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Heat takes it toll as Evans loses on Paris debut

  • Posted: May 28, 2017
French Open
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 28 May- 11 June
Coverage: Listen to live radio commentary and follow text coverage of selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and online.

British number four Dan Evans struggled with the heat as he lost 5-7 6-4 6-3 6-1 to Spanish veteran Tommy Robredo in the French Open first round.

Evans, playing in the main draw for the first time, broke twice to win the first set but could not sustain his challenge in temperatures of 33C.

Robredo, 35, is a five-time Paris quarter-finalist and would be ranked higher than his 271 but for injuries.

The Spaniard’s experience proved too much as he sealed a deserved victory.

There are now four British players left in the singles draws at Roland Garros, with Aljaz Bedene in action on Monday and Andy Murray, Kyle Edmund and Johanna Konta playing on Tuesday.

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Evans left the court to vomit after the first set, later revealing that his pre-match routine had been disrupted by the preceding match ending unexpectedly quickly with a retirement.

The Briton was keen to point out that was not an excuse for his defeat, adding that Robredo was clearly “a better player” on clay.

Evans was heard to say on court that he was struggling to breathe, describing the experience as “like torture”.

“It was really tough,” he said after the match.

“It was difficult conditions especially for such a physical surface, as well, for me. I clearly found it really hard.”

Asked if he had considered quitting, Evans added: “I always try to complete the matches.

“I didn’t feel good at all, but I think it’s in the spirit to just carry on playing.”

Analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller in Paris

Evans fought hard in stifling heat, but his lack of pre-match confidence was not misplaced.

Robredo recovered from two sets to love down three times in a row at the 2013 French Open, and likes nothing more than a sapping clay-court struggle.

Evans has improved on the surface in recent weeks – he now hits through his backhand with much more force – but won’t be sorry his next event is on grass.

Thiem impresses with rapid win

Elsewhere on day one, Austria’s Dominic Thiem – the only player to defeat nine-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal on clay this season – powered past Bernard Tomic 6-4 6-0 6-2 in 80 minutes.

“It was very hot out there, so I’m happy that I won in three sets,” said the 23-year-old sixth seed.

“It was a tough opponent and a close first set. I was also a little bit nervous before the match and because of these circumstances I’m happy with my performance.”

Meanwhile, 11th seed Grigor Dimitrov will be Robredo’s next opponent after the Bulgarian defeated France’s Stephane Robert 6-2 6-3 6-4 to reach the second round for the first time in four years.

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Zeballos' Victory Kicks Off Day One At Roland Garros

  • Posted: May 28, 2017

Zeballos' Victory Kicks Off Day One At Roland Garros

Argentine ousts home hope in straight sets

Horacio Zeballos opened Day One at Roland Garros in winning fashion, downing Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday. It was the Argentine veteran’s first match win at the clay-court Grand Slam since 2013, equalling his best result in reaching the second round.

Zeballos enters Roland Garros in strong form after reaching his first ATP World Tour semi-final in four years at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell a month ago (l. to Nadal). He followed that up with a quarter-final finish in Munich, upsetting defending champion Philipp Kohlschreiber. The 32 year old will next face either 23rd-seed Ivo Karlovic or Greek teen Stefanos Tsitsipas. The #NextGenATP star is making his Grand Slam debut.

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Also in action on Sunday are sixth seed and Mutua Madrid Open finalist Dominic Thiem, 11th seed Grigor Dimitrov, Frenchman Lucas Pouille and Estoril champion Pablo Carreno Busta.

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French Open 2017: Angelique Kerber loses to Ekaterina Makarova in first round

  • Posted: May 28, 2017
French Open
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 28 May- 11 June
Coverage: Listen to live radio commentary and follow text coverage of selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and online.

Angelique Kerber became the first women’s top seed to go out in the first round of the French Open when she lost 6-2 6-2 to Ekaterina Makarova.

The German, who also lost in the first round last year, has struggled this year and looked short of confidence.

Makarova, twice a Grand Slam semi-finalist and former top-10 player, dominated rallies from the start.

Kerber improved in the second set but the Russian, now ranked 40th, sealed a famous win in 82 minutes.

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French Open: Petra Kvitova wins first match following knife attack

  • Posted: May 28, 2017
French Open
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 28 May- 11 June
Coverage: Listen to live radio commentary and follow text coverage of selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and online.

Petra Kvitova cried after winning her first match since being stabbed during a burglary at her home in December.

The Czech, 27, looked impressive in beating American Julia Boserup 6-3 6-2 to reach round two of the French Open.

Kvitova suffered career-threatening injuries to her left hand in the attack, but recovered quicker than expected to play in Paris.

The two-time Wimbledon champion said: “It’s a pleasure to be here and I’m happy I made the decision to play.”

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Kvitova first picked up a racquet again in March, 12 weeks after the attack, and began practising properly at the beginning of May.

She had initially targeted Wimbledon for her comeback but, despite admitting she was “still not 100% ready”, decided she was fit enough to play in France.

The 15th seed won the opening point of the match with a cross-court forehand and only needed 74 minutes to overcome world number 86 Boserup.

Her parents Jiri and Pavla and brothers Jiri and Libor were in the stands on Court Philippe Chatrier – the main court at Roland Garros.

“Thank you for everything, you helped me through this difficult time,” said Kvitova.

“I’m glad with how I played. There are a few things to improve but what can I expect after such a long time.

“I was happy that I didn’t have any pain. I promised my doctor, who gave me the green light, that if I feel pain in my hand during the match or in the practice, I’m stopping immediately.”

A French Open semi-finalist in 2012, Kvitova will face either American Bethanie Mattek-Sands or Russian Evgeniya Rodina in the next round.

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16 Things To Watch At Roland Garros

  • Posted: May 28, 2017

16 Things To Watch At Roland Garros

An executive summary of what every fan should know about the coming fortnight on the ATP World Tour

1. 2017 Roland Garros: This is the 50th tournament in the Open Era (since 1968) and 87th at Roland Garros since 1925 (tournament was not held from 1940-45 during World War II).

In 1925, the draw was opened to players outside of France. The French Championships started in 1891 and this is the 116th overall staging of the tournament. There are three former champions in the field – reigning champ Novak Djokovic, 2015 titleholder Stan Wawrinka and nine-time winner Rafael Nadal (2005-08, 2010-14).

2. Big Four Dominate: Since Roland Garros in 2005, when Nadal won his first Grand Slam title, the Big Four have accounted for 43 of the past 48 Grand Slam titles. During the current stretch, Nadal has won 14 titles, Federer 14, Djokovic 12 and Murray 3.

The three other players to win a Grand Slam title during the span are: Wawrinka, a three-time champion (2014 Australian Open, 2015 Roland Garros, 2016 US Open), Marin Cilic (2014 US Open) and Juan Martin del Potro (2009 US Open). In addition, the Big Four have won 59 of the past 65 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, dating back to 2010 Monte-Carlo, where Nadal won.

Since 2015, Cilic (2016 Cincinnati) and Alexander Zverev (2017 Rome) are the only non-Big Four champs. Zverev is the first player born in the 1990s to win a Masters 1000 title. The only player born in the 1990s to reach a Grand Slam final is Milos Raonic, who was runner-up at Wimbledon last year.

You May Also Like: Thiem Feeling Comfortable Among Game's Elite

3. Rafa Seeks 10th Title: Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal eyes a historic 10th title at Roland Garros. The Spaniard is already owner of the most titles at a single Grand Slam event.

Nadal is 72-2 lifetime at Roland Garros and has only been pushed to five sets twice at the tournament, beating John Isner and Novak Djokovic in five-setters en route to titles in 2011 and 2013, respectively.

4. Nadal on Fire: Nadal, who turns 31 on 3 June, is 17-1 on clay this season after winning his 10th Monte-Carlo, 10th Barcelona and fifth Madrid title. He owns an 870-point lead over Federer in the Emirates ATP Race To London and is on pace to end a year as World No. 1 for the fourth time.

See Who’s Pushing Nadal and Federer In The Race

5. Djokovic and Agassi Debut: Djokovic, reigning champion, will be coached by another man who completed the career Grand Slam in Paris, Andre Agassi, who accomplished the feat in 1999 on his 11th attempt.

Last year in his 12th attempt in Paris, Djokovic lifted his first champion’s trophy. Both won the title at age 29. The World No. 2 is one of two players to beat Nadal at Roland Garros (2015 quarter-finals) along with Robin Soderling (2009 4R).

6. No. 1 Seed Murray: World No. 1 Andy Murray is the first British man as top seed at Roland Garros since Bunny Austin in 1937. Last year Murray reached his first Roland Garros final. This is his 10th appearance (34-9 record).

Murray is 4-4 on clay this season and last year he was a career-best 18-3. As was the case in 2016, he enters Paris with one title on the year. Murray ended 2016 with an ATP-best nine titles. On 29 May, it will be the 30th consecutive week Murray is No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings (since 7 November 2016).

7. A Look at No. 1 & 2: Murray and Djokovic have occupied the Top 2 spots in the Emirates ATP Rankings every week since 16 May 2016. Djokovic has been ranked in the Top 2 every week since 21 March 2011.

Last year Murray came into Roland Garros with a 22-5 record (1-2 in finals). This year he is 16-7 overall (1-1 in finals). Last year Djokovic entered Paris with a 37-3 record (5-1 in finals). This season he is 20-6 (1-1 in finals). This is the first time since 2010 he comes into Paris with one ATP World Tour title.

8. Winning Wawrinka: Former champion Wawrinka comes into Paris after defending his Geneva crown (d. M. Zverev), his first title since last year’s US Open. Prior to Geneva he was 2-3 on clay during the season.

He enters with a 20-8 record overall. Wawrinka defeated the World No. 1 in all three of his Grand Slam finals (2014 Australian Open, 2015 Roland Garros, 2016 US Open). He is 0-20 against the World No. 1 in all other rounds/events.

9. Thiem Dominating: World No. 7 Dominic Thiem is the only player to beat Nadal on clay this year, avenging losses in the Barcelona and Madrid finals by defeating the Spaniard in the Rome quarter-finals. He is 17-4 on clay this season.

Thiem and David Goffin are tied for the second-most wins in 2017 with 29 (Nadal: 36). Last year Thiem advanced to his first Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros (l. to Djokovic).

10. Sascha Breaks Through: #NextGenATP star Alexander Zverev, who was born in 1997, defeated Djokovic at Rome on 21 May to become the first Masters 1000, Nitto ATP Finals or Grand Slam champion born in the 1990s.

The 20-year-old German broke into the Top 10 after Rome from No. 17 to No. 10, and he’s the youngest player in the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings since Juan Martin del Potro (20) on 20 October 2008.

11. Seeded Brothers: No. 9 Alexander and No. 32 Mischa Zverev are the first brothers to be seeded in a Grand Slam tournament since 1982 Wimbledon with No. 4 Sandy and No. 6 Gene Mayer. Mischa comes in after reaching the final in Geneva as a qualifier.

12. #NextGenATP Watch: The Top 7 players in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan will be in action, including Borna Coric of Croatia. Coric is No. 2 in the #NextGenATP race after saving five championship points for his first title at Marrakech in April and beating Murray at Madrid on 11 May.

See Who’s Pushing Coric In The Emirates ATP Race To Milan

13. delPo Returns: No. 29 seed Juan Martin del Potro returns to Roland Garros for the first time since 2012 when he reached the quarter-finals (l. to Federer). His best clay result this season is the QFs in Rome (l. to Djokovic).

14. Flying the French Flag: A tournament-high 19 French players are in the main draw. Leading the way are former semi-finalists Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils.

Tsonga won his first clay title in Lyon and has won three titles this season, the most since 2009. A Frenchman has not captured a Grand Slam singles title since Yannick Noah at Roland Garros in 1983.

15. Lopez Grand Slam Streak: Feliciano Lopez is playing in his 61st consecutive Grand Slam tournament, which is the longest active streak in men’s tennis. The 35-year-old Spaniard is closing in on Federer’s all-time record of 65 Grand Slam tournaments played in a row.

16. Doubles Field: Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut hope to become the second French doubles team since 1984 to win Roland Garros. Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin captured the title in 2014.

Also in the field are 2016 champions Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez and 2016 finalists Bob Bryanand Mike Bryan. The Bryans, who won Roland Garros in 2003 and 2013 and are 2-5 in finals, have not won a title since Rome in 2016 (19 events).

* KING OF ROLAND GARROS: In 2012, Nadal passed six-time winner Bjorn Borg with the most titles in Roland Garros history (since 1925). Three years ago he won for the ninth time. Here are the players with three or more titles:

Player

No. (Years)

Rafael Nadal

9 (2005-08, ’10-14)

Bjorn Borg

6 (1974-75, ’78-81)

Henri Cochet

4 (1926, ’28, ’30, ’32)

Gustavo Kuerten

3 (1997, 2000-01)

Mats Wilander

3 (1982, ’85, ’88)

Ivan Lendl

3 (1984, ’86-87)

Rene Lacoste

3 (1925, ’27, ’29)

* SIX MORE TITLES: Here are the players with six or more titles at the same Grand Slam event (post Challenge Round):

Player

Grand Slam

Titles

Years

Rafael Nadal

Roland Garros

9

2005-08, 2010-14

Bill Tilden

US Championships

7

1920-25, 1929

Pete Sampras

Wimbledon

7

1993-95, 1997-2000

Roger Federer

Wimbledon

7

2003-07, 2009, 2012

Novak Djokovic

Australian Open

6

2008, 2011-13,2015-16

Roy Emerson

Australian Championships

6

1961, 1963-67

Bjorn Borg

Roland Garros

6

1974-75, 1978-81

* CLAY-COURT DOMINATOR – Nadal has the best career match record on clay in the Open Era with a 382-35 mark (.916), and he’s 52-9 in clay finals. In 11 of the past 13 years he’s won at least two European clay court titles coming into Roland Garros. Here’s a year-by-year look at Nadal’s clay court supremacy since 2005 (year of first Roland Garros crown):

 Overall      European Clay  

Year

Clay W-L

Clay Finals W-L

Going into RG (April-May Tourn.)

 

2017

17-1

3-1

17-1

3 Titles

2016

21-4

2-1

15-2

2 Titles

2015

26-6

2-1

10-4

0 Titles

2014

25-3

3-1

13-3

1 Title

2013

39-2

6-2

19-1

3 Titles

2012

23-1

4-1

16-1

3 Titles

2011

28-2

3-2

17-2

2 Titles

2010

22-0

4-1

15-0

3 Titles

2009

23-2

3-1

17-1

3 Titles

2008

24-1

4-1

15-1

3 Titles

2007

31-1

5-1

19-1

3 Titles

2006

26-0

4-1

17-0

3 Titles

2005

50-2

8-1

19-1

3 Titles

* ROLAND GARROS WINS LEADERS: Nadal, Federer and Djokovic are among the all-time Roland Garros match wins leaders:

W-L Titles

1) Rafael Nadal 72-2 9

2) Roger Federer 65-16 1

3) Guillermo Vilas 58-17 1

4) Novak Djokovic 55-11 1

5) Ivan Lendl 53-12 3

Jaroslav Drobny 53-14 2

7) Andre Agassi 51-16 1

8) Nicola Pietrangeli 50-17 2

9) Bjorn Borg 49-2 6

10) Mats Wilander 47-9 3

* CAREER GRAND SLAM CLUB: Last year Djokovic became the eighth player in men’s tennis history to complete a career Grand Slam and he became the first man to hold all four Grand Slam titles since Rod Laver in 1969. Djokovic, Nadal and Federer are the three active players in the Career Grand Slam Club. Other players to accomplish the feat: Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, and Andre Agassi.

* MOST ATTEMPTS TO TITLE: Murray is making his 10th appearance at Roland Garros. The most attempts to win the Roland Garros title in the Open Era is 12 by Djokovic last year. The most attempts to win any Grand Slam title in the Open Era is 14 by Goran Ivanisevic, who won Wimbledon in 2001. Here are the players with the most attempts (10 or more) to win the Roland Garros title:

Year

Champion

Appearance

Age

2016

Novak Djokovic

12th

29

1999

Andre Agassi

11th

29

2015

Stan Wawrinka

11th

30

1990

Andres Gomez

11th

30

2009

Roger Federer

11th

27

1995

Thomas Muster

10th

27

* ALL-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPIONS: Here is a look at the all-time Grand Slam titles leaders with 10-more:

Champion

W-L

1) Roger Federer

18-10

2) Pete Sampras

14-4

Rafael Nadal

14-7

4) Novak Djokovic

12-9

Roy Emerson

12-3

6) Rod Laver

11-6

Bjorn Borg

11-5

8) Bill Tilden

10-5

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Murray: I Need To Enjoy My Struggle To Get Through It

  • Posted: May 28, 2017

Murray: I Need To Enjoy My Struggle To Get Through It

Top seed returns to Roland Garros following a final finish in 2016

It was one year ago that Andy Murray began to plot his climb to the top spot of the Emirates ATP Rankings on the European clay. A title in Rome was followed by a run to the final at Roland Garros and the Scot was soaring.

But Murray is the first to admit that his current clay-court campaign is a bit different. Much has changed for the World No. 1 and after consecutive early defeats at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome, he is seeking to rediscover his rhythm on the terre battue of Paris.

While he acknowledges that his struggles are real, Murray believes that he needs to embrace them in order to break from them.

“I haven’t been doing well recently,” Murray told the assembled media prior to his Roland Garros opener. “The last few months have not been good. I haven’t played well. I need to accept that I’m struggling and then find a way to get through it. I will get through it. I’m sure of that. When that happens, I don’t know. Hopefully it happens in a few days. Hopefully happens at this event. If it doesn’t, maybe it happens during the grass.

“But the only way to get through it is to work your way through it, keep working on your game, try and understand what’s not been going right. Although it’s very frustrating, you have to try to enjoy this part of what we do, as well, because the struggles are part of what make the good times so enjoyable. I need to enjoy my struggle a little bit just now and that will help me get through it quicker, I believe. The more frustrated you get, it doesn’t help either. I’ll try and get through it as quickly as I can.

“I don’t know exactly why that happens, what the reason for it is, because I still love the travel, I love practising, I love the training aspect. I still love tennis. But it just happens sometimes. I’m sure everyone in here sometimes maybe hasn’t enjoyed writing stories for a few weeks sometimes. Maybe there are no interesting stories at the time. And it’s not as much fun. Everyone goes through it. But I know why I play tennis; because I love it and I enjoy it. I’ll keep plugging away until I get back to where I want to get to.”

You May Also Like: Nadal, Djokovic In Same Half At Roland Garros

Murray is making his 10th appearance at Roland Garros, with his best result coming last year in finishing runner-up to Novak Djokovic. The top seed opens against Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov. He leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0, having most recently prevailed in Beijing last year.

A potential blockbuster third-round encounter against Juan Martin del Potro awaits the Scot, with eighth seed Kei Nishikori and ninth seed and reigning Rome champion Alexander Zverev also looming in his quarter of the draw. Murray admits that he has been feeling under the weather recently, but says he will be ready to go for the second Grand Slam of the year.

“I still pretty much got everything done that I needed to do,” Murray added. “I was supposed to practise on Monday here. I traveled on Sunday. Sunday afternoon was when I started to feel a bit sick. It was Monday and Tuesday that I didn’t feel great. But I still practised a bit on Tuesday.

“I feel much better just now. I’ve just got a cough, but I was just a bit sick for a couple of days. It’s been frustrating, obviously, because it’s happened the third time this year where I have had to miss days or have been in bed. I’m surprise it hasn’t happened more really, considering the amount that we travel and how long the season is. I have been pretty lucky with that over the last couple of years. I have not had too many sort of bad illnesses.

“So maybe they have just come in a small space of time. But I feel okay now. I will be all good when the tournament starts. It happens. We are in the locker rooms with lots of players, lots of sweat, lots of germs and in airplanes all the time. It happens. I practised a few days in London. It was raining and very cold. But I still tried to practise quite hard through that. Maybe that was why I just picked up a little something.”

Murray is slated to open his Roland Garros campaign on Tuesday. He owns a 34-match win streak in Grand Slam first rounds.

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