Paris: Alexander Zverev survived a bruising four-hour battle to reach the French Open second round on Tuesday while dangerman Juan Martin del Potro also progressed.
German fifth seed Zverev, a quarter-finalist in Paris in 2018, battled past Australia’s John Millman 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 2-6, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3.
The champion in Geneva last weekend fired 57 winners past world number 56 Millman who stunned Roger Federer at the US Open last year.
However, he also committed 73 unforced errors on a blustery day in the French capital.
“John is a tough player who beat Federer so I knew it would be difficult today,” said Zverev, bidding to become the first German man to win the Roland Garros title since Henner Henkel in 1937.
Next up for Zverev is Swedish qualifier Mikael Ymer, the world number 148 of Ethiopian origin, who marked his Grand Slam debut with a 6-0, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) win over Slovenia’s Blaz Rola.
Argentine eighth seed Del Potro, a semi-finalist in 2009 and 2018, made the second round with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 win over Chilean world number 58 Nicolas Jarry.
“I think I’m playing well at the moment, but my main goal is still the knee, my health,” said Del Potro who is still feeling his way back after knee surgery.
Next up for the giant Argentine is a clash against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.
Two-time Grand Slam winner and former world number one Victoria Azarenka defeated 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) in a match which featured 13 breaks of serve.
Other early winners on Tuesday included Monte Carlo champion Fabio Fognini, seeded nine, who defeated Andreas Seppi in an all-Italian clash, 6-3, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3.
Osaka survives
Japan’s Naomi Osaka battled back from a set and a break down to defeat Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 0-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 to reach second round.
Osaka, bidding to add the French Open to her US and Australian Open titles, was within a whisker of becoming just the second top seed to lose in the first round in Paris in the modern era after Angelique Kerber in 2017.
World number 90 Schmiedlova, who hadn’t won a match at the tournament since 2014, twice served for the tie in the 10th and 12th games of the second set.
Ivo wins Roland Garros’ oldest match-up
Ivo Karlovic made a mockery of his 40 years to beat relative spring chicken, 37-year-old Feliciano Lopez in the oldest ever men’s match-up.
Croatian Karlovic, the tallest player on the tour at 6ft 11in (2.11m), defeated Lopez 7-6 (7/4), 7-5, 6-7 (7/9), 7-5.
