Paris, May 23 (UNI) World No. 5 Rafael Nadal hastened to a 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Australian Jordan Thompson on Monday to assert an encouraging opening round success at Roland Garros.
A 13-time champion at Roland Garros, the King of Clay Courts, had question marks coming into the French Open after a protracted foot problem ignited in Rome earlier this month. But, Nadal razed down the 82nd-ranked Thompson, polishing off the match in two hours to book a second-round meeting with French lefty Corentin Moutet.
Against Moutet, Nadal will be seeking the 300th Grand Slam match-win of his career.
Meanwhile, Diane Parry floored the home fans assembled at Roland Garros. She ended Barbora Krejcikova's Roland Garros title defence in the very first round as the Czech world No.2 endured the jolt 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 to the French teenager on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Confronting a top-10 player for the first time in her career, Parry rattled her opponent as she brought about a conspicuous win before her home fans who were crooning "Parry, Parry" at every bit of the closing stages of the over two-hour battle.
The world No.97 is the lowest-ranked woman to beat a No.2 seed at Roland-Garros since No.114 Arantxa Rus upset Kim Clijsters here in 2011.
Parry will face 20-year-old Colombian Camila Osorio in the second round.
In another match, World No.1 Iga Swiatek picked up 29 straight matches this season. She needed just 54 minutes to romp home at Court Philippe-Chatrier, posting a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko on Monday.
The 2020 Roland-Garros champion extended her current streak to 29 match-wins in a row and is searching for a sixth consecutive title this fortnight.
With this loss, Tsurenko fell to 0-7 lifetime against reigning world No.1s.
In yet another match, Amanda Anisimova doubled up against Naomi Osaka.
Osaka took on American No.27 seed Amanda Anisimova for a second consecutive major at Court Suzanne-Lenglen. Anisimova had trounced her at the Australian Open earlier this year and she suffered the same fate here today, being thrashed 7-5, 6-4 by big-hitting American.
The first three games of the contest went against serve before Anisimova consolidated her advantage for a 3-1 lead.
The Japanese star broke back though, drawing level two games later and the pair remained neck and neck until Anisimova broke to edge ahead 6-5. The 20-year-old American wrapped up the set 7-5 on the 46-minute mark.
Anisimova made her move in game seven of the second set, and despite seeing two match points slip as she was serving for the win, she fired a signature down-the-line backhand to secure her passage to round two.
Her next opponent will be Croatian qualifier Donna Vekic.
Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu fought back from a set and a break down en route to a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 win over Belgian qualifier Ysaline Bonaventure.
After leading 2-0 in the first set, Andreescu fell behind 3-6, 0-2 to the left-handed Bonaventure, who came into the match battle-tested with three qualifying wins under her belt.
Andreescu clawed her way back into the contest and took the second set 7-5. She opened up a 3-0 lead in the decider before play was interrupted due to rain.
Upon resumption of play, the Canadian rolled through the next three games to punch her ticket to the second round, where she took on Olympic champion and N.14 seed Belinda Bencic.
Two-time Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka, the No.15 seed, came back from a set and a break down to battle past Romanian Ana Bogdan 6-7(7), 7-6(1), 6-2, while double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, the No.32 seed, took out Hungarian Anna Bondar 7-6(0), 6-1.
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