Cape Town - South Africa’s top tennis player, Kevin Anderson, has sailed into the second round of the French Open after a straight-sets victory over Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi on Tuesday.
Anderson, the world No 7, won 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to claim his fifth straight win over the Italian journeyman, who is ranked 74th on the ATP rankings.
In his next match, Anderson will face 75th-ranked Pablo Cuevas from Uruguay, who beat Aljaz Bedene from Slovenia 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
The 2.03m South African, who is seeded sixth at the French Open, is drawn in the same half as world No 1 Rafael Nadal, with the duo scheduled to meet in the quarter-finals.
Anderson’s best performance at the French Open is reaching the fourth round on three occasions - in 2013, 2014 and 2017.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s top doubles player, Raven Klaasen, also got off to a winning start at the French Open when he and New Zealand partner Michael Venus won their first round match against the French wildcard duo of Alexandre Muller and Corentin Denolly, 6-3, 6-3.
Klaasen and Venus are the 10th seeds.
Results from day three of the French Open at Roland Garros on Tuesday (x denotes seeding):
Men
First round
Denis Shapovalov (CAN x24) bt John Millman (AUS) 7-5, 6-4, 6-2
Maximilian Marterer (GER) bt Ryan Harrison (USA) 6-1, 6-3, 7-5
Kevin Anderson (RSA x6) bt Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) 6-1, 6-2, 6-4
Marin Cilic (CRO x3) bt James Duckworth (AUS) 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4)
Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) bt Evgeny Donskoy (RUS) 6-1, 6-3, 6-0
Women
First round
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) bt Johanna Larsson (SWE) 6-4, 6-3
Fiona Ferro (FRA) bt Carina Witthoeft (GER) 6-4, 6-2
Samantha Stosur (AUS) bt Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) 6-2, 6-4
