Wozniacki Leads Seeds Holding Firm on Day 2 at French Open; Serena Leads Tuesday Highlights

It was an odd day of status quo at the French Open on Monday, with only one seeded upset, and only one set lost by the other 10 seeds in action.
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No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki led the fine form among the seeds, holding off a spirited attack from two-time NCAA champion Danielle Collins 7-6(2), 6-1.

“It feels great, a little bit less pressure,” said the reigning Australian Open champion Wozniacki afterwards. “I kind of feel like I have one Grand Slam now, so no matter what happens, no one can take that away from me. I’m just out here trying to enjoy every match and every moment of it.”

Other Top 10 winners were No. 6 Karolina Pliskova defeating Czech qualifier Barbora Krejcikova 7-6(6), 6-4, and No. 8 Petra Kvitova recovering to defeat Paraguay’s Veronica Cepede Royg 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.

“I think at least a little bit lucky [to finish before the rain], because the conditions were not great for me today,” said last year’s semifinalist Pliskova. “From the beginning of the match I felt, like, kind of slow. The conditions pretty humid and I felt like the water is in the air. I checked the forecast and it should be raining already like two hours before, I knew it was going to probably start rain during the match.”

Lower seeds who did not drop a set in Monday action were No. 13 Madison Keys, No. 14 Daria Kasatkina, No. 15 CoCo Vandeweghe, No. 19 Magdalena Rybarikova, No. 21 Naomi Osaka, No. 23 Carla Suarez Navarro, and No. 31 Mihaela Buzarnescu.

The travails of Kristina Mladenovic continued as the No. 29-seeded Frenchwoman fell 7-6(10), 6-2 in the lone upset on the day to German veteran Andrea Petkovic.

“I think I played solid and I did what I had to do,” said the 2014 semifinalist Petkovic. “I’ve beaten her many times before. The thing that bothers her most about my game is that I return really well and neutralize her serve. That was difficult for me today because we’re playing on clay and she has a really good kick serve. But I knew what I had to do, stuck with the game plan and what I know has worked in the past. There were a lot of emotions because it was an important win for me and I know it was a difficult moment for her.”

Mladenovic admitted it was a match-up problem for her.

“I was expecting a difficult match, because I never found a way to win Andrea in singles,” she said. “I think she likes the way I hit my shots. We all know what the good points and the bad points of other players, but I don’t really know hers.”

Notable results in all-unseeded action were former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka falling to Czech Katerina Siniakova 7-5, 7-5, and Belinda Bencic staving off five match points to defeat Italian qualifier Deborah Chiesa 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-5.

“I had some good practice days finally after Rome, but it didn’t come out on the court today,” Azarenka said afterwards. “Obviously, losing a first round is very disappointing. Even though I’m doing good things in practice, I am not able to transfer it to the match…I can have some time to prepare now and take another two weeks to do a little bit of more, like, preseason training which I really, really need.”

Matches to look for Tuesday at Roland Garros are Serena Williams vs. Kristyna Pliskova, (1) Simona Halep vs. Alison Riske, (3) Garbine Muguruza vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova, (11) Julia Goerges vs. Dominika Cibulkova, and (12) Angie Kerber vs. Mona Barthel.