Parry dethrones Krejcikova; Nadal cruises past Thompson

 

Anisimova stuns Osaka again; Swiatek extends unbeaten run to 29; Kontaveit knocked out; Alcaraz too good for Londero. Barbora Krejcikova’s French Open title defence ended in the opening round on Monday as local hope Diane Parry was roared to a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory against the second-seeded Czech.

Rafael Nadal began his pursuit of a record-extending 14th French Open title with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Australian World No. 82 Jordan Thompson.

Fifth seed Nadal improved his Roland Garros record to 106 wins and just three losses since his 2005 title-winning debut.

“I’m very happy with the victory today. I’m happy to get through in three sets,” said Nadal, seeded outside the top four in Paris for just the second time in his career. “It’s a first round, a positive match for me. Straight sets but with significant room for improvement.”

The Spaniard will play Corentin Moutet in round two after the French wildcard defeated 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka in four sets.

Krejcikova arrived at Roland Garros without any competitive matches under her belt since February due to an elbow injury. But she breezed through the opening set against the 97th-ranked Parry, who was facing a top-10 opponent for the first time in her career, before her rustiness showed. And the 19-year-old Parry cashed in on it.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka fell at the first hurdle, losing 5-7, 4-6 to American Amanda Anisimova. Twice Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova rallied from 2-5 to take the first set against Hungarian Anna Bondar in the tie-breaker before cruising through the second.

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek put on a commanding display against Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko, winning 6-2, 6-0 and extending her unbeaten streak to 29 matches. Fifth-seeded Anett Kontaveit was knocked out, the fourth top-10 player to fall before the end of the second day. Kontaveit lost 6-7(5), 5-7 to Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic.

On Sunday, Carlos Alcaraz steamrolled Argentine lucky loser Juan Ignacio Londero 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 to kick off his campaign in style.