Reigning Roland Garros Champions Djokovic, Muguruza Open Title Defenses with Wins
(May 29, 2017) Defending Roland Garros champions Novak Djokovic and Garbine Muguruza began their campaigns for second French Open titles with wins in the first round on Monday in Paris.
No. 2 Djokovic, with new coach Andre Agassi looking on, defeated Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-3. 6-4, 6-2 to begin his quest for a 13th major title.
“I wanted to start off well and engage all the engines in the right way and come out with the right intensity,” said the Serb.
“Granollers is a tricky player. He knows how to anticipate well on the court. He has a good serve. It was a bit of a rusty start, but in general, it was a good performance. I was feeling the ball well. I’m just glad to start off the tournament this way.”
Should Djokovic win Paris, he’d be the first man since the Open Era to claim each major twice. The only others who have achieved this milestone are Rod Laver and Roy Emerson.
Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal advanced with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 win over Benoit Paire.
Seeds on the men’s side who advanced included No. 5 Milos Raonic, No. 7 Marin Cilic and No. 10 David Goffin.
Seeded men losing on Monday were No. 14 Jack Sock, No. 31 Giles Simon and No. 32 Mischa Zverev.
Garbine Muguruza began her title defense beating 2010 champion Francesca Schaivone 6-2, 6-4.
“I’m happy that I managed to play, to be kind of composed out there,” Muguruza said. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to react again on the center court, playing against an ex-champ.”
Other seeds advancing in women’s play were No. 2 seed Karolina Pliskova,11th seed Caroline Wozniacki, No. 14 Elena Vesnina, No. 16 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 18th seed Kiki Bertens, 23rd seed Samantha Stosur, No. 29 Ana Konjuh,
French woman, No. 13th seed Kristina Mladenovic rallied from 0-3 down in the final set to get past Jen Brady of the United States 3-6, 6-3, 9-7. Mladenovic served for the match three times before she could close it out.
Seeds falling on Monday were: No. 19 Coco Vandeweghe, No. 24 Daria Gavrilova, and No. 25 Lauren Davis.