Tsitsipas survives early scare

Rublev joins opening-day winners

PARIS, France – Stefanos Tsitsipas held off a spirited comeback from Jiri Vesely to reach the second round of the French Open on Sunday with a four-set win.

The Greek fifth seed, who blew a two-set lead to lose the 2021 final to Novak Djokovic, won 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) on Court Philippe Chatrier.

“The match was very inconsistent from my side,” said Tsitsipas.

“I felt like I haven’t played a match with so much inconsistency in a very long time. But otherwise I’m happy with how things turned around, and my fighting spirit kind of went on full display in those last few points of the tie-breaker,” he said.

He will next face either Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena or qualifier Emilio Nava on Wednesday.

“It gives me a chance to go practice a bit more,” Tsitsipas added when asked about his upcoming two days without a match in Paris.

“Today I got to feel the court a little bit by staying in it for a few hours. I hope that helps, too. Yeah, red wine and baguettes.”

Tsitsipas appeared to be cruising to victory after battling through the first two sets.

But world number 455 Vesely, who had previously only played in two second-tier Challenger events this year, forced a fourth set.

The Czech left-hander should have pushed the match into a decider, but saw four set points slip away in the fourth-set tie-break before Tsitsipas clinched a round-two place with a crunching forehand winner.

“I felt like he started feeling the pressure a little bit more,” said Tsitsipas.

Tsitsipas, who could face world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, is still chasing a first Grand Slam title after his Australian Open final loss to Djokovic earlier this year.

Andrey Rublev, the seventh seed and Monte Carlo champion in April, defeated Laslo Djere of Serbia, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Rublev has made the quarterfinals in Paris on two occasions.

Greek eighth seed Maria Sakkari, a semifinalist in 2021, fell at the first hurdle, losing, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5, to Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic.

Muchova, the world number 43, also defeated Sakkari in the second round last year and now has four successive wins over top 10 opponents at the Grand Slams.

The Czech Republic had 12 women in the singles draw at Roland Garros, second only to the United States with 19.

“I think it might be the parents mostly,” said Muchova when asked to explain the success of her country on the tennis tour.

Third-seeded Jessica Pegula won an all-American battle with Danielle Collins, 6-4, 6-2.

Britain’s Dan Evans was the highest seed to fall in the men’s draw, losing, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, to Australian wild card Thanasi Kokkinakis.