Advertisement

View From The Baseline: French Open first round roundup

Mohab Ghobranios

The first round of the French Open is over, here are the highlights and the lowlights of the round:

Player Of The Round:

Roland Garros, Paris, France - 29/5/17 Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates winning his first round match against France's Benoit Paire Reuters / Christian Hartmann
Roland Garros, Paris, France – 29/5/17 Spain’s Rafael Nadal celebrates winning his first round match against France’s Benoit Paire Reuters / Christian Hartmann

Rafael Nadal’s quest for a tenth title at the French Open began with what was a straightforward victory against Benoit Paire inside two hours.

READ MORE: French Open bans Maxime Hamou over repeated attempts to kiss reporter on live TV

READ MORE: Nadal knows he is unbeatable, says Kyrgios

The overwhelming favourite to win the tournament was back to his best after the unexpected defeated against Dominic Thiem in Rome, two weeks ago that ended his 17-match winning streak on clay courts.

Shock Of The Round:

A victorius Ekaterina Makarova of Russia (L) shakes hands with Angelique Kerber of Germany after the ladies singles first round match on day one of the 2017 French Open at Roland Garros
A victorious Ekaterina Makarova of Russia (L) shakes hands with Angelique Kerber of Germany after the ladies singles first round match on day one of the 2017 French Open at Roland Garros

Ekaterina Makarova’s 6-2 6-2 victory over top seed Angelique Kerber.

It was Makarova’s first time in nine years to play on Court Philippe Chatrier, and she produced a performance fitting to the occasion to stun the world number one.

Match of The Round:

Fernando Verdasco of Spain and Alexander Zverev of Germany shake hands at the net following the first round match on day three of the 2017 French Open at Roland Garros on May 30, 2017 in Paris, France
Fernando Verdasco of Spain and Alexander Zverev of Germany shake hands at the net following the first round match on day three of the 2017 French Open at Roland Garros on May 30, 2017 in Paris, France

Fernando Verdasco stunned the ninth seed Alexander Zverev 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-2, with the match having resumed on Tuesday having been suspended overnight due to poor light.

The 33-year-old Spaniard broke the German eight times to advance in two hours and 52 minutes. The match is considered one of the biggest shocks of the first round, after Zverev’s triumph at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, two weeks ago, beating Novak Djokovic in the final.

Heartwarming Moment Of The Round:

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic thanks the crowd after defeating Julia Boserup, of the U.S, in their first round match of the French Open
Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic thanks the crowd after defeating Julia Boserup, of the U.S, in their first round match of the French Open

Petra Kvitova’s victorious comeback Returning from the horrors of a knife attack in her apartment in December. The 15th-seeded Kvitova needed only 74 minutes to overwhelm American Julia Boserup in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) and roughly five months to get back to the women’s professional tennis tour.

Shot Of The Round:

Dominic Thiem v Bernard Tomic!

Fact Of The Round:

World number one Angelique Kerber became the first top-seeded woman to lose in the first round at the French Open since the sport went professional in 1968.

Quote Of The Round:

Nick Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios

“I don’t really like running. I don’t like that my shoes get dirty. I don’t train too much on clay as it makes my car dirty. It can be enjoyable. I play well on clay but it’s not my favourite surface,” – Australia’s Nick Kyrgios says clay is not his cup of tea after his first round victory against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber

Ugliest Moment Of The Round:


Frenchman Laurent Lokoli refused to shake Martin Klizan’s hand at the end of their match on Tuesday in a very unsporting behaviour.