No problems for Novak Djokovic in the Olympic opening singles
©APA/AFP
The start of the Olympic tennis competitions in Paris took place on Saturday with only a mini-program due to rain. Matches could only be held on the two covered courts at the Roland Garros complex. The matches of Styrian Sebastian Ofner against Robin Haase (NED) and Vorarlberg’s Julia Grabher against Emma Navarro (USA-11) on the outside courts were rescheduled for Sunday. Top seeds Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic advanced to the second round.
Grabher’s match is scheduled for Sunday as the fifth match after 12:00 PM on Court 10. Ofner is set to play as the second match after 12:00 PM on Court 8. If Austria’s number one manages to defeat Haase, who only entered the singles field due to the late withdrawal of Andy Murray, Daniil Medvedev would be waiting in the second round. The fourth-seeded Russian had no problems defeating Australian Rinky Hijikata 6:2,6:1.
This also applies to Djokovic, who easily dispatched the also-replaced doubles player Matthew Ebden from Australia with a score of 6:0,6:1. The Serbian’s next opponent could be Rafael Nadal, provided the Spaniard wins against Hungarian Marton Fucsovics. Ebden took his unexpected singles appearance with humor: “My last singles match before this was almost two years ago. But I never officially ended my singles career. So this could be it now.”
The second-seeded Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz started the tournament with a 6:3,6:1 victory over Lebanese Hady Habib. In doubles, the young star also had a successful appearance in the evening together with Paris legend Nadal. In front of an enthusiastic crowd, the Spanish “Dream Team” prevailed against the sixth-seeded Argentine pair Maximo Gonzales and Andres Molteni with a score of 7:6(4),6:4. Afterwards, German Angelique Kerber started her final tournament of her career in a high-profile match against Naomi Osaka.
Swiatek began her gold mission with a 6:2,7:5 victory over Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu. The world number one from Poland is the top favorite on the Paris clay, where she has already won the French Open four times. The 23-year-old had to fight harder than she would have liked. In the second set, she turned a 3:5 deficit into a four-game winning streak to advance. “First rounds, especially at the Olympics, are never easy,” said Swiatek. Her Italian French Open final opponent this year, Jasmine Paolini (No. 4), defeated Romanian Ana Bogdan 7:5,6:3.