Canada’s Leylah Fernandez staved off two set points in the second set while winning the last four games to finish off a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Kristina Mladenovic of France in the first round of the French Open on Sunday.
Fernandez, seeded 17th, will next face Czech Katerina Siniakova on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old from Laval, Que., successfully defended her title at the Mexican Open in March and followed it up by making it to the Round of 16 at Indian Wells later that month.
WATCH | Fernandez defeats Mladenovic in straight sets at Roland Garros:
_frame_256884.png?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:*510w)
19-year-old Canadian Leylah Annie Fernandez defeated her French opponent Kristina Mladenovic in straight sets, 6-0, 7-6, on Sunday in Paris.
Earlier on Sunday, fellow Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime took care of two missing items on his resume at Roland Garros. The 21-year-old picked up a French Open victory for the first time in three tries and won a match after dropping the opening two sets.
“It was disappointing in the match to see how things were going, I really hoped for better,” Auger-Aliassime said.
“But I think that’s why I also wanted to really push myself and really try everything. … I feel like I left it all on the court. Because this was an important day for me, an important win. I really wanted to get this first one here.”
Auger-Aliassime will next face Argentine qualifier Camilo Ugo Carabelli on Wednesday.
WATCH | Auger-Aliassime rallies for 1st win at French Open:
Montreal native Felix Auger-Aliassime fell behind by 2 sets against Spaniard Juan Pablo Varillas before recovering to win 2-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 in Paris.
Canada’s Rebecca Marino dropped her first-round match against American opponent Coco Gauff (7-6, 6-0).
The 31-year-old from Vancouver was appearing in the French Open for the first time since 2011.
Gauff had some serving issues against Marino but managed to set aside 10 of the 12 break points she faced. One key stat that helped Gauff was that she made only 16 unforced errors, while Marino accumulated 40.
WATCH | Marino bounced by Gauff:
_frame_130041.png?crop=1.777xh:h;*,*&downsize=510px:*510w)
Marino lost her first round matchup in straight sets, 7-6, 6-0, to the 18-year-old American.
Alcaraz cruises into 2nd round
Rising star Carlos Alcaraz showed what the fuss is all about with a quick and clean first-round victory in the main stadium at Roland Garros.
The 19-year-old from Spain never faced a break point while beating Juan Ignacio Londero 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 in less than two hours.
Alcaraz, who is seeded No. 6, compiled more than twice as many winners as Londero — 22 to 10 — and also made fewer unforced errors in a match that concluded under the artificial lights at Court Philippe Chatrier.
Alcaraz displayed some of the shot-making and steadiness that have carried him to a tour-leading four titles and a 29-3 record in 2022. He is the youngest man to reach the top 10 in the rankings since Rafael Nadal in 2005.
Zverev dominates Ofner
German third seed Alexander Zverev produced a clinical performance to kick off his French Open campaign with a 6-2 6-4 6-4 win against Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner.
The 25-year-old Zverev, who reached the semi-finals last year at Roland Garros, came to Paris with strong clay-court form behind him, having reached the final in Madrid and making semi-final runs at Monte-Carlo and Rome.
On a balmy evening he dominated proceedings from the start on Court Suzanne Lenglen against his opponent, ranked 218th in the world.
Zverev did not face a single breakpoint on his own serve while breaking Ofner twice in the opening set and once in each of the next two, and he closed out the contest in an hour and 49 minutes with his 13th ace.
He will next face the winner of the match between Serbian Dusan Lajovic and Sebastian Baez of Argentina.
Jabeur, Muguruza suffer upsets
No. 6 seed Ons Jabeur was knocked out of the tournament by 56th-ranked Magda Linette of Poland 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5.
Jabeur began the day with a tour-leading 17 wins on clay this season. She won the Madrid Open and made it to the final of the Italian Open this month.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza is out of the French Open in the first round for the second year in a row.
Muguruza won the title at Roland Garros in 2016 and was seeded 10th this year but was defeated 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Kaia Kanepi of Estonia on Sunday.
The match ended under a drizzle and Muguruza missed a service return on match point, then cracked her racket against the ground.
She beat Serena Williams in the final at Roland Garros six years ago, then defeated Venus Williams in the final at Wimbledon in 2017.
In other women’s results, fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece avoided the upset bug as she cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Clara Burel of France. Sakkari had 24 winners to Burel’s 13.
No. 14 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland had few issues while rolling to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Reka Luca Jani of Hungary.
No. 23 Jil Teichmann of Switzerland delivered an easy 6-2, 6-1 win over American Bernarda Pera (34 unforced errors), while No. 26 Sorana Cirstea of Romania beat Germany’s Tatjana Maria 6-3, 6-3 and 31st-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania.
Unseeded American Sloane Stephens rallied from a set down to knock off German qualifier Julie Niemeier 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
Thiem still looking for a win
Two-time French Open finalist Dominic Thiem’s losing streak reached 10 matches with a first-round exit at Roland Garros as he works his way back from a torn tendon in his right wrist.
Thiem bowed out 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 against Hugo Dellien, a Bolivian ranked 87th who entered the match with a 2-7 career record in Grand Slam matches.
Thiem won the 2020 U.S Open and was the runner-up at three other majors. He lost to Rafael Nadal in the finals of the 2018 and 2019 French Opens, and to Novak Djokovic in the final of the 2020 Australian Open.
But Thiem’s last victory anywhere on tour came at Rome in May 2021. He is 0-6 this year.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
