By Shrivathsa Sridhar
PARIS (Reuters) -Coco Gauff forgot to bring her rackets to the court but reminded her rivals of her French Open title ambitions with a commanding win while Daniil Medvedev lost his composure on a cold and blustery Tuesday as he crashed out in the opening round.
Last year’s runner-up Alexander Zverev had no such trouble as he cruised into the second round in his latest bid to win an elusive Grand Slam title after losing three major finals including at this year’s Australian Open.
Former Roland Garros runner-up Gauff provided early comic relief as the second seed grinned sheepishly and showed her empty bag to her entourage, who scampered to reunite her with her equipment before she thumped Olivia Gadecki 6-2 6-2.
“Honestly, I thought they put the rackets in the bag, and my side court bag is filled with drinks and everything,” Gauff told Sloane Stephens on TNT.
“So it felt like I had enough weight. Then I got on court, and I opened the first zipper. I was like, ‘OK, no rackets’. The second zipper … ‘Oh my God. I went on court with no racquets’. Usually JC (coach Jean-Christophe Faurel) puts them in.
“I’ll see what happened.”
The Madrid and Rome finalist made up for the delayed start by easing through the first three games and wrapped up the opening set with a battling hold after dropping her service earlier.
There was no looking back from there as Gauff tightened her grip on the contest despite the challenging conditions.
Gauff’s compatriot and former runner-up Sofia Kenin also advanced to the second round after a 6-3 6-1 win over French number one Varvara Gracheva while Hailey Baptiste beat 2023 semi-finalist Beatriz Haddad Maia 4-6 6-3 6-1.
Former world number one Victoria Azarenka became the oldest woman in the professional era since 1968 to win a singles Grand Slam main-draw match with a 6-0 6-0 scoreline, after the 35-year-old dished out a double bagel to Yanina Wickmayer.
Marketa Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion, breezed past Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-4 6-4 while sixth seed Mirra Andreeva beat Cristina Bucsa 6-4 6-3 to underline her title credentials after an inspired run to last year’s semi-finals.
On the men’s side, third seed Zverev sealed a comprehensive 6-3 6-3 6-4 victory over American Learner Tien while 11th seed Medvedev was beaten 7-5 6-3 4-6 1-6 7-5 by Cameron Norrie.
Dusan Lajovic crashed out 6-2 6-4 7-6(4) to Kazakh lucky loser Alexander Shevchenko and Serbian compatriot Laslo Djere fell 6-3 6-4 7-6(6) to Australian ninth seed Alex De Minaur.
Three-times champion Novak Djokovic was looking to lift the spirits of Serbian fans with a victorious start in his bid for a record 25th Grand Slam, with the 38-year-old taking on American Mackenzie McDonald.
It was the end of the road for Bulgarian veteran Grigor Dimitrov, however, after the 16th seed pulled up with injury against Ethan Quinn to exit a fourth straight Grand Slam due to retirement.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Paris, editing by Ed Osmond)
Comments