Taiwanese No. 1 Hsieh Su-wei on Monday defeated world No. 143 Barbara Haas to advance to the second round of the French Open on a rain-affected day at Roland Garros in Paris.
Hsieh defeated the Austrian qualifier 6-3, 7-6 (7/1) in 1 hour, 34 minutes on the clay courts in the French capital.
The Taiwanese world No. 63 saved five of eight break points and converted four of four, hitting 17 winners and taking advantage of her opponent’s 39 unforced errors to improve her career record against Haas to 2-1, after they claimed a victory apiece in their previous encounters in 2017.
Photo: AFP
Apart from two wins in the qualifiers in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in February, it was Hsieh’s first singles victory of the season and she next faces Polish 19-year-old Iga Swiatek, who knocked out last year’s runner-up, Marketa Vondrousova, 6-1, 6-2 in just 63 minutes.
Hsieh joined her doubles partner Barbora Strycova in the second round, after the Czech 32nd seed defeated American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko 7-5, 6-2 on Sunday.
The Taiwanese-Czech top seeds, who claimed their fourth title of the season in Rome last week, have been drawn against Maria Sanchez of the US and Astra Sharma of Australia in the first round of the women’s doubles.
SERENA WILLIAMS
The US’ Serena Williams believes the key to leveling the all-time Grand Slam record of 24 titles is to play like Serena Williams.
The 39-year-old made a slow, but successful start to her latest pursuit of Margaret Court’s record with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-0 win over Kristie Ahn in the first round of the French Open on Monday.
World No. 102 Ahn served for the opening set at 5-4, but Williams forced a tiebreak that she dominated before charging through the second set to book a clash with Tsvetana Pironkova for a spot in the last 32.
“The biggest difference was just confidence,” three-time Roland Garros champion Williams said when asked to explain the stark difference between the first and second sets. “I just need to play with more confidence, like I’m Serena. So that was it. I just started playing like that.”
“I love the clay and I started playing like it, opening the court and moving and sliding,” Williams added. “I do think her level dropped a little bit in the beginning of the first set and I took advantage of that. I think her level was so high in the first set that I just needed to lift my level more than what I did.”
LORENZO GIUSTINO
Italian qualifier Lorenzo Giustino on Monday outlasted France’s Corentin Moutet 0-6, 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/3), 2-6, 18-16 in the second-longest match in French Open history at six hours, five minutes.
World No. 157 Giustino secured his first Grand Slam main draw and tour-level win after a final set lasting 180 minutes.
Moutet won more points than Giustino — 242 to 217 — but the 29-year-old emerged the victor in a contest that fell 28 minutes short of the tournament’s record marathon tie between Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement in 2004.
“The most aggressive, the guy who tried to win won the match,” Giustino said, adding that he felt “perfect,” despite the grueling workout.
“Both, I think, we don’t want to lose the match,” Giustino said. “Nobody made a mistake in the important points. Both, we were, like, super solid, and we played our best tennis in the best and most important points.”
“I hope that this match can give me a boost in confidence to try to reach the top 100,” Giustino added.
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