On Court No3, what might have been a genuine surprise a year or so ago – Viktor Troicki beating Grigor Dimitrov 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in three hours and 45 minutes – passed with barely a murmur.
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Wawrinka is trying to avoid becoming the first defending champion to lose in the tournament’s first round.
“Today, I’m really happy with the way I found a solution”.
Play has been delayed by two hours but matches could be starting soon. Those involve players such as No. 5 Kei Nishikori, who has a two-set lead against Simone Bolelli; No. 23 Jack Sock, headed to a fifth set against Robin Haase of the Netherlands; and 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, up a break at 3-1 in the third set against Yaroslava Shvedova. Talking about the major contenders, Wawrinka simply said, “I’m just after them”.
His first-round opponent has lost only one.
He served out the set when Wawrinka shanked a backhand. That prompted a string of curse-filled arguments from Kyrgios. If the weather holds up, that is, because there is more rain in the forecast for Day 2.
Danka Kovinic came close to creating the first upset of this year’s tournament but failed to build on her momentum when she served for the match in the deciding set.
Showing her frustration, Kvitova smacked her racket on the ground after hitting a double fault and fluffing a backhand in the ninth game of the decider. The 10th-seeded Kvitova won 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
As Wawrinka takes to the Philippe-Chatrier Court later on Tuesday, it will become clearer if he will defend his title.
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.
The clay courts of Roland Garros host the second Grand Slam of the season.
TOP WOMEN: Some past Grand Slam runners-up who hope to supplant Williams as the champion in Paris get their tournament started, including No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska against 120th-ranked Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia, No. 4 Garbine Muguruza against 38th-ranked Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia, and No. 6 Simona Halep against 71st-ranked Nao Hibino of Japan. Showers over Paris on Monday have forced the organizers to delay the start of play.
“Its urgent to build a roof by respect for our audience”, French Open tournament Director Guy Forget said at a press conference on Monday.
About six months after the deadly attacks in Paris, heightened security at Roland Garros was noticeable, including extra bag checks and patdowns that led to longer-than-usual waits at the entrance gates.
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