Crash of the favourites at the start of the Paris Masters! The only Czech in the tournament loses

The last tennis Masters of the season opened in Paris. The opening day brought interesting results. The only Czech tennis player in the tournament has already managed to say goodbye to the tournament. Who are among the biggest draws of this tennis event?

Jiri Lehecka came to Paris to repair his reputation. He hasn’t been shining on the courts in the last week and unfortunately, the events in the French capital haven’t brought any improvement either.

The thirtieth player on the ATP ranking had a favourable fate. His opponent at the start was the Spaniard Bautista-Agut, who has won only one of his last eight matches on the circuit.

However, the Czech player lost his serve right at the start of the match and repeated this unflattering result three more times in the match. The result was a 4:6, 2:6 defeat and an unexpectedly early farewell to the tournament.

American defeat

In the first hours of the tennis event, Ben Shelton also bid adieu to Paris. The American arrived here as one of the favourites. After all, he crowned his very good form with a semi-final appearance at the US Open and a triumph in Tokyo.

In the first round match, Shelton was not able to cope with the Spaniard Davidovich Fokina. The latter has been eliminated in the first round here two years in a row.

But Shelton, who is considered to be the great promise of American tennis, has found a recipe. This is illustrated by the following exchange.

The 24-year-old Spaniard is happy with his win 7:6, 5:7, 6:3 and will play the Dutch Griekspoor for a place in the eighth round. He is having the most successful year of his career, ranked 23: in the ATP.

The performance of another American, Tiafoe, also ended in failure. Kazakh Bublik found a recipe for him. It took him just over an hour of play to win.

The biggest favorites

The Masters in Paris is attended by the world’s top players. The elite eight from Djokovic and Alcaraz to Tsitsipas and Ruud have a free draw in the first round.

Denmark’s Rune will try to defend his title and gain points for the Tournament of Champions. Djokovic will make his first competitive match in almost 50 days. Much attention is focused on the form of Alcaraz.

Finally..

The opening matches indicated that we can look forward to big surprises in Paris. The main focus is on Djokovic and Alcaraz, let’s see if anyone outshines them.

Unfortunately, Lehecka hasn’t crossed his shadow from the last few weeks. His haul to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open or the Wimbledon eight-finals now looks properly remote.

Source: ATP, X/Twitter