Two seeded players suffered upsets and a third had to retire during French Open first-round play on Sunday at Roland Garros in Paris.
Argentina’s Mariano Navone pulled off the biggest upset of the opening round with a 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 defeat of No. 28 seed Brandon Nakashima. The 24-year-old Navone won 68.1 percent of his first serves compared to just 52.8 percent for Nakashima.
Juan Manuel Cerundolo, another Argentine who made the field as a qualifier, took out No. 32 seed Alex Michelsen in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. The 23-year-old left-hander placed just 35 of his 79 first serves in the box, but converted a whopping 82.8 percent of those into points to earn his second win in a Grand Slam event.
Czech 21st seed Tomas Machac had to retire due to a lower back injury while trailing France’s Quentin Halys 7-6 (4), 4-1.
“I was playing well and unfortunately I got injured during the tiebreak,” Machac said. “Afterwards, I could not play and it was getting worse and worse, so it is what it is.”
Four days earlier at the Gonet Geneva Open, Machac retired during the round of 16 due to cramps in his left leg.
“I need to go and do some kind of tests to check the details all around my body, and some back tests,” Machac said.
Five seeded players advanced to the second round: No. 8 Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, No. 12 Tommy Paul, No. 13 Ben Shelton, No. 15 Frances Tiafoe and No. 31 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France.
Musetti knocked out Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann 7-5, 6-2, 6-0 as he never had his serve broken. Paul needed three hours to take out Denmark’s Elmer Moller 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3, 6-1. Shelton played until midnight Paris time to pull off a 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 comeback against Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.
“This was a tough one for sure,” Shelton said. “I played him in the quarters in Australia and I know he is a big-match player, a Grand Slam player and you guys saw some hot shots tonight and some crazy tennis from him. For me, I thought the crowd was great. It was my first time being out here on Court Philippe-Chatrier and it will not be one that I forget.”
Russia’s Roman Safiullin piled up 20 aces to Tiafoe’s nine, but Tiafoe earned the 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 victory as he dominated points that lasted at least five shots (45 to 22). Mpetshi Perricard battled to defeat Belgium’s Zizou Bergs 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
In unseeded first-round action, Portugal’s Nuno Borges, Italy’s Matteo Gigante, Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan and Marton Fucsovics, Colombia’s Daniel Elahi Galan, the Czech Republic’s Vit Kopriva, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Damir Dzumhur, Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta, Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic and Americans Jenson Brooksby, Emilio Nava and Reilly Opelka advanced to the second round.
Marozsan’s reward is a likely second-round matchup with No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz. The defending French Open champion faces Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri in the opening round on Monday morning.
Top-seeded Jannik Sinner of Italy, the world’s top-ranked player, takes on France’s Arthur Rinderknech on Monday in first-round play.
–Field Level Media
