Defending champion Rafael Nadal beat German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann in straight sets to reach the French Open second round.
Paris:
But, after a slow start in the opening game, the Spaniard looked increasingly comfortable on his favourite surface as he claimed the first set. Hanfmann won just one point in the first three games of the second, but recovered to hold his next service game. Nadal soon got another break to go 5-1 up, though, and quickly wrapped up the second set.
Former Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki says she “ran out of steam” in a surprise first-round defeat by Russian world number 68 Veronika Kudermetova.
The Danish 13th seed lost 0-6 6-3 6-3 despite winning the first seven games and said her opponent had “got lucky”. Wozniacki, who wore strapping on her left calf, won 62% of the total points in the opening set but crumbled in the second and was broken three times.
The second seed, chasing a record-extending 12th Roland Garros title, beat the world number 180 6-2 6-1 6-3. After saving four break points in the first game, 17-time Grand Slam winner Nadal dominated throughout. The 32-year-old won his first title since August at the Italian Open earlier in May.
Nadal will face German qualifier Yannick Maden in the second round.
Despite dominating clay-court tournaments in the build-up to the French Open in previous years, the win in Rome was Nadal’s only 2019 final on the red dirt.
But, after a slow start in the opening game, the Spaniard looked increasingly comfortable on his favourite surface as he claimed the first set. Hanfmann won just one point in the first three games of the second, but recovered to hold his next service game. Nadal soon got another break to go 5-1 up, though, and quickly wrapped up the second set.
Former Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki says she “ran out of steam” in a surprise first-round defeat by Russian world number 68 Veronika Kudermetova.
The Danish 13th seed lost 0-6 6-3 6-3 despite winning the first seven games and said her opponent had “got lucky”. Wozniacki, who wore strapping on her left calf, won 62% of the total points in the opening set but crumbled in the second and was broken three times.