Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus celebrates after winning against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain during their first round singles match at the French Open in Paris on Tuesday.Christophe Ena/The Associated Press
Aryna Sabalenka’s diamonds sparkled in the sun during a first-round victory at the heat-soaked French Open on Tuesday.
The top-ranked Sabalenka looked light on her feet on Court Philippe-Chatrier, despite wearing two thick necklaces in a 6-4, 6-2 win against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
“Diamonds, I don’t really feel the heaviness, but I can imagine how it looks from the outside,” said Sabalenka, the tournament runner-up last year to Coco Gauff. “So I feel pretty comfortable. For me, it’s important to look good.”
The four-time major winner was initially going to wear three necklaces but said she thought that might be too much.
“It probably sounds a bit crazy, but when I feel good about what I’m wearing, how I look on court, I tend to perform much better,” Sabalenka said. “I like to bring a little bit of a fashion on the tennis court. I know the dress that I will wear on the Grand Slam, and I just try to come up with something to match the outfit.”
Sabalenka said she wasn’t worried about protecting her jewelry when she’s off the court.
“I have my fiancé. He’s kind of like my security,” she said, smiling. “My physio does jujitsu, so I feel pretty secure walking around. If I go somewhere, I don’t go alone.”
Gauff began her title defence with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over fellow American Taylor Townsend, while four-time major winner Naomi Osaka beat Laura Siegemund 6-3, 7-6 (3) on Court Suzanne-Lenglen wearing a sequined gold playing dress.
Frenchwoman Lois Boisson, who made a surprise run to the semi-finals last year when she was ranked 361st, lost 6-2, 6-2 to the 22nd-seeded Anna Kalinskaya.
Daniil Medvedev plays a forehand return to Australia's Adam Walton during their singles match on Day 3 of the French Open on Court Suzanne-Lenglen at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris Tuesday.THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images
For a third consecutive day, the temperature in Paris rose far above normal, reaching a scorching 35 C.
“I’m from Florida, so this is nothing. Shout-out Delray Beach,” said Gauff, who kept her spare raquettes in a court-side cooler during the match.
Medvedev loses early again
The unusually hot conditions made the courts faster than usual.
Daniil Medvedev usually thrives in such conditions but he struggled in a five-set loss to 97th-ranked Australian opponent Adam Walton.
Walton, who received a wild card invitation from tournament organizers, beat Medvedev 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4. It was Medvedev’s second straight first round exit here and third in four years.
“I know why I don’t really play my best in Roland Garros, but if I say it, it’s [making] excuses,” he said. “So I keep it to myself.”
Playing in the night session, top-ranked Jannik Sinner routed 171st-ranked French wild card entry Clement Tabur 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 to extend his winning streak to 30 matches as he chases the only big title missing in his tennis career.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2021 runner-up to Novak Djokovic, was leading 6-2, 3-0 against Alexandre Muller when his French opponent retired. Muller injured his right calf, three months after injuring his left calf.
France's Moïse Kouamé reacts after winning the second set during his first round match against Croatia's Marin Cilic.Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters
Ninth-seeded Alexander Bublik was beaten 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 7-5 by Jan-Lennard Struff.
Alexander Blockx withdrew from the tournament with a right ankle sprain, making Alex de Minaur – his scheduled second round opponent – the first player into the third round.
Rising star
French teenager Moïse Kouamé made the perfect start to his French Open career with a 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-1 win over Marin Cilic.
The 17-year-old Kouamé won one day after 39-year-old Frenchman Gael Monfils made his last appearance at Roland Garros.
The teenager raised his arms in triumph after defeating the 37-year-old Cilic, who won the 2014 U.S. Open, finished runner-up at two other majors, and reached the French Open semi-finals in 2022.
The ATP Tour said No. 318-ranked Kouamé became the first man born in 2008 or later to win a Grand Slam match.
In March, he became the youngest winner in Miami Masters history when he beat Zachary Svajda in the first round – earning a congratulatory message from Djokovic.
Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime plays a forehand return to Germany's Daniel Altmaier during their singles match on Day 3 of the French Open on Court Suzanne-Lenglen at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on Tuesday.THOMAS SAMSON/AFP/Getty Images
Mboko, Auger-Aliassime advance
Victoria Mboko sailed and Flix Auger-Aliassime struggled. But in the end, both seeded Canadians moved on to the second round of the French Open.
Mboko had little trouble in her opening match of the women’s draw on Tuesday. She downed Czechia’s Nikola Bartunkova 6-1, 6-2 in just 69 minutes.
Auger-Aliassime, meanwhile, survived a five-set slugfest with Germany’s Daniel Altmaier that saw the fourth seed come back from 4-1 down in the final set en route to a 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7) victory.
Mboko, coming off an appearance in the final of the Strasbourg International tournament last week, converted her sixth break in 10 chances.
The 19-year-old from Toronto faced just two break points, defending one.
Mboko, the ninth seed in the women’s draw, is making her second appearance at the clay-court Grand Slam after advancing to the third round in her debut last year.
Mboko will next face another Czech opponent in Katerina Siniakova. The 30-year-old veteran is No. 36 in the world in singles competition and is also part of the top-ranked doubles team at Roland Garros with American Taylor Townsend.
Auger-Aliassime, the men’s fourth seed, had nine aces on the deadening clay at Roland Garros but faced 13 break points, and failed to defend five of them.
The 25-year-old from Montreal had six breaks of his own, however, including a key conversion that cut Altmaier’s lead in the fifth set to 4-3.
Altmaier led the fifth set tiebreaker before Auger- Aliassime stormed back, winning the final two points of the match on return.
Auger-Aliassime will face Argentina’s Roman Andres Burruchaga in the second round.
Earlier, Denis Shapovalov was eliminated with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 loss to Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria.
Faria scored a key break to go up 6-5 in the second set before serving for the win, to put Shapovalov on the brink of elimination.
The 22-year-old then went up 2-1 in the third set on an early break. Shapovalov fought back to win the next game on return, but another break restored Faria’s lead, and he served out from there.
The 27-year-old Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., showed some power on the slow clay courts at Roland Garros with 10 aces, but he cost himself with eight double faults and 48 unforced errors.
Shapovalov, who entered the French Open ranked 39th in the world, saw his season record fall to 8-11.
With files from The Canadian Press