Sharapova, Murray into Roland Garros second round with straight set wins
Favourites Maria Sharapova and Andy Murray moved into the second round of the French Open with straight sets victories. The home crowds also left contented having witnessed first round triumphs of Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils and Alizé Cornet.
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Defending champion Maria Sharapova shook off a cold on Monday to advance into the second round of the French Open.
The Russian second seed saw off the challenge of Kaia Kanepi in straight sets. It was her fifth win in as many matches against the 29-year-old Estonian.
Sharapova, who is seeking a third title at Roland Garros, will next play her compatriot Vitalia Diatchenko.
“I just got to know her during the Fed Cup this year,” said Sharapova. “I saw her play doubles a little bit. She’s a big hitter and goes a lot for her shots. But at the moment I just want to focus on my game and not worry about the opponent too much.”
Elsewhere in the women’s draw, the Spanish eighth seed Carla Suarez advanced with a 6-2 6-2 victory over the unseeded Romanian Monica Niculescu.
But it was more difficult for the home favourite Alizé Cornet. The French 29th seed came from a set down to beat the veteran Italian Roberta Vinci. It was 6-1 in the decider after more than two hours.
Cornet, 25, is the French number one and she was playing 24 hours after rising star Caroline Garcia cracked under the pressure of playing on centre court.
“Caroline has a little less experience than me at Roland Garros,” said Cornet. “And sometimes you can be overawed by such a big court. Actually I love Philippe Chatrier, [centre court] it’s my favourite court. I’m always happy to step onto it and play the match.
“And I think that’s what helped me to come back in this match … because the people were behind me.”
Elswhere, the home crowds were in full voice with the victories of 12th seed Gilles Simon and the 13th seed Gaël Monfils.
But, in truth, they would have been happy even if they’d lost. Simon and Monfils were playing compatriots Lucas Pouille and Edouard Roger-Vassellin respectively.
It would have been a shock, however, had Simon or Monfils lost. The Spanish 11th seed Feliciano Lopez wasn’t so fortunate against unseeded opposition. He went down in straight sets to the Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili.
The British third seed Andy Murray and the Czech fourth seed Tomas Berdych wasted little time on court. Berdych disposed of Yoshihito Nishioka from Japan 6-0, 7-5, 6-3 in one hour and 48 minutes.
Murray was as swift in his straight sets demolition of the 22-year-old Argentine Facundo Arguello. The British number one is considered a contender for this year’s title after having won two clay court tournaments leading up to the French Open.
Berdych, by contrast, is not among the favourites despite having been in the top 10 continuously since July 2010.
He admitted he wasn’t surprised that he is constantly overlooked.
“There is a fact that there are other guys who have won a grand slam titles,” he reflected. “The only thing I can do is try to change that by trying to take my chances. That’s all I can do.”
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