French Open day one: British trio crash out, Simona Halep makes it 15 wins in a row, what’s up next

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Andy Murray leaves the court

The final Grand Slam of the year, the French Open, got underway at Roland Garros and here we look back at the highlights of the opening day.

British hopes at the French Open were caught cold with defeats for Andy Murray, Dan Evans and Johanna Konta in the opening round.

Murray suffered a chastening 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 loss to Stan Wawrinka – his joint worst defeat at a Grand Slam – Konta went down in a slew of errors to 16-year-old Coco Gauff while Evans was unfortunate to lose in five sets to Kei Nishikori.

Victoria Azarenka was the biggest critic of the miserable conditions but was impressive against Danka Kovinic, while Simona Halep and Alexander Zverev were also among the winners.

Picture of the day

Austria's Jurij Rodionov celebrates his five-set win over France's Jeremy Chardy
Austria’s Jurij Rodionov celebrates his five-set win over France’s Jeremy Chardy (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)

Quote of the day

“Some of those balls we were using you wouldn’t give to a dog to chew.” – Dan Evans

Stat of the day

Simona Halep blowing kisses

Simona Halep blows a kiss after her first-round win (Christophe Ena/AP)

Simona Halep’s 6-4, 6-0 victory over Sara Sorribes Tormo was her 15th in a row. The top seed has not been beaten since a semi-final loss to Garbine Muguruza at the Australian Open.

Slaloming through the draw

Nineteen-year-old Jannik Sinner is one of the most exciting young talents in the game and it was perhaps no surprise to see him flourish in cold conditions in Paris with an upset victory over 11th seed David Goffin. Before dedicating himself to tennis, Sinner was a champion skier back home in Italy.

Like father, like son

Two sons of former Grand Slam champions have been making their mark in Paris. Emilio Gomez, the son of 1990 Roland Garros champion Andres, came through qualifying and will face Lorenzo Sonego on Monday.

Sebastian Korda is another qualifier and the 20-year-old claimed his first main-draw win at a grand slam by beating Andreas Seppi 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Korda’s father Petr won the Australian Open title in 1998 and made the final in Paris in 1992.

Fallen seeds

Women: Johanna Konta (9), Anett Kontaveit (17), Dayan Yastremska (24)
Men: David Goffin (11), Borna Coric (24), Alex De Minaur (25), Dan Evans (32)

Who’s up next?

 

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Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and new US Open champion Dominic Thiem all get their campaigns under way on Monday.

Nadal, chasing a 13th Roland Garros title, will get his first taste in a match of the heavy balls and slow conditions when he takes on Egor Gerasimov, while Thiem meets Marin Cilic and Williams faces fellow American Kristie Ahn.

British hopes rest on the shoulders of Cameron Norrie and Liam Broady. Qualifier Broady makes his main-draw debut against Jiri Vesely, while Norrie takes on Daniel Elahi Galan of Colombia.

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Andy Murray Coco Gauff Victoria Azarenka

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