Italian saves match point en route to win over Herbert as defending champion Iga Swiatek celebrates 20th birthday with win against her best friend
© Nicolas Gouhier/FFTItalian No.18 seed Jannik Sinner came up with some clutch tennis to save match point late in the fourth set en route to a 6-1, 4-6, 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-4 success over Frenchman Pierre Hugues-Herbert in Roland-Garros opening-round action on Monday.
A quarter-finalist on his tournament debut last year, Sinner survived 13 aces off of Herbert's racquet and saved 8/12 break points in the three-hour 32-minute affair.
"Obviously when I saw the draw, and I've seen his name, I knew already it was going to be tough. Knowing the crowd was going to be for him, but it's good to have crowd as well, so thanks for coming out today," Sinner said on court.
"Being match point down and three break points, 0-40, it's a crazy sport and today I'm happy that it went my way."
Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek's Roland-Garros title defence could not have got off to a better start as the young Pole celebrated her 20th birthday with a 6-0, 7-5 defeat of Slovenian Kaja Juvan.
The No.8 seed, who received a birthday hug from her good friend Juvan before the clash began, extended her winning streak to seven matches in a row, having captured the Rome title earlier this month.
Swiatek, whose last match coming into the tournament was a 6-0, 6-0 win over Karolina Pliskova in the Rome final, delivered a third consecutive bagel to start her showdown with Juvan.
The contest became a real battle in the second set but it was Swiatek who had the upper hand, securing the victory in just under an hour and a half.
The two friends shared a warm embrace at the net and Juvan stuck around for a small birthday celebration on court for Swiatek.
"I never was a defending champion, even in the smallest tournament, so I didn't know what to expect. I just tried to keep my routines and work as I was working for the whole season," Swiatek told Marion Bartoli in her on-court interview.
"I'm feeling old at 20," she later wrote on the camera lens before walking off court. She next plays Sweden's Rebecca Peterson.
On his fifth trip to Roland-Garros, No.2 seed Daniil Medvedev finally scored his first-ever match-win on Parisian clay, thanks to his 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 effort against entertaining Kazakh Alexander Bublik.
Not a fan of the clay, the two-time Grand Slam finalist wrapped up the win in under two hours to book a last-64 clash with former junior champion Tommy Paul of USA or Christopher O'Connell of Australia, who have gone the distance on Court No.5.
Marketa Vondrousova, the 2019 Roland-Garros finalist, fought for 91 minutes before moving past Estonian Kaia Kanepi 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 to set up a second-round meeting against French wildcard Harmony Tan.
The 20th-seeded lefty lost in the first round in Paris last year to eventual champion Swiatek and made sure she wouldn't suffer the same fate upon her return to the French capital.
© Philippe Montigny/FFTFormer Roland-Garros semi-finalist Kiki Bertens, the No.16 seed, crashed out of the opening round 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 to Slovenian world No.73 Polona Hercog.
Bertens, who had Achilles surgery end of last year, has yet to recapture her previous top-10-form and has won just two of the seven matches she has contested so far this year.
© Clément Mahoudeau/FFTNo.31 seed John Isner came out on top in an all-American battle 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4 over Sam Querrey in one hour and 45 minutes.
Isner has not lost in the first round in Paris since 2011 and next faces Serbia's Filip Krajinovic.
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
