French Open 2023 First Round kicked off on Sunday, May 28 with no surprise results in the men's singles event. However, the world no.5 Stefanos Tsitsipas survived an early elimination as he took four sets to beat Czech's Jiri Vesley. This was a 50th Grand Slam career win for Tsitsipas as he achieved consecutive 200 weeks in the ATP top 10. Another top-ten-seeded star Andrey Rublev battled through four sets to progress to the second round to avoid surprises on Day 1.
Tsitsipas, 24, won the first two sets 7-5, 6-3 but Vesley made a good comeback in the third to stretch the game to a fourth set. But the Greek star survived the fourth set with a 6-7 win. Tsitsipas enjoyed only 72% first-serve success while Versely struggled in second-serve with just a 53% success rate. Rublev also had a decent start in his first-round game against the Serbian no. 60 Laslo Djere. Rublev had to work hard despite winning the opening set by 6-1. He lost the second set but managed to win the game by 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the second round.
In another surprising result, star Polish player Hubert Hurkacz survived a five-set scare against David Goffin by 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to avoid getting knocked out in the first round. Hurkacz next face Tallon Griekspoor in the second round while Tsisipas takes on Spanish star Roberto Carballes Barna on May 31.
Eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari knocked out at Roland-Garros
In the women's singles event, fans witness a big upset as eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari was knocked out by Karolina Muchova in a direct set 6-7, 5-7 in the first round. The Greek star reached the semi-final rounds in Indian Wells and Madrid Open to regain some form ahead of the second Grand Slam of the year. But her journey ended in the first round as the world no. 43 Karolina Muchova proved too strong from the beginning to cause the first upset of the tournament.
But other top-ten-seeded Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula recorded easy wins in their first-round matches to progress to the next round. Tournament favorites Iga Swiatek faces Cristina Bucsa and last year's runner-up Coco Gauff takes on Spanish player Rebeka Masarova in the first round on Monday, May 29.
