Paris — Former world No 1 Daniil Medvedev of Russia paid the price for an early meltdown as he stumbled out of the French Open with a 7-5 6-3 4-6 1-6 7-5 first-round defeat by SA-born Brit Cameron Norrie on Tuesday.
At the same time Coco Gauff forgot to bring her rackets to the court but reminded her rivals of her title ambitions with a commanding win.
Medvedev’s composure disintegrated as he surrendered eight consecutive games after opening a 3-1 lead in the first set, his frustration boiling over in a series of animated gestures towards his bewildered coaching team.
With the vocal support of the Simonne Matthieu Court crowd, the 2021 US Open champion found his groove despite windy conditions to win the third set and bag the fourth after claiming a remarkable 16 consecutive points.
Norrie was born in Johannesburg and is the grandson of former Daily Dispatch editor Glyn Williams. He reached the semifinals at the Geneva Open last week, and appeared out of ideas on how to outwit the elastic Medvedev, who broke for 2-1 in the decider with a lightning-fast passing shot.
The Brit, however, found the resources to break back before wrapping up victory on his first match point to hand 11th seed Medvedev his sixth first-round loss at Roland Garros.
“It was a great atmosphere, I felt a lot of energy. It was a crazy match, I deserve a diploma for beating him since he beat me the last four, five times,” Norrie said.
Coco Gauff forgot to bring her rackets to the court but reminded her rivals of her title ambitions with a commanding win.
Former Roland Garros runner-up Gauff provided early comic relief as the second seed grinned sheepishly and showed her empty bag to her entourage, who scampered to reunite her with her equipment before she thumped Olivia Gadecki 6-2 6-2.
“Honestly, I thought they put the rackets in the bag, and my side court bag is filled with drinks and everything,” Gauff told Sloane Stephens on TNT. “So it felt like I had enough weight.”
The Madrid and Rome finalist made up for the delayed start by easing through the first three games and wrapped up the opening set with a battling hold after dropping her service earlier. There was no looking back from there as Gauff tightened her grip on the contest despite the challenging conditions.
Gauff’s compatriot and former runner-up Sofia Kenin also advanced to the second round after a 6-3 6-1 win over French No 1 Varvara Gracheva, while Hailey Baptiste beat 2023 semifinalist Beatriz Haddad Maia 4-6 6-3 6-1.
Former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka became the oldest woman in the professional era since 1968 to win a singles Grand Slam main-draw match with a 6-0 6-0 scoreline after the 35-year-old dished out a double bagel to Yanina Wickmayer.
Markets Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion, breezed past Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-4 6-4 while sixth-seed Mirra Andreeva beat Cristina Bucsa 6-4 6-3 to underline her title credentials after an inspired run to last year’s semifinals.
On the men’s side, 2024 runner-up Alexander Zverev had no such trouble as he cruised into the second round in his latest bid to win an elusive Grand Slam title after losing three Major finals including at this year’s Australian Open. Third-seed Zverev sealed a comprehensive 6-3 6-3 6-4 victory over American Learner Tien.
It was the end of the road for Bulgarian veteran Grigor Dimitrov, however, after the 16th seed pulled up with injury against Ethan Quinn to exit a fourth straight Grand Slam due to retirement.
Reuters
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.