Maria Sakkari may have the number 7 seed tag, but she is far from all-risk insurance in the first round of a Grand Slam. Varvara Gracheva rushed into the gap to sign the French surprise of a very complicated day so far (3-6, 6-4, 6-3).
On paper, only Swiatek-Jeanjean seemed more unbalanced against the French this Monday. Gracheva, 88th player in the world, nevertheless managed to overturn a poorly started game. On the Simonne-Mathieu court, Sakkari secured the victory of the first round. But Gracheva, Russian by birth but having chosen French sporting nationality after being naturalized in 2023, rebelled from the start of the second round. She led 4-1 before seeing the Greek tumble in her rearview mirror until she came back level (4-4). However, she was able to remain lucid to conclude the set and equalize.
First French success of the day
The last act had fewer twists and turns. Gracheva hesitated slightly at the moment to conclude on her service game, but she still won the fourth victory of her career against a Top 10. The first French success of the day.
For her part, Maria Sakkari, former Porte d’Auteuil semi-finalist, lost for the second year in a row in the first round of Roland-Garros. Last year, she lost to top seed Karolina Muchova. The Czech then advanced to the final. But before thinking about the Philippe-Chatrier court next Saturday June 8, Gracheva will first have to plan against the winner of the duel between Bernarda Pera and Nao Hibino.
