The first day of Roland Garros (colloquially called the French Open) started today, and all the big names in tennis that played today made it through the first round pretty handily.
According to the Washington Post, the three top male contenders are Spanish Rafael Nadal, Serbian Novak Djokovic and Swiss Roger Federer. Both Federer and Nadal have won the clay court tournament previously, but Djokovic is looking for his first win this year. The second ranked’s first match will be against Portuguese João Sousa on Monday at 7:00 a.m. eastern time while Nadal takes on his first opponent, American Robby Ginepri.
Federer is off to a strong start after defeating Slovakian opponent Lukáš Lacko 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, and had his wife Mirka and twin daughters in the crowd cheering him on. His much talked about infant twin boys haven’t made a public appearance yet, but Federer and Mirka “couldn’t be happier” since their arrival May 6, according to The Telegraph. He missed the Madrid tournament to be with his wife when their second set of twins were born, so the French Open is only his third clay court tournament of the year, according to USA Today.
“I was happy seeing, getting early signs out of the match that I was actually playing well and I was going to get my chances I was looking for,” Federer said. “My personal life, as we know, it’s all great, so I’m happy the family is here.”
For the women, American Serena Williams is the defending champion, and her biggest competition will be Chinese Li Na and Russian Maria Sharapova, The Washington Post reported. Williams defeated French Alize Lim 6-2, 6-1, and she may have to face her older sister Venus if they both make it to the third round. If the younger Williams sister wins the tournament, this will be her 18th Grand Slam title that will equal tennis legends Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.
After the first day, the other winners include Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, John Isner of the United States, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, Jerzy Janowicz of Poland, Dmitry Tursunov of Russia, Aleksandr Nedovyesov of Kazakhstan, Jerzy Janowicz of Poland, Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, Sam Querrey of the United States, Diego Sebastian Schwartzman of Argentina, Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, and Milos Raonic of Canada — the youngest player in the top 10.
For the women, Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, Yvonne Meusburger of Austria, Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, Anna Schmiedlova of Slovakia, Claire Feuerstein of France, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, Garbine Muguruza of Spain, Johanna Larsson of Sweden, Monica Niculescu of Romania, Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia, Venus Williams of the United States, Angelique Kerber of Germany, and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland will advance to the second round.
With no major injuries for the top seeds so far, the French Open is sure to offer some tough competition. You can check the Roland Garros site for schedules and live scores throughout the tournament.