Rain Forces Busy Monday At Roland Garros

The Roland Garros first round got off to a soggy start on Day One, with persistent rain forcing the cancellation or postponement of 11 of the 16 matches on the schedule.

No. 17 seed Nick Kyrgios, 19th-seed Benoit Paire, Igor Sijsling, Teymuraz Gabashvili and Andrey Kuznetsov were the lone first-round winners on Sunday, quickly wrapping up their openers before the skies opened. Fifth seed Kei Nishikori wasn’t as fortunate. The Japanese will sleep on a two-set lead over Simone Bolelli, owning a 6-1, 7-5, 2-1 advantage when play was postponed at 6:30pm local time.

Read: Kyrgios Battles Through Opener

Coming off a career-best quarter-final run in Paris last year, Nishikori will look to finish his opening round clash as the second match on Philippe Chatrier Court on Monday. Defending champion and third seed Stan Wawrinka opens proceedings on the main show court against Lukas Rosol. The Swiss is coming off a title run in Geneva on Saturday, his first on home soil on the ATP World Tour. Last year, Wawrinka became the first player aged 30 & over to win at Roland Garros since Andres Gomez in 1990.

View Monday Schedule

Two additional matches are slated to resume play on Monday, with Robin Haase looking complete the comeback against Jack Sock and Dustin Brown leading Dudi Sela two sets to one. Sock took a two-set lead before Haase stormed back to force a decider, while Brown leads 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(5), 1-1. The winners will square off in the second round.

Meanwhile, eighth seed Milos Raonic, 15th seed John Isner, Grigor Dimitrov and #NextGen star Kyle Edmund were among those finding their Sunday starts cancelled. Raonic opens against former World No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic in an enticing affair on Court 2 on Monday. Isner and first-round opponent John Millman are slated as the fourth match on Court 3, with Dimitrov first up against No. 22 seed Viktor Troicki in a rematch of January’s Apia International Sydney final, won by Troicki in a deciding tie-break.

Also on the docket for Monday is title contender Andy Murray, squaring off against veteran Radek Stepanek on Chatrier. The second seed is coming off a title run at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Rome, where he upset World No. 1 Novak Djokovic for his third clay-court crown. In addition, Frenchmen Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon kick off their bids for home glory on Suzenne Lenglen Court, with ninth seed Gasquet facing Thomaz Bellucci and 16th seed Simon dueling with another Brazilian, Rogerio Dutra Silva. Less than a month removed from capturing his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title on the green clay of Tallahassee, French teen Quentin Halys opens his campaign against fellow #NextGen star Hyeon Chung on Court 17.

Five of the seven players making their Grand Slam debuts are in action on Monday. Roberto Carballes Baena and Adam Pavlasek are first on Court 5, with both looking to take a big step in their quests to crack the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. Another match-up of major debutants features home hope Mathias Bourgue against Spain’s Jordi Samper-Montana on Court 16. Meanwhile, qualifier Laslo Djere meets wild card Jordan Thompson, a two-time ATP Challenger Tour titlist this year, on Court 8.