ROLAND GARROS 2018: FIRST ROUND MATCHES

It has been a long road to Roland Garros. Clay court season began with Rolex Monte Carlo Masters, Barcelona Open, Mutua Madrid and finally Roma Open. To make a reminder Rafa Nadal won 3 of them and the last one trophy went to Alex Zverev.

Second Grand Slam of the year French Open started last Sunday. Grand Slams take two weeks. It means that it is a marathon and as a player you have to be better day by day and you have to be strong as mentally. Anything can happen in 2 weeks. As it happens for every Grand Slam, Roland Garros started with early exits and withdrawals. Sunday Nick Krygios withdrew because of elbow injury and there was a lucky loser Argentinian Marco Trungelliti. Who lost in qualifications here and went back to Barcelona. When French Open organizers called him if he could come and play for a first round match, he said yes and he with his mother, grandmother and coach made a 1000 km road trip from Barcelona to Paris in 9 hours!! Next day he beat Bernard Tomic in 4 sets. Grand Slams are always full of stories, surprises and inspirational things. We will see how far Marco Trungelliti will go!!

First round matches almost completed. Stan Wawrinka suffering from his knee, and here he lost his 1st round match to G. Garcia- Lopez and for the first time he is out of 250 in the rankings. He said it doesn't matter, most important thing is to be the fit and healthy again. I agree with him, elite players like Stan Wawrinka can easily rise in the rankings once they have their health back.

Victoria Azarenka, Venus Williams, defending champion Jelena Ostapenko, Feliziano Lopez, Philipp Kohlschreiber made early exits this year. 

Everybody was talking about Novak Djokovic if he will be able to turn his in-form. Yes he can and he is doing better day by day. Here he had a easy first round match against R. Dutra Silva 6-3,6-4,6-4.

Serena Williams

Today almost in 2 years Serena Williams played her first match here in Paris after pregnancy leave. She is a really legendary player. Great athlete. She beat Krstyna Pliskova in 2 sets 7-6, 6-4. As to remember, Serena Williams is seeded 450 in the rankings but it will change very soon. No matter if she can go further or not here. She needs time to get back her fitness but today we saw once again she is a total warrior! Kr. Pliskova is a good player, ranking no.70. Serena is not that fit to be champion here but soon she will be. Today she wore a catsuit- a kind of costume. She looks like a super hero. Confident, strong and eager. In post match interview she said "she calls it Wakanda cat suit and she feels like a warrior princess in it!!" She also said in her instagram post: "For all the moms out there who had a tough recovery from pregnancy-here you go. If I can do it, so you can. Love you all!! " Love her. 

Today also 2 time RG Champion Maria Sharapova played 1st round match against Hogenkamp. In the second set she had trouble but she could manage it and took the match in 3 sets. 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. I really want to see her in the final.

Petra Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki, Caro Garcia, Angie Kerber, Andrea Petkovic, Kiki Bertens, Garbine Muguruza, Sloane Stephens, Daria Kasatkina, Karolina Pliskova and more are moving to 2nd round. Simona Halep will play her first round match on Wednesday against A.Riske.

Garbine Muguruza

Jelena Ostapenko

Caroline Wozniacki

Men's side: Rafa Nadal, Juan Martin del Potro- despite his groin injury before RG, he managed to beat Nicholas Mahut in 3 sets. , Dominic Thiem, Rome Champion Alex Zverev, Denis Shapovalov, Borna Coric, Diego Schwartzman, Richard Gasquet, Marin Cilic, Fabio Fognini, John Isner, Grigor Dimitrov, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Kei Nishikori , Novak Djokovic and more are moving to 2nd round. 

Rafa Nadal

Marco Trungelliti

Stan Wawrinka

Denis Shapovalov

There are many exciting matches in the second round but especially lately rising star Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Dominic Thiem match will be a block buster. Both guys are dynamic, fast, eager and fearless. Anything can happen but Dominic Thiem is the only guy who beat Rafa Nadal on clay. So this match will be super exciting.  More to come...

*Source: (Roland Garros Official Instagram Page, Serena Williams Instagram Page, Mutua Madrid Instagram Page, CocoDubreuil Instagram page, Philippe Montigny/FFT, SuperTennisTv Instagram Page, Clive Brunskill/ Getty Images, Espn Tennis Instagram Page )