Avanesyan's sensation, Pavlyuchenkova's power and Karatsev's success: seven of the eight Russians reached the second round of Roland Garros

Karatsev's start

On the men's day, only one Russian, Aslan Karatsev, took to the court. The current season is not the best for him, and the fall in the ATP rankings led to the fact that he did not directly get into the number of participants and was forced to make his way through qualifying. Fortunately, this task turned out to be feasible for a native of Vladikavkaz. Then he faced no less difficult - to defeat the strong Alexei Popyrin. It was also possible to break the resistance of the young Australian, although not without problems. Karatsev almost always had the initiative and dictated his course of the game to his opponent, which led to 38 unforced errors on his part.

Aslan faced difficulties only in the second game, when his opponent felt confident and began to act much more boldly, including he managed to make the first break. But here, too, the domestic tennis player showed character. Twice in the hardest games, he did not allow Popyrin to break away in the score and even played a setball.

But in subsequent sets, the Russian gave Alexei only three games and left him no chance. Thus, for only the second time in his career, he overcame the opening circle of the French Open.

Warm-up for Djokovic and Alcaraz

But in men, two tennis players from the top 3 of the ATP ranking entered the fight at once. Novak Djokovic left no chance for Aleksandar Kovacevic, who is not even in the top hundred - 6:3, 6:2, 7:6. To the credit of the representative of the United States, he at least imposed a fight on the favorite in the third game, when he first did not allow him to serve for the match at 4:5, and then got to the tiebreaker. However, the Serb's plans did not include staying on the court and then he easily defeated his opponent - 7:1.

Thus, Novak in the jubilee 65th time overcame the starting circle at Grand Slam tournaments, and at Roland Garros he did it in the 19th.

In turn, the first racket of the planet Carlos Alcaraz also expectedly did not experience difficulties in the game with the young Italian Flavio Cobolli - 6: 0, 6: 2, 7: 5. It is noteworthy that the Spaniard, like the Serb, had difficulties only in the final set. He did not convert several match points, and then completely gave his serve, but unlike Nole, he did not bring the matter to a tiebreak.

Surprises from Pavlyuchenkova and Avanesyan

But the women had someone to cheer for. But the success of Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was especially noteworthy. And it's not about the fact itself, but about the incredible story of overcoming. In May last year, an experienced tennis player was out of action for six months due to a severe knee injury.

After this, at her age, even returning to the court was an achievement, and she won her first Grand Slam victory since January 2022. It is symbolic that this happened at Roland Garros, where the Russian reached the final just two years ago.

This time, in the opening match, she unexpectedly easily dealt with the strong Linda Fruhvirtova, who is located on the 59th line in the world ranking. There was an impression that the Czech was not ready for the confrontation with the eminent rival. As a result, Pavlyuchenkova spent only 1 hour and 10 minutes on a meeting with her and gave only four games - 2:6, 2:6.

Frukhvirtova missed the only chance to revive the intrigue in the second set with the score 2:4, when she made a break. However, she immediately lost her serve and stopped resisting. It is not surprising that the native of Moscow called this match ideal for herself.

"I came back, so I knew for sure that I wanted to stay here as long as possible. For me, this is a special Grand Slam tournament, especially since two years ago I reached the final here. Last year, she was unable to perform due to injury. I think today I went out on the court to win. No matter what I say to myself, I stay in the game. I think this was a turning point," said the domestic tennis player at a press conference.

Not without a pleasant sensation, which was created by Elina Avanesyan in the confrontation with Belinda Bencic. The young Russian, who made her debut at Roland Garros, knocked out the 12th seed of the tournament - 6:3, 2:6, 6:4.

The beginning of the match was completely left to the domestic tennis player and shocked everyone present in the stands, because she immediately took the lead with two breaks - 4:0. It seemed that the favorite was simply not ready for such pressure and should get angry. It really happened, and she easily restored equality in the score. At that moment, Avanesyan could have broken down, but she took her opponent's serve for the third time and still put an end to it. In the next game, the Swiss looked head and shoulders stronger. In the third game, Elina did not convert a break point, after which Bencic was unstoppable.

Again, Elina could flinch, but despite her age, she showed a steely character. For example, it manifested itself in the sixth game, when Belinda secured a 4-2 lead. The Russian fought with all her might, having played three break points, but still lost on her serve. Then Bencic, it seemed, was obliged to bring the matter to victory, but Avanesyan immediately issued a reverse break and returned to the fight. And with the score 4:4, she made another one in a protracted ten-minute rally and then put an end to it.

"I'm still shaking. It was really special to play here and get another chance as a lucky loser. I tried to believe in myself to the end. Belinda is gorgeous, so I knew I had to show my best," Avanesyan said in an interview after the meeting.

Schneider's debut and Kudermetova's departure

In addition to Avanesyan, 19-year-old Diana Schneider, who had already performed at the Australian Open in January, made a successful debut at Roland Garros. In France, she was stronger than Rebecca Marino thanks to six breaks - 6:3, 7:5. In the second game, the representative of Canada had a chance to play in the tiebreaker, but again gave her own serve.

But the more experienced Varvara Gracheva had to spend much more energy in the meeting with Dalma Galfi and spend almost two hours on the court. She reserved the first set, making a fateful break with a score of 5:4 in her favor. However, the second Russian also easily passed, losing three times on her own serve - 2:6. Fortunately, in the decisive game, the Hungarian faltered, taking only one game and completing the performance.

Anna Blinkova coped with her task faster than the rest of her compatriots. Located on the 56th line in the WTA rankings, the tennis player actually held a training session with an increased degree of responsibility in a duel with Isaline Bonaventure. The Belgian won two games only in the first game, and lost to zero in the second.

In turn, Ekaterina Alexandrova unexpectedly faced resistance from Victoria Tomova. The first game did not foreshadow problems for the Russian, because she confidently won with three breaks. Probably, after that, the domestic athlete relaxed, which resulted in a failure in the second set, in which Ekaterina took only two games. Fortunately, the representative of Bulgaria did not have any strength left for the final - 1:6.

If Avanesyan pleasantly surprised, then Veronika Kudermetova presented a sensation with a minus sign. One of the best tennis players in the country approached the tournament in amazing condition. She reached the semifinals in Madrid and Rome and broke into the top 10 of the WTA championship race. Moreover, last year at Roland Garros, she reached the quarterfinals, where she lost only to compatriot Daria Kasatkina.

Alas, in 2023, the native of Kazan was forced to "cover the racket" after the first meeting. Moreover, she was stopped by the modest 100th racket of the planet, Anna Schmidlova, who did not have enough stars from the sky, who gave the favorite only four games - 3: 6, 1: 6.

Kudermetova's failure is difficult to explain logically, perhaps there are reasons for this that the fans do not know about. But she definitely played one of the worst matches of the season. Veronika made a huge number of blots and beat her opponent almost twice on unforced ones - 40 against 21. Also, her serve did not go well at all. Surprisingly, she took only one game on it.