Milos Raonic starts French Open with easy win
Canadian defeats Darcis in straight sets; Nadal, Djokovic also move on
Fifth-seeded Milos Raonic is safely through to the second round of the French Open after sweeping past Steve Darcis of Belgium in straight sets on Monday.
The Canadian took just 92 minutes to beat the 38th-ranked Darcis 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 — taking the final game to love.
In women's action, Montreal's Francoise Abanda opened with a 6-3, 6-4 win over France's Tessah Andrianjafitrimo.
First Grand Slam victory! 💪🏾🙈🙌🏾
—@franckie12345Raonic's big serve was in full effect as he fired 15 aces to Darcis's three. Raonic won 88 per cent of his first service points, compared to 65 per cent for Darics.
The 26-year-old put the match away with a dominant third set. He broke Darcis in the first game to set the tone, then fired an ace to pen the decisive eighth game before closing with a forehand winner.
"It's good to start off well, but he's sort of the guy who gives me some kind of looks," Raonic said. "I could always get my racket on his serve, I took care of my serve, and I think in general it was just a good matchup for me."
Raonic, who grew up in Thornhill, Ont., will next play Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil.
Abanda, who entered the main draw through qualifying, had three aces and converted 4-of-8 break point opportunities in her win over Andrianjafitrimo.
Abanda will next face 11th seed and former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
Nadal dominates
Rafael Nadal's search for an unprecedented 10th title at the French Open got off to a winning start as he beat Benoit Paire of France in straight sets.
The fourth-seeded Nadal played some brilliant shots but had to survive a minor scare in the second set on his way to a 31-minute, 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 victory.
Paire, who is ranked 45th, dropped his serve at the beginning of the second but broke twice in quick succession to take a 3-1 lead.
But Nadal, who saved three more break points on his next service game, broke back twice and went on to take the set.
Djokovic advances
Defending champion Novak Djokovic eased through to the second round of the French Open after beating Marcel Granollers of Spain in straight sets.
The second-seeded Djokovic, who is being coached by Andre Agassi at the tournament, won 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Djokovic is bidding to become the first man in the Open era — and only the third in history — to win each of the Grand Slams twice
Defending women's champion Garbine Muguruza of Spain also went through to the second round with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Italian Francesca Schiavone.
Schiavone, the 2010 champion, showed her usual fighting spirit and saved three match points before going down when she sent a forehand volley wide.
The fourth-seeded Muguruza won 15 points in a row from being up 3-2 in the first set and broke her Italian opponent five times.
Pliskova, women's No. 2, wins
Second-seeded Karolina Pliskova is safely through to the second round of the French Open after a straight sets victory over Zheng Saisai of China.
Pliskova, who is the highest-ranked player at Roland Garros after world No. 1 Angelique Kerber lost on Sunday, triumphed 7-5, 6-2.
The Czech player will face 86th-ranked Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia in the next round.
Wozniacki survives
Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark survived a second-set scare to beat Australian wild card Jaimee Fourlis and reach the second round.
The 17-year-old Fourlis, who is ranked 337th in the world and was appearing in only her second ever Grand Slam, lost the first set but raced into a 4-1 lead in the second against the 11th-seeded Wozniacki.
Fourlis managed to save two of three match points on her serve before Wozniacki triumphed 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Despite the defeat, Fourlis walked off to a standing ovation.
With files from CBC Sports