Shahar Pe’er will face former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic in the second round at
Roland Garros after crushing Stephanie Dubois 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday.
The
25-year-old Israeli, ranked No. 55 in the world, hit 28 winners while
committing 17 unforced errors, breaking Dubois’s serve five times.
Pe’er
has actually won all three of her previous career meetings against Ivanovic,
ranked No. 14 in the world and seeded 13, although the two haven’t met since
2010 when the Serb was suffering from a dramatic slump.
Ivanovic, the
2008 French Open winner, has since recovered, beating Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino
6-1, 6-1 in Paris on Sunday, while Pe’er hasn’t progressed past a second round
in her last nine tournaments.
Dudi Sela will begin his participation in
the French Open on Monday when he faces No. 7 seed Tomas Berdych in the first
round.
Sela has won just two of the six matches he has played on clay
this year, plummeting 24 places in the ATP rankings over the last two weeks and
will have to record the biggest win of his life to advance to the second
round.
Meanwhile, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made the Paris spectators happy when
he recovered from a first-set loss to move into the second round on Sunday’s
first day.
Minutes later, Nicolas Mahut doubled the home fans’ delight
when he joined his fellow Frenchman in the next round after a four-set defeat of
American Andy Roddick.
In the women’s draw, Venus Williams, continuing
her comeback after being diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Sjogren’s
Syndrome, battled into the second round with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory over
Argentine opponent Paula Ormaechea.
Seven-time grand-slam champion
Williams, who returned to the tour in March, looked to be struggling early in
the match but found the resources to win.
The American former world No. 1
could now meet third-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska, who plays Serbian Bojana
Jovanovski on Monday.
World No. 5 Tsonga, the highest seed in action on
the opening day, beat Russian qualifier Andrey Kuznetsov 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4,
waking up after a slow start on the Philippe Chatrier court to earn a standing
ovation at the end.
Mahut, who had lost eight times in the Roland Garros
first round before this year, looked vulnerable again when, having strapped up
his left knee, he dropped the third set, but he came back to take the match 6-3,
6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Argentine Juan Martin del Potro also overcame a knee
injury in beating Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-2, 6- 7, 6-2, 6-1.
The
ninth-seeded Del Potro, who won the Estoril Open on clay three weeks ago, said
problems with his knee had started after his semifinal defeat at the Madrid Open
two weeks ago.
Former champion Juan Carlos Ferrero knocked out battling
local player, and Roland Garros debutant, Jonathan Dasnieres de Veigy 6-1, 6- 4,
6-3 in bright sunshine on the Suzanne Lenglen Court.
Ferrero will now
play Marin Cilic after the Croatian defeated Spain’s Daniel Munoz 6-4, 6-4,
7-5.
Australian Samantha Stosur, seeded sixth on the women’s side, was
also in a hurry, taking just over an hour to dismiss Britain’s Elena Baltacha
6-4, 6-0.
Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka will be in
action on Monday, along with Roger Federer, starting his quest for a 17th
grand-slam title.
Reuters contributed to this report
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