It’s already over for Nick Kyrgios beaten by big server Kevin Anderson. The South African rallied from a set and a break down to stun the 18th seed 5-7 6-4 6-1 6-2. He will face Kyle Edmund in the third round.
Enjoy a few pictures from Kyrgios’ practice session with Jack Sock on Saturday.
Lleyton Hewitt was watching his fellow compatriot at work:
Mats Wilander who knows a thing or two about winning the French Open, said Zverev made a beginner’s mistake by accepting to stop play at one set all against Verdasco on Monday evening. It was 8.30, Zverev had just leveled the match at one set apiece, had the momentum, and had time to play and win the third set before darkness. But they stopped.
A good move for the experienced Verdasco, a dangerous floater, who enjoys those big matches on big courts. A bad move for the young Zverev who probably underestimated his opponent, and listened a bit too much to media and fans who saw him as a contender for the victory here this year. Result: 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-2 for Verdasco.
It is the first time since 1957 and Nicolas Pietrangelli defeat to Mal Anderson, that the Rome champion falls in the opening round at Roland Garros.
Enjoy a few pictures from Alexander’s practice on Thursday:
The 2009 US Open champion returns to Roland Garros for the first time since his quarterfinal loss to Federer in 2012, and won his opening match 6-2 6-1 6-4 over qualifier and recent Munich finalist Guido Pella. He faces Nicolas Almagro tomorrow on court 2.
Enjoy a few pictures from his training session last Friday:
Now that Novak Djokovic has switched from Uniqlo to Lacoste, Kei Nishikori is the only top player sponsored by the Japanese brand. Let’s take a look at the outfit he will be wearing on the Parisian clay courts:
It’s already over for world number one Angelique Kerber knocked out by Eketerina Makarova 6-2 6-2. Given Kerber’s pretty bad results this year, it hardly comes as a surprise.
With that defeat, she became the first top-seed woman in the Open era to lose in the opening round at Roland Garros. She joins Virginia Ruzici (Australian Open 1979), Steffi Graf (Wimbledon 1994) and Martina Hingis (Wimbledon 1999 and 2001) as top seed who have fallen in the first round of a Grand Slam.
I watched Kerber at practice on court Lenglen on Thursday and I must say I was impressed neither by the intensity nor the quality of her training session. Enjoy a few pictures:
Nadal, Djokovic, Lendl, Wilander... they all took part to the 16 and under Summer Cup held each year in Le Touquet. Discover the tennis stars of tomorrow.
Lower tournaments are a good opportunity to discover young players in the making like Karen Khachanov and Quentin Halys, or some charismatic veteran players like Rudy Coco.