Staff Reporter.
@FrenchOpen.
Russia’s Daria Kasatkina delivered an early surprise at the French Open on Wednesday as she knocked 10th seed Belinda Bencic out in the second round.
The 24-year-old cruised through in straight sets, winning 6-2 6-2 in one hour and 16 minutes on Court Simonne-Mathieu at Roland Garros in Paris.
The world number 37 will now face the winner of Sorana Cirstea against Martina Trevisan in the third round.
Slovenia’s Tamara Zidansek also progressed in straight sets.
The 23-year-old beat American Madison Brengle 6-4 6-1 and awaits the winner of the game between Katerina Siniakova and Veronika Kudermetova.
Meanwhile World number six Alexander Zverev reached the third round of the French Open with a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 7-6 (7-1) victory over qualifier Roman Safiullin.
Zverev, 24, was ragged, producing 10 double faults and needing two tie-breaks to beat a stubborn opponent.
The German’s unpredictable service game came under pressure but held firm when it mattered to see him through.
Zverev has never been past the quarter-finals at Roland Garros but has managed to avoid Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in his side of the draw.
But he has opened his campaign in Paris with two games against qualifiers and was two sets down against Oscar Otte in round one and was tested by Safiullin, ranked 182 in the world.
He will need to find more consistency if he is to come close to claiming his first Grand Slam title.