Australian No. 18 seed Nick Kyrgios fired into the Roland Garros second round on Tuesday by firing down 20 aces in a 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over the experienced Philipp Kohlschreiber, who remains two match wins shy of 150 career clay-court victories. The 22-year-old Kyrgios, who is now 19-6 on the year, has advanced to three ATP World Tour semi-finals at Marseille (l. to Tsonga), Acapulco (l. to Querrey) and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Miami (l. to Federer). “There was a lot of question marks on how I would perform today,” admitted Kyrgios. “I haven't had that many matches on the clay. Obviously, [I’ve] been struggling physically… and not feeling that confident. I saw the draw and I thought...
Juan Martin del Potro made a winning return on his first appearance at Roland Garros in five years on Tuesday. The popular No. 29 seed hit 33 winners, including 13 aces, past fellow Argentine Guido Pella in a 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 victory. “It's never easy when you have to play a friend, a guy like Guido... We have a great relationship... Of course I would like to play another player, for sure, but that's the draw. I got lucky because I played a very good match today,” del Potro said. “[Roland Garros] is an amazing tournament for Argentinian people, and I love to be playing this tournament again after five years.” We ️ you too, @delpotrojuan.#RG17 pic.twitter.com/6NjqeCXMln — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros)...
#NextGenATP star Alexander Zverev evened his first-round contest against Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 4-6, 6-3 before darkness suspended play on Monday evening at Roland Garros. The ninth-seeded Zverev is fresh off his maiden ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome earlier this month (d. Djokovic). The win catapulted the 20-year-old German to No. 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, the first time he's joined the elite group. In Paris, Zverev, who reached the Roland Garros junior boys' final just four years ago, is looking to get past the third round and achieve his best showing at a Grand Slam. The 6'6” right-hander reached the third round last year during his Roland Garros debut (l. to...
Rafael Nadal began his quest for the Paris edition of “La Décima” with relative ease on Monday at Roland Garros, dismissing Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 in just under two hours. “For me, it's important to serve a little bit better than what I did today... I feel that some moments I was not serving that well. The rest of the things I am happy with,” Nadal said. The nine-time Roland Garros champion is again looking to make history during this European clay-court swing as he seeks a record 10th Roland Garros title. No man or woman has won a Grand Slam event 10 times in the Open Era (since April 1968). Most titles at the same Grand Slam...
Second seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic opened his campaign for a 13th Grand Slam championship title on Monday when he defeated Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in two hours and 27 minutes. He will next face Joao Sousa in the second round. With his new coach, Andre Agassi, the 1999 titlist, watching in the stands, and clothing of his new sponsor Lacoste, Djokovic won four of the first five games as he seized control in the pair’s fourth meeting. Granollers saved eight set points at 4-5 in the second set, while the third set featured six service breaks and ended when Granollers hit a forehand long. Afterwards, Djokovic celebrated his 21st match win of the year by waving...