Gael Monfils celebrated a career milestone and etched his name in French tennis history during his Roland Garros opener on Tuesday. The affable Frenchman won his 400th tour-level match, needing only 89 minutes to prevail against German Dustin Brown 6-4, 7-5, 6-0. He becomes only the sixth Frenchman to have won 400 tour-level contests: Frenchman Tour-Level Wins Yannick Noah 482 Fabrice Santoro 470 Richard Gasquet 470 Gilles Simon 415 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 410 Gael Monfils 400 400 career wins achieved today at #RG17 by @Gael_Monfils! We've been treated to some special moments over the years...#TrickshotTuesday pic.twitter.com/s2iDwmxY3x — Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 30, 2017 Monfils won 70 per cent (14/20) of his net points to win his first clay-court match of the...
Andy Murray opened his Roland Garros bid on Tuesday to go one better than last year’s runner-up finish. Reunited in tournament play with his head coach Ivan Lendl for the first time since January, the World No. 1 knocked out Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0. “He goes for his shots and plays aggressive,” Murray told the host TV broadcaster. “He hits the ball flat, so he takes your time away. But it was quite windy today. I started to feel better as the match wore on. Last year was a great year for me, it was the best I’d ever played here after 10 years. Also, last year during Bercy [Tennis Paris Masters], was when I reached No....
Eighth seed Kei Nishikori overcame a slow start to advance to the second round at Roland Garros on Tuesday, blasting 47 winners to beat Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. Nishikori, a quarter-finalist in Paris in 2015, is making his seventh appearance at the clay-court Grand Slam. "Today was a tough match," said Nishikori. "I think he played well at certain moments. I think in the third and fourth set I started playing little better. [I'm] feeling pretty good. I mean, it wasn't a perfect match, but still, I think for first match, it was a good start of the tournament." The Japanese right-hander reached the fourth round last year before falling to Frenchman Richard Gasquet. He will next...
Spaniard Fernando Verdasco pulled off another first-round upset at a Grand Slam, knocking out ninth seed Alexander Zverev 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a match that resumed Tuesday afternoon after being suspended on Monday because of darkness. The 33-year-old Spaniard, who also beat fifth seed Rafael Nadal to start the 2016 Australian Open, broke the #NextGenATP German eight times to advance in two hours and 52 minutes. The contest was suspended after two sets on Monday, and Zverev looked the stronger of the two when the match resumed, gaining an early break to lead 3-1 in the third set. But the left-handed Verdasco won five of the set's final six games to lead two sets to one. He dominated the...
Third seed Stan Wawrinka maintained his run of form on Tuesday when he booked his place in the Roland Garros second round. Wawrinka, the 2015 champion, was made to work in the second set for a 6-2, 7-6(6), 6-3 victory over Slovakian qualifier Jozef Kovalik in one hour and 57 minutes. Kovalik led 2-0 in the second set, then failed to convert three set point opportunities from a 6/3 advantage in the tie-break. “I'm feeling good [and] I’m happy with the match today, in general,” said Wawrinka. “I think it was never an easy transition after winning [in Geneva] on Saturday. I think I'm playing well. I’ve got some matches, some wins, and then you find your confidence, you start...