. However, the experienced player, who has won 13 ATP Tour titles, remained focused and determined to avoid an early exit from the main clay-court tournament for the second time in three years. Throughout the match, the 25-year-old showed off his skills by hitting an impressive 37 winners, securing victory after two grueling hours and 32 minutes.
In a different match, Tsitsipas, the fifth seed, looked to be on course for a comfortable victory on the Philippe Chatrier court, as he confidently won the first two sets. However, his opponent, Vesely, who was taking part in his first tour-level tournament since the US Open in September of the previous year, fought hard. The Czech managed to secure the third set by breaking Tsitsipas’ serve in the end. In the tie-break of the fourth set, Vesely had a 6/3 and 7/6 lead, but Tsitsipas kept his composure and fought on, eventually winning a hard-fought victory after an intense three-hour and 13-minute battle.
Meanwhile, in the women’s singles, Sabalenka was trailing 3-2 in the first set. However, she quickly regained the momentum and dominated the match by winning six consecutive games to take a 2-0 lead in the second set. With a powerful forehand winner, she secured a 4-1 lead in a double break. Although she faced break points in her last two service games, Sabalenka showed resilience and successfully defended herself, preserving her advantage.
In addition, the current number 43 in the rankings, Muchova , managed a straight-sets victory over Sakkari at the French Open, with a score almost identical to the previous encounter. Notably, Muchova also caused an upset against Sakkari in the second round of last year’s tournament, winning in two sets in a tiebreak. With this latest victory, Muchova now have a 3-1 lead in the head-to-head record. In addition, number 19 seed Zheng Qinwen booked her place in the second round by beating qualifier Tamara Zidansek 6-3, 6-1 in just 1 hour and 15 minutes.