Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan advanced to the French Open second round yesterday, while title hopefuls Novak Djokovic and Francesca Schiavone gave the Roland Garros crowd only a glimpse of their abilities as they sped to victories on a hot, sunny day.
Chan defeated 31st seed Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-1, while second seed Djokovic extended his winning streak to 40 matches with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 dismissal of Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker, while defending champion Schiavone raced past Melanie Oudin of the 6-2, 6-0.
Djokovic, unbeaten this year, made light work of the talented de Bakker, peppering the court with forehand winners and mixing his game with cunning drop shots.
Photo: Reuters
The Serbian, who has beaten five-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal twice on clay this season, faces a possible third-round encounter with 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.
The Argentine, who has been recovering from a torn hip muscle, recovered from a shaky start to down Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic 6-7 (7/9), 6-3, 7-5, 6-4.
Schiavone was as convincing as Djokovic.
Following a low-key start to the tournament with none of the top six seeds in action on Sunday in both draws, the fifth seed was the first on court and she wasted no time.
The Italian needed just over an hour to dispatch world No. 88 Oudin, quickly finding her groove after conceding an early break.
Fans were still lining up outside Roland Garros and the Philippe Chatrier stands were far from full when Schiavone waved the crowd goodbye with a big smile on her face.
“I’m still shaking a little bit. A lot of adrenaline. I felt really happy to be there,” the 30-year-old said.
Third seed Vera Zvonareva of Russia put up a solid performance to beat Spain’s Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-3, 6-3.
On Sunday, gusty winds and half-empty stands gave no sense of the usual Parisian glamor as last year’s runner-up Samantha Stosur began with an easy win and Lleyton Hewitt pulled out injured.
Stosur shook off the effects of a virus to beat Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-3 on a sun-bathed, yet windswept court Philippe Chatrier.
“The conditions weren’t always so easy with some gusts of wind and whatever else, but, yeah, overall, very happy,” said Stosur, who noticed with a smile that there “weren’t quite as many people this time.”
However, the crowd grew bigger on court Philippe Chatrier when local favorite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sparked off his campaign, but the fireworks did not last long as the 17th seed needed less than two hours to dismiss Jan Hajek of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic, a three-time semi-finalist in Paris, was also untroubled on court Suzanne Lenglen as she breezed past Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko 6-3, 6-1.
Russian 13th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2009 champion, experienced few problems in a 6-2, 6-3 defeat of Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia.
This year’s French Open has been hit hard by injuries and Hewitt, the Australian former world No. 1, added to the list of absentees when he pulled out because of a left-ankle problem.
Andy Roddick of the US and former champion Juan Carlos Ferrero withdrew on the eve of the year’s second Grand Slam, joining the likes of Serena and Venus Williams and Dinara Safina in missing out.
Croatia’s Marin Cilic would certainly get the feeling his tournament was finished before it had properly started as the 19th seed was sent packing with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 6-4 defeat by Spain’s Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, as did Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun, who was dumped out by Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-1, 6-3, 6-4.
There was no hint of an upset as seventh seed David Ferrer of Spain thrashed Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 to advance.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Kylian Mbappe struck from the penalty spot as Real Madrid beat a dogged CA Osasuna 1-0 on Tuesday to make a winning start in Spanish La Liga under new coach Xabi Alonso. The France striker, last season’s European Golden Shoe winner, scored early in the second half, after he was fouled in the area by Osasuna defender Juan Cruz. It was enough to seal the points in Alonso’s first game in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Madrid now unbeaten in their opening fixture of a league campaign since 2008. “You can see that Kylian wants to do even more
Spanish champions Barcelona opened their Spanish La Liga campaign on Saturday with an island cruise as they played almost an hour against nine men on their way to a 3-0 victory in RCD Mallorca. Barcelona’s second-half stroll did not please coach Hansi Flick. “They’re three important points, but I didn’t like the match,” he told broadcaster Movistar. “After going two goals up and following Mallorca’s two red cards, I think the team only gave 50 percent, and I didn’t like that,” he said. “Playing at 50 or 60 per cent is not possible against nine players.” Two of Barcelona’s Ballon
Manchester City signaled their intent to take back the English Premier League title as Erling Haaland struck twice in a 4-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday to begin their campaign. After four consecutive titles, City finished a distant third last season as Pep Guardiola’s men failed to win any trophy for the first time in eight years. New signings Tijjani Reijnders, who was the star of the show at Molineux, and Rayan Cherki were also on target to give Guardiola hope his side would be back in the title race this season. “We knew he is a top signing
Kevin de Bruyne is to lead SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense today when he makes his full debut at promoted US Sassuolo, but the champions head into the new season rocked by a long-term injury to star striker Romelu Lukaku. De Bruyne was, alongside aging icon Luka Modric, the big new name to arrive in Italy this summer and fans were hoping his linkup with Belgium teammate Lukaku would push Napoli to success both at home and in their return to the UEFA Champions League. The 34-year-old has suffered from hamstring injuries which caused him to miss significant chunks of the