Paris: Juan Martin del Potro fired up his power game after a sluggish start to ease past Nicolas Jarry in an all-South American first round clash at the French Open men’s singles Tuesday.
The eighth seed, a semifinalist last year, won 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 6-4, the four sets taking a little more than four hours. “The conditions were difficult at the start with wind and some rain, and Nicolas played so strong, but after that I took control of the game and played better,” Argentine del Potro said on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Chilean Jarry, ranked 58th and a finalist in Geneva last week, was a potentially tough hurdle for Del Potro, who is in just his third tournament since yet another injury break, this time to his right knee.
Elsewhere, Kyle Edmund snapped his five-match losing streak in hugely impressive fashion Tuesday morning when he took just seven minutes to finish off Jeremy Chardy and make the second round of the French Open.
Resuming at 5-5 in the fifth set after being suspended at 9.22pm the previous evening, Edmund walked out onto the Bullring at Roland Garros with a swirling wind and grey skies threatening rain.
The South African held serve impressively and then on his first match point at 15-40 broke the powerful world number 40 to win 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in a total of four hours and two minutes.
Earlier Monday, Serena Williams, chasing a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam singles title, overcame a wobbly start to reach the second round with a 2-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory against Russia’s Vitalia Diatchenko.
The 10th-seeded American peppered Court Philippe Chatrier with unforced errors in an ugly opening set before finding her range to set up a meeting with Japan’s Kurumi Nara or Slovenian Dalila Jakupovic.
“I’m just happy to win today,” the American said after her 800th tour-level victory. The three-time Roland Garros champion is looking to emulate Margaret Court, who claimed 24 majors spread across the amateur and professional eras.
Williams’s haul started at the US Open 20 years ago but she has not won a major since she beat her older sister Venus in the Australian Open final in 2017.