Fed cruises, Venus, Cecchinato crash out on French Open first day
Paris: Seven-time grand slam winner Venus Williams was knocked out in the first round on the opening day of the French Open on Sunday.
Williams succumbed to Elina Svitolina, who won 6-3, 6-3 in 73 minutes.
Williams, 38, had 34 unforced errors and lost seven break points to hand the ninth-seeded Ukrainian an easy victory.
Elsewhere on Sunday, Australian wildcard Alexei Popyrin overcame the challenge of Frenchman Ugo Humbert 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (12-10), 6-3 in a match that lasted nearly three hours.
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Last year's semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato of Italy was knocked out 2-6, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 by French wildcard Nicolas Mahut.
In a match that lasted three hours and 18 minutes, Mahut had 56 winners and won 47 points at the net to beat the 16th seed who is ranked more than 230 places above him.
Womens' second seed Karolina Pliskova eased past American Madison Brengle 6-2, 6-3. Slovak qualifier Kristina Kucova reached the second round for the first time with a 6-4, 6-2 win over former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Although Kuznetsova hit 24 winners to Kucova's 18, the Russian made 25 unforced errors to bow out in the opening round.
Mens' third seed Roger Federer was in control throughout his contest with Italy's Lorenzo Sonego, winning 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 on his return to Roland Garros.
The 37-year-old Swiss legend was never really troubled by the Italian, who playing in the main draw for the first time.
Greek youngster Stefanos Tsitsipas's style, and his calm, have already drawn comparisons with 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer, yet the Greek sensation may in fact have more in common with claycourt master Rafa Nadal.
The sixth seed reached the second round of the French Open on Sunday with a no-nonsense 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) victory against German Maximilian Marterer, with few fans to witness the feat as most of the crowd were grabbing lunch in the revamped Roland Garros before Federer made his return on the new court Philippe Chatrier.
Those who skipped the match missed Tsitsipas's ease on the red dirt.
"Learning tennis on clay is very good for your body, for your development. It's a way to learn how to slide, basically learn the basics of tennis," the 20-year-old told reporters.
"Then you can move to hard [courts]. That's my personal opinion. I probably practised… I don't know, I might be wrong… but I practised since the age of six up to the age of 14 on clay.
"Probably more than Rafa," he added with a laugh.
Tsitsipas made a name for himself by beating 11-time French Open champion Rafa Nadal in the Madrid Open semi-finals earlier this month before losing to Novak Djokovic in the final.
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The result boosted his confidence ahead of Roland Garros, one of his favourite tournaments – only Wimbledon trumps the Parisian event for him, but the surface is not the reason.
"I like Roland Garros because it's the only Grand Slam on clay, I grew up playing on clay. I love the crowd. They are very respectful," he explained.
"Well, obviously they're going to support the French guys if I play the French guys. The clay makes it very special. And also, I would say that after Wimbledon, Roland Garros is probably one of my favourites.
"My dream is to win it one day because of the history and because of the tradition."
Next up for Tsitsipas is Bolivian Hugo Dellien, with Federer a potential opponent in the quarter-finals.
Reuters, AP