Staff Reporter.
@Rolandgarros.
Carlos Alcaraz opened his French Open title defense Monday with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Giulio Zeppieri, an Italian qualifier who is ranked 310th.
Alcaraz won all 14 of his service games, saving the three break points he faced, at Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
“It was really, really solid,” Alcaraz said. “Really proud about my start.”
Elsewhere in the men’s bracket, fourth-seeded American Taylor Fritz crashed out of the tournament Monday after a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 loss to Daniel Altmaier of Germany.
Swiatek and Badosa cruises through
Iga Swiatek and Paula Badosa both said they were inspired by the great Rafael Nadal in their first-round French Open victories.
Three-time defending champion Swiatek, along Alcaraz, were in the crowd for a tribute ceremony to 14-time champion Nadal on Sunday.
On Monday, the Pole claimed her 22nd successive French Open match win as she beat Slovakia’s Sramkova 6-3 6-3 in Paris.
“I knew the cameras were on Carlos [Alcaraz] behind me so I needed to be brave, but seeing Rafa crying makes me more emotional,” Swiatek said.
“It’s great the tennis world could show their appreciation and tell Rafa we are really thankful for everything he did. He is a huge inspiration.
“Even when he’s not playing, even him being here yesterday inspired me a lot. Thanks Rafa.”
Badosa paid tribute to her fellow Spaniard after a hard-fought 6-7 (1-7) 6-1 6-4 victory over four-time major champion Naomi Osaka.
Pointing to the silver plaque featuring Nadal’s footprint next to the net post on Court Philippe Chatrier, Badosa said: “When I was 7-6 down the first thing I did was to look over there, to get inspiration from Rafa.
“I was like ‘come on Paula, you have to fight like he would’.
“Thanks Rafa. We really miss you.”
Swiatek, bidding for a fifth French Open title in six years, has suffered a downturn in form in recent months and dropped to fifth in the world rankings.
For the first time since 2020, she arrives at the clay-court major without winning a WTA title in the first five months of the season.
Swiatek is known for making a fast start but she had to fight her way through her first service game against 42nd-ranked Sramkova.
She won the final three games of the first set to take the lead but was broken to 15 in the opening game of the second.
However, Swiatek stuck in, breaking back for 3-3 before winning the next three games to set up a meeting with Britain’s Emma Raducanu.
Afterwards, Swiatek recalled speaking to Nadal in Paris in 2021 after his semi-final loss to Novak Djokovic – the same year Swiatek’s title defence ended in the quarter-finals.
“I was devastated that he lost and the next day, he was just sitting there after breakfast or something, and I asked him how does he feel?” Swiatek said.
“He was chill. He was like, ‘oh, it’s just a tennis match. I’ll get many more chances’. “I was like, what? Why am I crying if he’s not crying?”
Former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina battled past Argentinian qualifier Julia Riera 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, two days after lifting her first WTA title since April 2024 in Strasbourg.
American ninth seed Emma Navarro suffered an embarrassing 6-0, 6-1 loss to Spanish world number 68 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in just 57 minutes, only winning a game when her opponent double-faulted to gift her a break when serving for a double-bagel victory.