Paris: German fifth seed and reigning Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber saw her hopes of a career Grand Slam ended by Russian teenager Anastasia Potapova at Roland Garros Sunday as Roger Federer made his Paris return after a four-year absence with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 win over Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
Fifth-seeded Wimbledon champion Kerber slumped to a 4-6, 2-6 defeat to 18-year-old Potapova who was making her French Open debut. The German left-hander Kerber had come into Roland Garros carrying a right ankle injury which forced her to pull out of the Italian Open and retire from her second round tie in Madrid.
Later Sunday, Federer returned to the new look Roland Garros, admitting he’ll be an underdog in his attempt to claim a 21st Grand Slam title. The 37-year-old Swiss star was the headline act on opening day, 10 years after his one triumph here and two decades since his tournament debut.
Among others, Greek sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(7-4) German left-hander Maximilian Marterer, the World No.110. Japanese seventh seed Kei Nishikori outsmarted Quentin Halys 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.
Croatian 11th seed Marin Cilic eased past Italy’s Thomas Fabbiano 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 while Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov survived a five-setter as he crawled past Janko Tipsarevic of Croatia 6-3, 6-0, 3-6, 6-7(4-7), 6-4. Indian Prajnesh Gunneswaran also bowed out of the meet with a 1-6, 3-6, 1-6 loss against Hugo Dellien.
In the women’s segment, Spain’s Garbine Muguruza, the 2016 champion, had the honour of opening proceedings on the new court against America’s Taylor Townsend. The 19th seed marked the occasion with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 win.