Swiatek launches French Open record bid

Agency:

Defending champions Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz powered into the second round of the French Open but fourth seed Taylor Fritz and four-times Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka were unable to avoid the Roland Garros trapdoor on Monday.

Fritz’s fellow American and ninth seed Emma Navarro became another notable victim on an overcast day while former runners-up Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas breezed through with no problems in the day session.

World number one Jannik Sinner endured mild turbulence in the third set before beating local hope Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 in the evening on Court Philippe Chatrier to extend his Grand Slam winning run to 15 matches after lifting last year’s US Open and the Australian Open in January.

The Italian, who came from 4-0 down in the third set, is bidding for more Grand Slam titles after coming back from a three-month doping ban this month.

Swiatek continued her bid to become the first woman to win four straight French Open crowns in the professional era since 1968, thrashing Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-3 for her 22nd successive French Open match win.

“It feels great. I think it was a great first round and a really solid performance,” Swiatek said. Spaniard Alcaraz enjoyed a similarly trouble-free first-round match, easing past Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 before saying he was surprised to find his groove so soon in the tournament.

“I expected a worse level for me,” said Alcaraz. “The first round of every tournament is never easy to adapt your game to the conditions and get used to it. I’m really proud about it. It’s great to have these feelings in the first round.”

Holger Rune, the 10th seed, battled past Roberto Bautista Agut in four sets to join Alcaraz in round two.

Fritz failed to hit his stride in a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 defeat by Daniel Altmaier, the German who famously stunned Sinner two years ago.