Stan Wawrinka was pushed to five sets against Lukas Rosol, while Kei Nishikori breezed through at the resumption of his day one match against Simone Bolleli.
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In the second round, Wawrinka might have a less stressful engagement against the American-based Japanese Davis Cupper, Taro Daniel, who came from two sets down to beat the experienced Slovakian clay-courter, Martin Klizan, on a retirement when leading 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 3-0 on Court No4.
Had Wawrinka lost, it would have marked the earliest exit for the two-time Slam champion since an opening-round defeat at Roland Garros in 2014.
He carried on where he left off before rain halted play on Sunday, easing to a 6-1, 7-5, 6-3 victory.
His first round encounter against Sam Groth on Court Suzanne Lenglen appears a total mismatch, with the 100th-ranked Australian still looking for his first main draw win at Roland Garros.
Wearing a long-sleeved top like most of the women players, the flat-hitting Spaniard took a while to find her game but eventually ground past Anna Karoline Schmiedlova 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Court 1 will see the matches get underway at 10am United Kingdom time (11am local time) with Jeremy Chardy v Leonardo Mayer, followed by the conclusion of Svetlana Kuznetsova v Yaroslava Shvedova, then Lesia Tsurenko v Caroline Garcia, followed by Julien Benneteau v Lucas Pouille, and finally Elina Svitolina v Sorana Cirstea.
“I think that in the second set when I was serving to make it 4-1, I missed four easy backhands and I felt like that was kind of the turning point and I was kind of down mentally after this game”. “I don’t know if this is my best chance, but I’m coming in playing as well as I did previous year if not better”.
Once Wawrinka saved a pair of break points in the fourth set, the match shifted back to the defending champion.
It was a 50th career Grand Slam match win for Nishikori who made the quarter-finals in Paris in 2015.
Wawrinka seemed to be back on course when he breezed through the second set but Rosol claimed a decisive break in the third set and showed impressive composure to serve out the set, reports Reuters.
Rosol led 2-1 in sets, but Wawrinka evened the match by taking the fourth 6-3. He beat Nadal for the second straight year in Madrid and in Rome he managed just his second win in his last 14 matches against Djokovic. I think she just came back and tried to play more aggressive.
Wawrinka, seeded third here after the withdrawal of his compatriot Roger Federer, beat Rosol last week on the way to winning the Geneva Open, his first on home soil in 11 years and just 28 miles from where he grew up.
On a nippy day in Paris that had spectators wearing thick coats after a spell of rain, less than half of Philippe Chatrier court was full for Stan Wawrinka’s clash with Lukas Rosol at the French Open.
Both Djokovic and Murray open their campaigns in Monday’s schedule, while Nadal will begin on Tuesday.
On women’s part, second seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland brushed aside Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski 6-0, 6-2.
The difference? Nadal is 70-2 at Roland Garros, owner of a record nine championships.
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He raised his arms in celebration – and relief – after converting a third match point, putting away a comfortable backhand volley.
