The second day of the year’s second Major saw some tremendous tennis as the French Open first round continued. Miss any of Monday’s action in Paris? We go over the major highlights of the day for you to catch you up on anything you didn’t see.
French Open Men’s Day 2 Recap
On the plus side
Day 2 of the French Open saw Roger Federer make his return to the Grand Slam action after missing the last three Majors. It could hardly have been a more comfortable return as the 20-time Grand Slam champion easily dispatched Denis Istomin in straight sets. Federer dropped only 9 games in the process to book a second round encounter with fellow Grand Slam champion Marin Cilic, who he beat in the final of his two most recent Slam titles. Istomin on clay hardly strikes fear, but at this point Federer will treasure any victory he can get, in hopes that he can return to some of his former glory.
Daniil Medvedev was off to a perhaps surprisingly comfortable start with a straight set win over Alexander Bublik. The Russian looked inspired and declared that he is confident of a good run this fortnight despite his known struggles on the surface.
In a battle of big American servers, John Isner prevailed over Sam Querrey, with 22 aces and not a single break point faced. No one really expects Isner to compete for the title, but he’s been known to be a tough nut to crack at this tournament when his serve is firing.
Who looked bad
David Goffin was comprehensively beating by Lorenzo Musetti. The result itself wasn’t such an upset, what with the Italian being on the rise, but the way in which Goffin lost was surely disappointing. This certainly doesn’t bode well for him moving forward.
Lorenzo Sonego was upset in convincing fashion by Lloyd Harris. The Italian looked like he could have a good run here in Paris after his excellent run in Rome, but he never stood a chance in this match.
Jo Wilfried Tsonga looked like a man about to retire in his encounter against Yoshihito Nishioka. Even the home factor wasn’t enough to spur Tsonga on as he committed one unforced error after another en route to a first round defeat. Of course, since he was the final match on court, there were few fans. Paris currently has a 9 PM (local time) curfew, so all fans left before the match ended.
Match of the day
This will undoubtedly go to the battle between Jannik Sinner and Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The young Italian, a finalist in Miami, was two sets to one down and had to save a match point in the fourth in order to prevail. Herbert had victory in his grasp but couldn’t quite finish it. It was a high quality affair. The outcome hung in the balance until the very last point–most definitely the best match of the day on the men’s side.
Main Photo from Getty.
