World number two, Daniil Medvedev finally won a match at Porte d’Auteuil. The Russian won, Monday, May 31, his first victory at Roland Garros in five participations by beating, in the first round, the Kazakh Alexander Bublik (37e) in three sets: 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.
“This year, I thought I was really bad on clay. But from day one here I felt I could play very well. I almost feel like I’m on hard “, he explained after the match. In the next round, he will face the winner of the meeting between the American Tommy Paul (52e) and Australian Christopher O’Connell (129e).
At 25, Medvedev stood out for his hard performance, notably at the 2019 US Open (finalist) and the 2020 Masters, which he won. His poor results on clay had raised questions when he was awarded the number two seed at Roland Garros while Nadal was seeded number three, finding himself in the same part of the table as Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
In the women’s draw, the defending champion, the Polish Iga Swiatek celebrated her 20e birthday on the Philippe-Chatrier court by dominating the Slovenian Kaja Juvan (6-0, 7-5).