Paris: The No.7 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia kicked off her French Open 2023 campaign with a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 success over Bronzetti in just 70 minutes, at the Roland Garros here Tuesday.
The Tunisian, who reached the Wimbledon and US Open finals last year, was broken while serving for the opening set at 5-2 but closed it out at the second time of asking to secure a one-set advantage in 40 minutes.
Jabeur went back to basics in the second set. A straightforward series of big serves captured the set at the second time of asking, and Jabeur did not attempt another drop shot for several games as she took a 5-0 second-set lead.
The artist in her couldn’t resist bringing it back out for another flourish, though. She conjured two more drop-shot winners in the final game, taking her total to 16 overall, en route to breaking Bronzetti for the victory.
Since the start of the 2022 season, Jabeur has won 24 matches on clay — only Iga Swiatek (30) has won more.
The 28-year-old awaits one of two Frenchwomen, Selena Janicijevic or Oceane Dodin, in the last 64.
In other action, playing the first Grand Slam main-draw match of her career, teenage qualifier Mirra Andreeva goes through to the second round with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Alison Riske-Amritraj.
The 16-year-old Andreeva came through qualifying without dropping a set, and will now face French wildcard Diane Parry who stunned No.25 seed Anhelina Kalinina 6-2, 6-3 shortly after on Court Simonne-Mathieu.
The youngest player in this year’s main draw, extended her pro record this year to 21-2 with the win. She is yet to drop a set at the French Open through four matches so far.
IANS