French Open Day 1: Fun in the Sun(day)

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

This BACKSPINNER rather enjoys the French Open Sunday. It's like when the umpire announces the warm up time is almost finished. You get some good matches, usually decent weather, and it's a nice way for one to ease into a slam. Your sleep schedule is still good and your favourite player might have gone through. I know mine has. I hope yours does, too.

This Sunday we had women's top seed and Austria's Dominic Thiem open proceedings. Thiem won comfortably. If you want to find out what happened to Angie Kerber, there's an elevator HERE that will take you to the women's floor. Or you could access this tweet if you want a spoiler:

Shocker! ??

Angelique Kerber becomes the first WTA No. 1 seed to lose in the first round of Roland-Garros. #RG17 pic.twitter.com/iu4CrZNMPn

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 28, 2017

But the main event did not come in the men's draw. It came in the shape of Petra Kvitova. She is now the background for the official Roland Garros twitter page. She also had the tennis tweet of the year:

Thank you ?? pic.twitter.com/cFeEFKbFyN

— Petra Kvitova (@Petra_Kvitova) May 28, 2017

It brings this BACKSPINNER a lot of joy to see her win. And she looked good, too. It's a beautiful comeback story and, honestly, she could be a Wimbledon favourite. But for more on her why don't you get back in that elevator.

Well, let's get the suicide going and see what else happened...

MS 1st Rd: Lopez d. [q] Fratangelo
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WS 1st Rd: Jankovic d. Hogenkamp


CHATRIER: DIMITROV D. ROBERT
...There is only so much a home crowd can do for you. When there is a gap in class like there is here it will only ever go one way. Stephane Robert once beat Tomas Berdych in Paris, 9-7 in the third set. History was always unlikely to repeat itself. It took the Bulgarian under two hours to cruise through 6-2, 6-3, 6-4. He hit 35 winners and got six breaks from six break points. He did lose serve twice, but the whole point of first round matches is to find your feet, to make a few errors and still come out the match feeling good. His first serve percentage of 54 needs to be higher as he goes on, but otherwise it was a good performance from a player who could make a lot of noise here.
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CHATRIER: POUILLE D. BENNETEAU
...If there was a match of the day it might be this. Pouille ground out a three hour, twenty minute win over compatriot Julien Benneteau, who might be playing in his final Roland Garros. The youngster won 7-6[6], 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. There were 110 winners in the match and only six breaks. This was the kind of match that had everything. It had stunning rallies, a great crowd, and some sparkling shot-making. It is Benny's 15th Roland Garros, a remarkable stat. Being a wily veteran is handy, but sometimes you find yourself outmatched on the day. If he does retire his final match here will at least have been a classic. It does not get any easier for Pouille - up next he has to play Thomaz Bellucci. The forehand to forehand rallies will be fascinating to watch.
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LENGLEN: ZEBALLOS D. MANNARINO
...In a mixed day for the Frenchies, Zeballos added to their losses. The Argentine was clinical in a 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 win over his left-handed opponent. Zeballos is one of the only men to ever defeat Nadal in a clay court final. He did so in Buenos Aires some four years ago. He has been in a slump since but does post a remarkable result every now and then. With Ivo Karlovic his next opponent, opportunity beckons for the crafty dirt-specialist. In the two-and-a-half hour first round match there were 58 errors and 11 breaks. This was a match for the clay court aficionado. It was full of long rallies, patient exchanges and measured shots. But Mannarino is not at the level he was. And for the experienced Argentine it was easy pickings. It was a strange day for the French. Benneteau, Robert and Quentin Halys all lost. But Oceane Dodin, Benjamin Bonzi and Lucas Pouille all triumphed.
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LENGLEN: THIEM D. TOMIC
...It took the Austrian 80 minutes to dismantle Bernard Tomic - he won 6-4, 6-0, 6-2. He never faced a break point and hit 32 winners to just ten errors. He won 63 per cent of the points. It was a humiliation. The silver-lining for Tomic is that this is his worst surface. The grass 'swing' is just around the corner. There is still time to adjust. But the worrying signs are beginning to mount. His movement is not as good as it was and he looked out of his depth for much of the match. Thiem, however, looked majestic. He is going to to take over Nadal's crown. The guy won 70 per cent of his second serve points. Simone Bolelli or Nicolas Mahut are next up for the 6th seed. Neither of those guys are going to have a fun time against the rising star.
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COURT ONE: TRUNGELLITI D. HALYS
...In a match lasting some four hours, the Frenchman blew a two set lead to crumble to a 6-3, 7-6[4], 6-7[2], 4-6, 4-6 loss. The turning point came in the third set breaker. The Frenchie double faulted on set-point. He gave the momentum to his opponent and couldn't find it again. Marco Trungelliti, sporting Guga-style curls, is a journeyman who has qualified for the event. He was expected to lose. Instead he has caused an astonishing upset. He will play Guillermo Garcia Lopez next. That's why slams are so special. There are upsets, tears, tantrums and exciting hairdos. There is no greater pain than when you lose a match from two sets up. And there is no greater feeling than coming back from two down to win. If you have a home crowd it is even better. There is a magic, particularly here and at Wimbledon, that isn't there in other sports. Even the perfect Aaron Rodgers spiral doesn't get this BACKSPINNER as excited as watching Federer come back to beat Cilic.
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OUTER COURT SELECTION : RAMOS-VINOLAS D. COPIL
...He was last year's quarterfinalist. He could take out some big names. We should all be watching the Spaniard. It may have taken three hours, but he is through with a 6-7[7], 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 win. It was more straightforward than it sounds. The first set of any grand slam is always one of the hardest. He broke seven times, losing his own serve just twice. He also hit only 19 errors. The Romanian sprayed 68 unforced errors during the match. The Spaniards never make it easy on themselves. They prefer to build into the match and grind rather than blow their opponent out. For Albert, this is a good sign and the perfect first round match - just enough of a test.
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