Tennis News

17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer breezed into the second round of the French Open on Sunday afternoon and will now attempt to further his 2015 campaign in Paris when he meets Spain’s Marcel Granollers. This will mark the fourth time these two competitors cross paths on the professional tour, with Federer leading the head-to-head series with an unblemished 3-0 record.

In an impressive showing on court, Federer defeated Alejandro Falla in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the following round at Roland Garros. The Swiss star struck 42 winners and eight aces to lose out the match in straightforward fashion. He also advanced his overall record to 26-5 this season.

“I’m not sure that the first round is any different,” Federer said. “I think that as we go through the tournament, then we probably feel that we are more and more satisfied. But the first round is a bit like I want to win the first round, to be in the tournament and not to go back home immediately, to be one of the first ten players to go back home. So that’s the whole idea about it. That is, you want to play a good match and then focus on the future. That’s when I will start enjoying this moment.”

Federer’s second round opponent, Marcel Granollers, reached that stage of the tournament with a straight sets win against qualifier Matthias Bachinger. He won the match 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(7) to set up the encounter against Federer.

This marks the fourth time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour and the first time so far this season. Federer holds a 3-0 lead in the series, two of which took place in Dubai and the most recent at the US Open. Granollers has only ever taken one set off Federer and this is set to be their first ever meeting on clay.

After compiling an atrocious record by any standard in 2015, Ernests Gulbis found himself in the second round of the French Open. There, he will contest a match-up against local favourite Nicolas Mahut, whom he has faced once previously on the ATP World Tour. Gulbis leads the head-to-head series 1-0, with a recent win last season in Marseille.

A semi-finalist at last year’s French Open, Gubis needed to find his form quickly if he was to have any hope of salvaging some of those ranking points during the coming fortnight in Paris. In his opening round match, he was able to regain some of that lost form to secure a straight sets win against Igor Sijsling. He closed out the match 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(3) to earn just his third tour victory of the season.

“The last couple of matches on clay, it has been getting better and better,” Gulbis said about his current form. “I had some close losses against Goffin and Vesely in Rome and Madrid. As well as against Paire in Barcelona. But in Barcelona I didn’t play well yet. In Rome and Madrid I played decent and these are guys ranked in the Top 30 in the world. I lost to Goffin 7-5 in the third, and next week he played the quarter-finals. So it seems like I’ve been losing a lot of matches, but I lost to decent people… It’s now or never for the clay season.”

Awaiting the Latvian in the second round is French wildcard Nicolas Mahut, who defeated qualifier Kimmer Coppejans 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) to earn his spot.

While Gulbis and Mahut have only met once previously on the professional tour, Gulbis actually holds two wins against Mahut on French soil, as he also beat him at the 2012 Orleans Challenger tournament. Unless he starts showing shades of his earlier inconsistency, Gulbis should find his way into the third round in Paris.

Following a tough opening round match at Roland Garros, defending champion Maria Sharapova will continue her quest to defend her crown with a second round match on Thursday afternoon. The Russian superstar will face fellow countrywoman Vitalia Diatchenko in the second round of the tournament, a player whom she has never faced previously on the professional tour.

In one of the tougher opening round matches in the draw, Sharapova was faced with the task of ousting Kaia Kanepi and it certainly wasn’t a straightforward affair. While Sharapova won the match in straight sets, she faced resistance from her Estonian foe in the second set. Ultimately, she came out of it unscathed with a 6-2, 6-4 scoreline.

“I’m getting over it, and hopefully it will pass by soon,” Sharapova said. “But obviously it was such a big occasion for me to be back out on center court, and I had a tough opponent ahead of me. And the conditions were pretty difficult as well. So I knew it wasn’t just going to depend on the tennis today.

“Overall I’m just happy I got through it and have a day off tomorrow – I should be better by then.”

Sharapova will come up against Vitalia Diatchenko, who rallied from a set down to beat Stefanie Voegele 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

“I got to know her during Fed Cup this year,” Sharapova said. “That was really the first time we spent together. I didn’t get a chance to practice with her, though. I saw her play doubles a little bit – maybe it was good because it was the first time I had really seen her strike the ball. She’s a big hitter.”

This marks the first time that these two will meet on the professional tour. There is little to say about this match other than that Sharapova should have little trouble working her way past her inexperienced Russian foe.

It was a rocky start to the French Open for Ana Ivanovic. The 2008 champion dropped her opening set at the 2015 edition of the Grand Slam event but managed to regroup to secure her spot in the following round. She will next encounter Misaki Doi to determine who will advance to the third round at Roland Garros. This will mark the first time that the two competitors will cross paths on the professional circuit.

Faced with the task of ousting Yaroslava Shvedova in her first match at the prestigious Grand Slam event, Ivanovic needed more than a set to find her footing. After dropping the opener, Ivanovic woke up, regrouped and began hitting winners with her forehand across the court for the following two sets to secure the 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 win.

“It was a little bit of a tough start,” Ivanovic said. “I didn’t have that many matches coming into this tournament, so I was really happy that in the second set I managed to sort of play a little bit deeper and put a little bit more pressure on her. In the third set I felt like, ‘Okay, I’m playing my game now.’ “I worked really hard last week. I was really trying to rely on that. I knew I’d put the work I had to put in, so that gave me confidence. Even after the first set I really tried to look for my game.

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“I was really happy I was able to turn it around today.”

In a far more straightforward affair on Sunday afternoon, Misaki Doi reached the second round of the tournament on cruise control, as she defeated Cetkovska in straight sets to advance to the following stage of the event. She struck 2 aces, 17 winners and converted four break points on serve to close out the match 6-3, 6-2.

This marks the first time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional circuit. Ivanovic is the more experienced competitor, while Doi is ranked outside of the Top 100. Now that the Serb has gotten over her first stumble in Paris, she should have little trouble advancing to the third round.

In a match that could be considered the antithesis of his opening match at the French Open last season, Kei Nishikori avoided a second consecutive first round exit at Roland Garros with a solid victory on Sunday afternoon. The Japanese No. 1 will next come up against Thomaz Bellucci. This is set to be the first time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour and could make for an intriguing contest on Wednesday.

In a relatively straightforward affair, Kei Nishikori advanced to the second round of the French Open with a straight sets win against Paul-Henri Mathieu. The Japanese star struck seven aces, 34 winners and converted seven break point opportunities to close out the match 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 in two hours and 10 minutes.

“I think it was solid match,” said Nishikori. “In the second set he started playing much better. He was hitting the ball pretty well, especially his backhand. But after that I was playing some good tennis on the court and I think it’s not easy to win in straight sets. So there are some ups and downs and I think I fought through pretty well.”

Nishikori will next come up against Thomaz Bellucci, who reached the second round of the tournament with a straight sets victory against Marinko Matosevic. The Brazilian, who won the Geneva Open just a few days ago, struck five aces, 29 winners and converted seven break points to close out the match 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

This marks the first time that Bellucci and Nishikori will come across each other on the professional tour. However, they did meet once previously on the Challenger circuit several years ago, where Bellucci defeated the Japanese No. 1 in three sets back in 2007. However, much has changed and unless Bellucci produces one of the best matches of his career, he is unlikely to topple NIshikori this time around.

After working her way into the second round of the French Open this season, Simona Halep will be put to the test when she encounter the player who ousted her from the US Open tournament last season. It was one of the bigger upsets at the US Open in 2014 and will be interesting to see if Halep will be able to avenge that loss this year in Paris. This is the second time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Lucic-Baroni leading the head-to-head series 1-0 due to that fateful encounter.

Seeded third at this year’s tournament, Simona Halep secured her spot in the second round of the tournament with a straight sets win against Evgeniya Rodina. She won the match 7-5, 6-4 to secure her 30th match win of the season.

“It wasn’t easy walking on Chatrier again, but I enjoyed it a lot,” Halep said. “I just tried to be focused for what I had to do on the court today, and just played my game. Many people came to watch, and that made a really nice atmosphere. It was just a great day for me and I really want to enjoy it.”

Halep will next face Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who beat Lauren Davis in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Court 17 on Sunday.

This marks the second time these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour and is a contest that should favour the No. 3 seed. However, given that Lucic-Baroni leads the head-o-head series 1-0 with a win against Halep at the US Open, it could prove to be a more interesting match. Yet considering her strong performance in the opening round, Halep should manage her way through this encounter on clay.

Following an impressive start to his 2015 French Open campaign, Stan Wawrinka will move on to the second round of the prestigious Grand Slam event on Wednesday afternoon. The Swiss No. 2 will come up against Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic, whom he has only faced once previously on the professional tour. Wawrinka leads the head-to-head series 1-0 with a victory last season at the Davis Cup.

In his opening match on court on Sunday, Stan Wawrinka opened up his campaign for a second Grand Slam title with a straight sets win against Marsel Ilhan. Seeeded eighth at this year’s event, Wawrinka struck 42 winners and saved all six of the break points he faced during the match to close out the contest 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in 96 minutes.

“It was a great start, a good match, [I’m] feeling the ball well,” said Wawrinka. “I had only one hour of practice here in Paris, so I’m really happy to play that way already. My game is there. I’m feeling great on the clay since few weeks now. ‘[I] got the confidence back and [I’m] playing well. So I’m happy to get through in three sets.”

Wawrinka will come up against Dusan Lajovic in the second round of the tournament. The Serb defeated Maximo Gonzalez in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 and is well on his way to reaching the fourth round of the French Open like he did last season for the first time in his career.

This marks the second time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Wawrinka leading the head-to-head series 1-0. That sole victory took place during the Davis Cup last season, which Switzerland won en route to claiming the title later on that year. While Lajovic is comfortable on this surface and has a good track record here, Wawrinka should have little trouble getting himself into the third round of the tournament.

Back in 2014, Petra Kvitova and Marina Erakovic met in the second round of the French Open to determine who would advance to the following stage of the prestigious tournament. This year, they will once again cross paths at the second Grand Slam event of the season. However, the contest will instead be in the opening round of the tournament and will mark their fifth overall meeting on the tour. Kvitova leads the head-to-head series with an unblemished 4-0 record that includes two clay court wins.

Following a weak start to her clay court season with an opening round loss in Stuttgart to Madison Brengle, Petra Kvitova rebounded with a title win in Madrid, that included a victory over Serena Williams – the world No. 1’s first loss since 2014. She then followed up with a quarter-final finish in Rome, where she lost to eventual runner-up Carla Suarez Navarro. She will now look to return to Paris, where she will cross paths with a familiar face.

“Yes, as I saw the draw it came to my mind I played her last year in the second round. It was not for the first time we played. In Cincinnati I think before. I know how she can be dangerous. I think she’s playing a little bit different style, which is a lot of slice and dropshots and really big forehand and great serve, actually. So of course first round it’s always very tricky. I have to be ready for everything and, you know, see what’s going to happen. Every shot is going to be different. That’s probably what I know now.”

Marina Erakovic compiled a 0-3 record on clay this season that included opening round losses in Charleston and Marrakech. She managed to qualify for Madrid but also lost in the opening round of that tournament. Most recently, she failed to qualify for Rome.

This marks the fifth time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Kvitova leading the head-to-head series 4-0. Given that her clay court wins over Erakovic were straightforward, there is little doubt that this will be another convincing win for Kvitova.