ATP Roland Garros: Fabio Fognini makes solid start. Fritz destroys Tomic
World no. 12 Fabio Fognini has kicked off Roland Garros campaign with a 6-3, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 victory over the fellow Italian Andreas Seppi in two hours and 21 minutes, notching the 50th Grand Slam win. Both players had more unforced errors than winners and it was the young Italian who delivered a better package to go through in four sets, firing ten aces and fending off seven out of nine break points to mount the pressure on the other side of the net. Seppi played against 11 break points and gave serve away six times, overcoming a poor second set before Fabio sealed the deal in set number four.
The first set was decided in the sixth game when Fognini drew first blood, opening a 4-1 lead and closing it with a hold at 15 in game nine for a 6-3. He stormed over Andreas in set number two, taking it 6-0 in some 25 minutes before Seppi bounced back in the third with a double break, extending the match and staying in touch until 3-3 in the following set before Fognini clinched the final three games to push himself into the second round. Taylor Fritz has played some great tennis on clay this spring and he claimed the first Roland Garros victory in great fashion, demolishing Bernard Tomic 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 in an hour and 22 minutes.
Losing 18 points on serve, the American landed 42 winners with just 12 unforced errors, facing four break points and repelling three of those. On the other hand, Tomic was not on the court as many times before, barely trying to win a point in sets one and three and suffering seven breaks from no less than 22 chances offered to Taylor, competing on a decent level only in the closing stages of the second set which wasn't enough for more favorable result. Federico Delbonis grabbed the seventh Grand Slam victory, ousting a qualifier Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours and 36 minutes, delivering good numbers on both serve and return for a promising start of the tournament.
Yoshihito Nishioka and Mackenzie McDonald were engaged in a great battle on Court 10, with the Janapese prevailing 6-7, 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, starting all over after losing the third set and dropping only eight points on serve in the last couple of sets to march over the finish line and book the place in round two. A qualifier Elliot Benchetrit swept Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 in an hour and 24 minutes for maiden Grand Slam win, never losing serve and having the upper hand on the return as well for an absolute triumph in front of the home crowd.
In the battle of the qualifiers, the young Swede Mikael Ymer made the best possible Grand Slam debut, beating Blaz Rola 6-0, 6-3, 7-6 in two hours and five minutes. Opening his career on the biggest scene with a bagel, Mikael controlled the pace in the second set as well, serving at 5-3 in the third set for a rock-solid introduction in Paris. Rola broke back in that ninth game, reaching the tie break that Mikael won 7-5, sealing the deal in straight sets and setting an entertaining clash with Alexander Zverev in round two.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2WrECcq
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