The French managed to qualify for the second round at the expense of the Chinese Xiyu Wang. Arthur Fils and Benoît Paire had to bow out.
By NB with AFP
© EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP
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Udon’t qualify in pain. Caroline Garcia, 5th in the world, experienced great difficulty for her entry into the running this Monday at Roland-Garros, snatching the victory 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-4 in 2h38 against the Chinese Xiyu Wang (64th). “The match was really hooked, she has a very good game, she was full of confidence with a good result in Rome (defeat in the round of 16 while Garcia lost in the third round), there was a lot of wind.. .,” listed the 29-year-old Frenchwoman.
“But I tried to have the right attitude, to always be positive, to find solutions as I went along. I managed to keep this attitude when it hadn’t been the case in recent weeks, so it’s a super positive point, ”she analyzed. In the next round, she will face Belarusian Anna Blinkova (56th).
Son on the ground, Paire is close to the feat
Among the men, the promising Arthur Fils (18) had to bow as soon as he entered the running. The very recent winner of his first ATP tournament, on clay in Lyon, fell in four sets against Spanish specialist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (34th in the world) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Also unlucky, Benoît Paire led for a long time against Cameron Norrie (14th in the world) before yielding in the decisive fifth set 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 after 3:33 of a hotly contested match. “I stayed focused from start to finish, I didn’t get angry. I don’t really have any regrets,” he reacted, saying he was “very happy” with his match. The Briton will face another Frenchman in the next round, Lucas Pouille, who qualified on Sunday by beating the Austrian Jurij Rodionov (134th in the world) 6-2, 6-4, 6-3, a performance he no longer had accomplished for nearly four years in a Grand Slam tournament.
A young Frenchman, however, managed to qualify. French hopeful Luca Van Assche, 19, made his first steps into the big leagues at Roland Garros perfectly by dominating Italian Marco Cecchinato (72nd) 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 in the first round . For Van Assche (82nd), who entered the top 100 in early April, this is the first Grand Slam victory of his budding career.READ ALSODjokovic, Medvedev, Alcaraz: the succession of King Nadal at Roland-Garros is openThe tournament favorites also made their debut on Monday. Novak Djokovic, who is aiming for the record 23 Grand Slam titles, negotiated his first game well. ” I am happy. I started the tournament well and I hope to be able to raise my level, ”commented the 36-year-old Serb, in French in front of the public at the Philippe-Chatrier court just after dismissing the American Aleksandar Kovacevic (114th in the world) 6- 3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/1). The main opponent of the Serb this year will certainly be the world No.1 Carlos Alcaraz, who easily beat the Italian Flavio Cobolli (159th and from qualifying) 6-0, 6-2, 7-5.