Djokovic Advances In Rainy Roland Garros, Wawrinka Ousted; Nadal To Finish Tues.
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Novak Djokovic wasn’t at his best but for the former French Open champion got through Brazilian qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Djokovic was broken three times and was just +1 in the winners/errors ratio.
“I’m starting to play better,” said Djokovic after his 60th French Open win. “I feel like, in the past couple of weeks, [I’ve] not been thinking about the elbow [and] playing pain-free, which is the most important thing at the moment… I played enough to win. I think I had some really good moments in the match and some not that great… But it was good for the first match. It was a good test.”
Meanwhile, on Lenglen, Stan Wawrinka shook off a first set knee issue and found his form, but fell in the final set to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3.
Wawrinka, who’s ranked down to No. 30 this week, will fall outside of the Top 250 after his 1,200 finalist points from last year drop off.
Next for Djokovic is a Spaniard but not former finalist David Ferrer. Instead, No. 155 Jaume Munar came from two sets down to stun Ferrer 3-6, 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(4), 7-5 in 4 hours, 15 minutes.
“It’s the most important victory of my career,” said the 21-year-old Munar. “Regardless of how the match went, I came back two-sets-to-love down to a role model in David Ferrer, doing it at Roland Garros, on clay and in a match like this. It has been a dream come true. This victory is a confirmation that I have taken a step forward.”
The man who eliminated Djokovic a year ago, Dominic Thiem, rolled into the second round basting past Ilya Ivashka.
Borna Coric was a good 4-set winner over Philipp Kohlschreiber. Sam Querrey cruised past Frances Tiafoe. Richard Gasquet also pounded Andreas Seppi dropping just five games and youngsters Karen Khachanov and Stefanos Tsitsipas also advanced.
Qualifier Earnests Gulbis got through as well.
In the story of the day, lucky loser Marco Trungelitti beat Bernard Tomic in four sets. Trungelitti was home with his family in Barcelona 24 hours earlier, but when he heard the news Nick Kyrgios withdrew, he and his loved ones piled into a car and made the 10 hour or so drive to Paris. He showed up in time for sign-in and despite little sleep and practice, he won the 11am encounter with the Australian.
It’s the third straight year Trungelitti has made the French Open second round.
“It’s beautiful,” he said. “We needed a grandma, for sure, always,” he joked. “But then — no, beautiful. Just to have half an hour to pack the luggage, the baggage, and then we left.”
“The trip was okay. We didn’t really have to stop,” Trungelliti added.
“I wish I could sleep for a day and a half.”
Tomorrow, Rafael Nadal will look to finish off a feisty Simone Bolelli who is up a break in the third before the rains called play just before 8pm. Juan Martin del Potro will test his groin against Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut.
Marin Cilic opens play seeking a sweep of the four Slam finals. Denis Shapovalov is also in action.
TUESDAY FRENCH OPEN SCHEDULE
Court Philippe-Chatrier Play starts at 11am
Marin CILIC (CRO) [3] vs James DUCKWORTH (AUS)
Not before 12pm
Rafael NADAL (ESP) [1] vs Simone BOLELLI (ITA)
To be completed: Nadal leads 6-4 6-3 0-3
Kristyna PLISKOVA (CZE) vs Serena WILLIAMS (USA)
Jeremy CHARDY (FRA) vs Tomas BERDYCH (CZE) [17]
Simona HALEP (ROU) [1] vs Alison RISKE (USA)
Court Suzanne-Lenglen
Play starts at 11am
Denis SHAPOVALOV (CAN) [24] vs John MILLMAN (AUS)
Maria SHARAPOVA (RUS) [28] vs Richel HOGENKAMP (NED)
Yingying DUAN (CHN) vs Caroline GARCIA (FRA) [7]
Nicolas MAHUT (FRA) vs Juan Martin DEL POTRO (ARG) [5]
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