Paris, May 26: Iga Swiatek – who has struggled lately, and Carlos Alcaraz, got off to good starts in their French Open title defences on Monday, recording straight-set victories to reach the second round.
Swiatek was up first in Court Philippe-Chatrier and defeated 42nd-ranked Rebecca Sramkova 6-3, 6-3. Swiatek compiled 25 winners and 17 unforced errors in the 1-hour, 24-minute contest.
Alcaraz needed only about a half-hour more than that for a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Giulio Zeppieri, an Italian qualifier who is ranked 310th. Alcaraz won all 14 of his service games, saving the three break points he faced, at Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
“It was really, really solid,” Alcaraz said. “Really proud about my start.”
Both Swiatek and Alcaraz sat in the Chatrier stands a day earlier to watch the farewell tribute to 14-time champion Rafael Nadal – and both active players wore the rust-coloured T-shirts that read “Merci Rafa” distributed to spectators.
Swiatek has often talked about her admiration for Nadal; Alcaraz is considered the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s heir apparent.
“For sure, there were tears,” said Swiatek, who faces 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu next. “It was amazing ceremony, and I’m happy that Roland Garros did this for Rafa. I’m happy that also the whole tennis world had an opportunity to kind of come together and just thank him. … He’s a GOAT, so I’m happy that I was there.”
Alcaraz is seeded No. 2 behind Jannik Sinner, who was scheduled to play Monday night, and is coming off a clay-court title at the Italian Open a little more than a week ago. Alcaraz beat Sinner in the final there.
Monday’s result gave Alcaraz 28 wins in his past 30 matches on red clay, including going 7-for-7 a year ago at Roland-Garros. One of the losses came against Novak Djokovic in the gold-medal match at last year’s Paris Olympics, held at the same site as the French Open.
Swiatek has slipped to No. 5 in the rankings, her first time out of the top two spots in about three years. She hasn’t reached a final at any tournament since collecting her third consecutive championship – and fourth in five years – in Paris in 2024.
The 23-year-old from Poland extended her French Open unbeaten streak to 22 matches and is trying to become the first woman to with four trophies in a row at the tournament in the professional era, which began in 1968.
Monica Seles and Justine Henin also won three straight titles at Roland-Garros.
Emma Navarro, the ninth-seeded American who reached the US Open semifinals last September, bowed out quickly in Paris, eliminated 6-0, 6-1 in just 57 minutes by Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain.
Bouzas Maneiro’s biggest win of her career also came in the first round at a Grand Slam tournament: She beat reigning champion Marketa Vondrousova in the first round of Wimbledon last year. (AP)
