“I was a bit lucky also”.
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“But I didn’t start the match that way”.
Among the women, No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 4 Garbine Muguruza, No. 10 Petra Kvitova, No. 11 Lucie Safarova and No. 19 Sloane Stephens advanced in two sets.
In the women’s draw, Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber lost in the first round.
The 19-year-old German, who is regarded as one of the most talented youngsters on the circuit, advanced to the second round of the clay-court Grand Slam with a 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (6), 7-5 win over Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
Kuznetsov’s double-fault gave him a break in the fifth game of the second set. After the first point of the next game, she went to the sideline and requested medical attention, which Knapp didn’t think was fair.
“I displayed them in abundance today and yesterday”. It’s interesting. I didn’t feel like I was on the edge. It wasn’t like I was not there mentally, but I just couldn’t find the court.
“That was, for sure, not my best tennis”, she said.
The French Open is the only Grand Slam where Murray has failed to reach the final.
The weather should remain dry, good news for tournament organizers who had a backlog of matches because of rain during the first two days. But the Scot said: “Me and Amélie have a good relationship”.
The Serbian top seed now stands only six matches away from becoming the first man in nearly 50 years to hold all four grand slam titles at the same time Also advancing in the men’s draw were seventh- seeded Tomas Berdych, No. 13 Dominic Thiem, No. 15 John Isner and No. 20 Bernard Tomic.
But the Frenchman stunned the World No. 2 by claiming the next two sets on Court Philippe Chatrier to leave Murray facing his earliest Grand Slam exit since 2008.
“These two weeks might be the most important in the whole season (for me)”, Djokovic said after defeating 95th-ranked Yen-hsun Lu of Taiwan 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. And Rafael Nadal was so at ease in a 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory over 100th-ranked Sam Groth that the nine-time French Open champion allowed himself a smile after a dazzling, back-to-the-net, through-the-legs passing shot victor.
The former world No. 8, bidding to become the oldest male to win a match at a Grand Slam in almost 24 years, earned two break points in the seventh game of the fourth set after play resumed, but Murray held firm to take the game, and later the set.
World number two Murray, who beat Novak Djokovic to win the Italian Open in his last match, lost the first two sets to the 37-year-old Czech qualifier.
The 29-year-old said after his win over Stepanek the previous few days had been “difficult” and was keen to point out the positive side of his emotional nature.
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Stepanek, meanwhile, was having the time of his life, mixing confounding drop shots with net rushes, and motioning to the crowd for more support. He won the next eight games to take the score to 2-6, 6-2, 2-0. He’ll be scheduled to play for a third consecutive day on Wednesday.
