French Open: Gauff, Jabeur race through their openers; join Swiatek, Osaka in second round (Ld)

Paris, May 27 (IANS) American star Coco Gauff scored a swift win as did No.8 seed Ons Jabeur, who also kicked off her campaign on the right foot in women’s singles first round at the French Open here on Monday. Gauff, the third seed, put paid to Grand Slam debutante Julia Avdeeva’s hopes of an upset on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, running out a convincing 6-1, 6-1 winner in just 52 minutes.
Jabeur started off her Roland Garros campaign with a solid 6-3, 6-2 defeat of wildcard Sachia Vickery in one hour and 21 minutes on the same court but under the roof.
It was not until the sixth game that the 21-year-old Gauff managed to hold to get her name on the board but it was merely delaying the inevitable as Gauff held to love on a confident drop shot at the 24-minute mark. There was no hiding the looks of despair and mutterings of helplessness towards her box when Avdeeva was broken in the opening game of the second set.
It was all going wrong for Avdeeva. A head clash with the umpire when the pair both leaned in to inspect a ball mark momentarily stopped play before she returned to the baseline with a grin and a red mark on her forehead.
Unfortunately for Avdeeva, it did nothing to slow the 2022 finalist’s progression to a second-round meeting with the 2021 semifinalist and another qualifier, Tamara Zidansek.
Having readily admitted to struggles on serve throughout the European clay-court swing, what had been Gauff’s Achilles heel leading in had become her greatest asset on Monday.
Jabeur, the three-time Grand Slam finalist, comes into Paris seeking some consistent form following a stop-start first half of the season. Injuries, particularly a long-term knee issue, have beset Jabeur in 2024 and her record ahead of this week was just six wins to nine losses.
A quarterfinal run in Madrid offered hope of a turnaround, but Jabeur’s run in that tournament ended with a third-set collapse against Madison Keys, followed by an opening exit in Rome to Sofia Kenin.
However, Jabeur was in a confident mood after an efficient win over a third American opponent in a row. She said she overcame some early tension and managed to “play in a relaxed way” as the match went on.
No.8 seed Ons Jabeur kicked off her Roland Garros campaign with a solid 6-3, 6-2 defeat of wild card Sachia Vickery in 1 hour and 21 minutes under the Court Suzanne-Lenglen roof.
The three-time Grand Slam finalist comes into Paris seeking some consistent form following a stop-start first half of the season. Injuries, particularly a long-term knee issue, have beset Jabeur in 2024 and her record ahead of this week was just six wins to nine losses. A quarterfinal run in Madrid offered hope of a turnaround, but Jabeur’s run in that tournament ended with a third-set collapse against Madison Keys, followed by an opening exit in Rome to Sofia Kenin.
However, Jabeur was in a confident mood after an efficient win over a third American opponent in a row. She said she overcame some early tension and managed to “play in a relaxed way” as the match went on.
She got off to a quick start in each set, capturing the Vickery serve at the first opportunity both times. She was able to keep her nose in front throughout, dropping serve only once (and facing just one other breakpoint outside that game). In total, she tallied 30 winners to 28 unforced errors.
The Tunisian will next face either 2023 Rome finalist Anhelina Kalinina or two-time Bogota champion Camila Osorio, against both of whom she holds a 2-0 head-to-head record.
Earlier in the day, Women’s world No.1 Iga Swiatek opened her title defense on Monday with a trademark performance, romping to a straight sets victory against local qualifier Leolia Jeanjean on Court Philippe-Chatrier in the French capital.
Swiatek surged to a 6-1, 6-2 victory in quick time, thus registering her 15th consecutive win in the French Open, improving her first-round record at Roland Garros to 6-0. She is the first woman to win 15 consecutive matches at the French Open since Justine Henin, who took 24 consecutive matches between 2005-10.
She next faces Naomi Osaka in the second round, who held off Bronzetti in three sets.
–IANS
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