French Open 2023 has begun! Tough matches for the favourites, Sabalenka could be world No. 1

French Open 2023 has been launched. The men’s and women’s opening round matches kick off the clay grand slam in Paris. Check out the first interesting names to hit the courts. Who’s already made it through to the next round?

Players looking to improve their form clashed in one of the opening duels. Poland’s Hurkacz, ranked 13th in the ATP rankings, has won only three of his last eight matches on the circuit. He is not too keen on clay this year, however, he played in the eighth round at Roland Garros last year and would like to match that performance this year.

His opponent was David Goffin. Thirty-two-year-old Belgian who knows what it’s like to be world number seven. But he’s been struggling for a few years. He’s got something to build on at the French Open, he’s already played in the quarter-finals.

After a poor start, the Polish player took the opening set into his own hands and won 7:5. The second set was won by the more accurate Belgian, but Hurkacz dominated set number three. The match continued like a seesaw, with Goffin winning 6: 2 in the fourth set and the deciding set came after almost three hours of play.

Hubert Hurkacz got a break in the fifth game, which he quickly confirmed. The fans supported David mightily, but he did not get back into the match against the well-serving “Goliath”. The Polish tennis player advanced to the second round after sets 6::3, 5::7, 6::4, 2::6, 6::4.

Karen Khachanov’s challenging entry to the French Open

Karen Khachanov cannot complain about his current form. This year, he has made it to the semifinals of major tennis events twice, including the Autralian Open.

He is ranked 11th on the ATP. At the French Open, it’s rare that he doesn’t finish in the top 16. The favoured Russian is up against the home team’s Constant Lestienne, who has been struggling since the beginning of February and has lost his last eight matches in a row.

However, the seeded tennis player struggled in the early stages of today’s duel. He made more errors than the home player, who helped himself with a more varied range of shots and won the first set 6: 3. In the second set, the game of the tournament’s number 11 virtually collapsed. Khachanov made twice as many errors as winning strokes, lost his serve three times and lost 1::6.

The native of Moscow, however, did not pack anything in, leaning even more on his first serve and it was he who was getting the break points. He converted two of them and won his first set.

In the fourth set, game number three was important, the home player, with great support from the crowd, fought for almost ten minutes for his serve. Khachanov was more energetic, but he made more errors and emotions started to get the better of him. He finally took the situation in his stride and from that moment on he dominated the rest of the set.

It looked like he was going to win the decider quickly as well, going up 2: 0. But the home player was understandably against it and created another plot.

With a break, he evened the pace and the players were on their own. But the favourite had the last word. Khachanov used the second of his seven break points in the deciding set and after more than three and a half hours of fighting, he will advance to the next round.

WTA number two on the scene

Aryna Sabalenka has a chance to become world number one after the French Open. At Roland Garros, the maximum for her so far is the third round, which she definitely intends to improve on her current form. She went into today’s match against Ukraine’s Kostyukova as a big favourite.

The Ukrainian held on bravely until the seventh game and even had a break advantage. She lost her serve in the seventh game and from then on Sabalenka dominated the court.

Both tennis players made a lot of errors, but the world number two scored many more winning balls than Kostyuk in her opening performance. After 71 minutes of play and 6: 3, 6: 2 sets, Sabalenka is now in the second round.

Source: Roland Garros