TENNIS – DEFENDING champions Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz powered into the second round of the French Open but fourth seed Taylor Fritz and four-times Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka were unable to avoid the Roland Garros trapdoor yesterday.
Fritz’s fellow American and ninth seed Emma Navarro became another notable victim on an overcast day while former runners-up Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas breezed through with no problems in the day session.
Swiatek continued her bid to become the first woman to win four straight French Open crowns in the professional era since 1968, thrashing Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia 6-3 6-3 for her 22nd successive French Open match win.
“It feels great. I think it was a great first round and a really solid performance,” Swiatek said.
Spaniard Alcaraz enjoyed a similarly trouble-free first-round match, easing past Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri 6-3 6-4 6-2 before saying he was surprised to find his groove so soon in the tournament.
“I expected a worse level for me,” said Alcaraz.
“The first round of every tournament is never easy to adapt your game to the conditions and get used to it. I’m really proud about it. It’s great to have these feelings in the first round.”
Fritz failed to hit his stride in a 7-5 3-6 6-3 6-1 defeat by Daniel Altmaier, the German who famously stunned Sinner two years ago. For former world number one Osaka, it was a disappointing opener with an error-ridden display in which she was hampered by a finger problem and fell 6-7(1) 6-1 6-4 against Paula Badosa.
Swiatek, who served a short doping ban last year and has unusually been without a title on the tour this year, needed time to find her level with Sramkova initially offering more resistance than in her 6-0 6-2 loss to the Pole at the Australian Open.
Sramkova held serve until Swiatek broke her to go 4-3 up before bagging the first set.
The 28-year-old world number 42 broke Swiatek at the start of the second to open up a 2-0 lead, but her opponent reined her in with two breaks of her own, winning six of the next seven games to wrap up victory.
Swiatek next faces Britain’s Emma Raducanu, who battled for more than 2-1/2 hours before securing a 7-5 4-6 6-3 win over China’s Wang Xinyu.
The former U.S. Open champion, who has slipped down to 41st in the world, had to have her blood pressure checked during the first set but came back to win the match, helped also by the Chinese player’s staggering 54 unforced errors.
Osaka, sporting a cherry blossom-themed outfit, complete with matching nails, had to work hard to snatch a first set from Badosa but the tables were turned with the 10th seed breaking her twice to race through the second set 6-1.
The Japanese former world number one, who took a medical timeout, paid the price for a slew of unforced errors -- at 54, twice as many as Badosa.
Ruud, the finalist in 2022 and 2023, had little trouble against veteran Spaniard Albert Ramos Vinolas as he advanced with a 6-3 6-4 6-2 victory.
Greece’s Tsitsipas also earned a straight-sets win over Argentine Tomas Etcheverry to set up a second-round encounter against Italian qualifier Matteo Gigante.
Stan Wawrinka fell 7-6(6) 6-3 6-2 to Briton Jacob Fearnley but the 2015 champion said it was not the end of the road for him although he is 40 and in the twilight of a stellar career.
French favourite Richard Gasquet extended his farewell event after a 6-2 2-6 6-3 6-0 win over his cramping compatriot Terence Atmane but local hope Caroline Garcia made her final appearance at Roland Garros in a 6-4 6-4 defeat by American Bernarda Pera.
Navarro was shown the door after a 6-0 6-1 hammering by Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro before 12th seed Elena Rybakina survived a scare against Julia Riera to beat the Argentine qualifier 6-1 4-6 6-4.
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