French Open: Petkovic out too – debacle for German women – French Open – tennis

But Struff was not deterred and made the decisive break to 2-1 in the fifth set. With a strong service winner, he made the surprise perfect and then let the spectators celebrate on court 14.

Victories for Kohlschreiber and Krawietz

A little later, Philipp Kohlschreiber also had a success in the duel between the veterans and Fernando Verdasco. On his 16th participation in Paris, the 37-year-old Augsburg defeated the Spaniard of the same age 7: 6 (7: 3), 6: 2, 2: 6, 6: 4. His best results in Roland Garros were the round of 16 in 2009 and 2013. For the Augsburg resident, a long wait passed when he took part in Paris for the 16th time – he had not won a match at tour level since February 2020. “It was really a brutally long time”said Kohlschreiber: “Of course, a win like that helps incredibly now. I’ve missed a few chances in the last few weeks.”

Defending champion Kevin Krawietz also got off to a successful start in doubles – and that without his partner Andreas Mies, who is in reconstruction after a knee operation. So the Coburg Krawietz serves on the side of the Romanian Horia Tecau. Together they managed a 6: 3, 3: 6, 7: 6 (7: 5) win against Gonzalo Escobar / Ariel Behar (Ecuador / Uruguay). “It’s a common thing that we’ve seen over the past two years”said Krawietz about the absence of Mies: “Of course it feels weird now to show up here with another partner. Andi is following the matches on TV and I hope that he will get fit again as soon as possible.”

Nadal and Barty continue with a little effort

Top favorite Rafael Nadal has also reached the second round as expected. The 13-time Paris champion won on Tuesday against Australian Alexei Popyrin 6: 3, 6: 2, 7: 6 (7: 3). The 34-year-old Spaniard only had a few problems in the third set and was 2: 5 behind. But Nadal fought his way back and made progress after 2:23 hours.

The tournament co-favorite Ashleigh Barty had to fight harder than expected at her opening match in Paris. The world number one from Australia was beaten by the US-American Bernarda Pera on Tuesday in a match over 2:00 hours with 6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 2. Barty, who skipped the French Open in Paris last year because of the corona crisis, with defending champion Iga Swiatek from Poland and Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) are among the narrower circle of contenders for the triumph of the clay court classic.

The Ukrainian Elina Switolina also has many experts on the slip. The 26-year-old lived up to expectations in her 6: 2, 7: 5 first round win against Frenchwoman Oceane Babel.

Kvitova out after falling at the press conference

For the two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova, however, the Grand Slam tournament is over prematurely for a curious reason. “During my press meetings after the game on Sunday, I fell and injured my ankle. Unfortunately, after an MRI and a meeting with my team, I made the difficult decision that it would be unwise to play with it.”the Czech wrote on Twitter. In the first round, the 31-year-old prevailed against Greet Minnen from Belgium, then her mishap happened. “It’s unbelievable bad luck, but I will stay strong and do my best to get fit in time for the grass season”wrote Kvitova.

dpa/sid/red
|
Stand: 01.06.2021, 21:09