Paris: Second seed Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) found a way past Egyptian qualifier Mayar Sherif with a 6-7(9), 6-2, 6-4 victory in the opening round of the French Open.
Facing Grand Slam main draw debutant Sherif for the first time, Pliskova had constant trouble with the return of the Egyptian’s serve but managed to eke out a win. Meanwhile, in men’s singles, seventh seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy cantered into the second round with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 victory against Canadian Vasek Pospisil.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic’s first Grand Slam action since his disqualification at the US Open went as smoothly as can be.
The French Open’s No. 1 seed was hardly pushed at all in a 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 victory over 80th-ranked Mikael Ymer of Sweden under a closed roof at Court Philippe Chatrier.
Djokovic broke Ymer nine times and ended up with a 32-12 edge in total winners.
Djokovic was defaulted from his fourth-round match at the US Open this month for accidentally hitting a line judge in the throat with a ball hit in anger after dropping a game.
There was little reason to show much frustration against Ymer.
Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin got through a three-set test in her first-round match at Roland Garros.
The fourth-seeded Kenin struggled a bit after a rain delay before the second set but emerged with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory in nearly two hours against 125th-ranked Liudmila Samsonova.
Liudmila is 0-3 in Grand Slam matches for her career.
Kenin made her first big breakthrough at a major tournament a year ago in Paris. She beat Serena Williams along the way to her fourth-round debut.
The 21-year-old Kenin this year became the youngest champion in Melbourne since Maria Sharapova was 20 in 2008.
Danish teenager Clara Tauson earned her first tour-level victory by beating U.S. Open semifinalist Jennifer Brady 6-4, 3-6, 9-7 in the opening round.
The 17-year-old Tauson came back from a 4-2 deficit in the final set and saved two match points.
Tauson won the Australian Open junior title last year.
Matteo Berrettini also won before rain suspended play on the outside courts. The 2019 U.S. Open semifinalist defeated Vasek Pospisil 6-3, 6-1, 6-3.
