Qualifiers and lower ranked players put on a good show on the opening day of French Open 2021, however, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas muscled their ways into the 2nd round. In the women’s singles category Petra Kvitova saved a matchpoint en route her hard-fought win vs Greet Minnen.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Alexander Zverev lost the initial 2 sets before bouncing back and beating Oscar Otte in 1st round match
• Stefanos Tsitsipas registered a straight-set win over France’s Jeremy Chardy
• Petra Kvitova saved a matchpoint en route her first round win on Sunday

Sixth seed Alexander Zverev rallied from two sets down to beat qualifier Oscar Otte 3-6 3-6 6-2 6-2 6-0 in his opening round of the French Open on Sunday.

The 24-year-old seemed headed for an early exit like Austrian Dominic Thiem, who beat him at the 2020 U.S. Open final, when he lost the first two sets on the Suzanne Lenglen Court but he found a different gear to completely turn the contest around.

It was one way traffic against the 152nd ranked Otte in the first meeting between the two Germans for the remainder of the contest as Zverev’s movement on the red clay improved and he found more power in his shots and more sting in his serves.

Zverev has now won all seven of his five-set contests at Roland Garros and will next meet another qualifier, either Russian Roman Safiullin or Carlos Taberner of Spain.

Straight-set win for Tsitsipas

Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame a sluggish start to reach the second round of the French Open with a 7-6(6) 6-3 6-1 victory over France’s Jeremy Chardy on Sunday.

The fifth seed, who extended his winning run on clay to five matches after clinching the title in Lyon last week, was in trouble in the opening set in an empty court Philippe Chatrier after spectators were sent home under a 9 p.m. local time curfew before making his superiority count.

Tsitsipas, who lost to 13-times Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal in the final in Barcelona, steamrolled past a helpless Chardy in the other two sets.

He ended Chardy’s challenge after just over two hours with a forehand winner for a no-nonsense victory.

He will next face either American Sebastian Korda or Spain’s Pedro Martinez.

Petra Kvitova survives

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova survived a big scare against Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen in her opening round of the French Open, having to save a matchpoint en route to a 6-7(3) 7-6(5) 6-1 win on Sunday.

Kvitova, who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros in 2012 and last year, struggled with her serve from the start and suffered service breaks in her first two games.

The 11th seed fought back valiantly to take the opening set to a tie-breaker under slightly windy conditions on the Suzanne Lenglen court only to lose it by serving three double faults.