With the action that is complete, the men’s draw at Roland Garros 2016 is now without an upset to one of the tournament favorites.
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The runner-up to Serena Williams previous year at Roland Garros made light work of the Russian ranked 210 spots below her.
The third-seeded Wawrinka was out of sorts for most of the match on a gray, chilly afternoon, winding up with 46 unforced errors, 17 on his preferred backhand wing. You always want to play good tennis and win matches in three sets.
There were long lines on Wednesday morning as spectators waited – mostly patiently – to be cleared for entry into the smallest of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
This year, Wawrinka came dressed in a fluorescent yellow-green shirt atop black shorts that made him stand vividly against the red clay of Roland Garros.
Other seeds are comfortable winners on the opening day.
In the women’s draw, fourth-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain rebounded from losing the first against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova to beat the Slovakian 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Stan Wawrinka has pushed Lukas Rosol to a fifth set at the French Open.
Teenager Alexander Zverev has completed his first career win in the main draw of the French Open. Wawrinka saved both of those break points – Rosol helped matters by missing two backhands – and never faced another the rest of the way.
The 27th-seeded Karlovic produced 41 aces in his 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (4), 12-10 win over the Australian wild-card entry, including three in the final game.
And 30th seeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy defeated Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-2.
Halep says she arrives at Roland Garros on the crest of her success in Madrid where she took a lot of positives from.
Wawrinka needed 5 tough sets to get past Stepanek’s equally combative and fiesty Czech compatriot, Lukas Rosol.
Elsewhere, eighth seed Milos Raonic beat Janko Tipsarevic 6-3 6-2 7-6 (7-5) to advance to round two while Japan’s Kei Nishikori was too good for Simone Bolelli and Gilles Simon ousted Brazilian veteran Rogerio Dutra Silva in straight sets.
Wawrinka, the No. 3 seed, walked triumphantly back in Philippe Chatrier court Monday but had only a brief moment to enjoy the sensation.
The Swiss tennis player Stan Wawrinka holds aloft the 2015 French Open trophy.
Wimbledon’s Centre Court has a roof, with one to follow at Court One by 2019, while Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows, home of the US Open, will have one in place in time for the final slam of this year. A retractable roof is expected to be delivered by 2018.
For the second straight day, rain caused delays and scheduling snafus at the French Open.
It’s now Day 3 of the French Open and a number of the biggest players have faltered, not looking as confident or powerful as they should.
Rain delayed the start of his match by more than two hours, the temperature was less than 15 degrees, his opponent was one he had struggled to beat in Geneva last week, and since he won his home title just last Saturday, he barely had 48 hours to get accustomed to the horrid conditions in Paris and be ready for his title defence.
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Wawrinka is a two-time Grand Slam title victor, having broken through with his first at the 2014 Australian Open, before getting No. 2 a year ago at Roland Garros by beating No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the final.
