Sabalenka, Tsitsipas reach 2nd Round as French Open starts

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - Aryna Sabalenka and Stefanos Tsitsipas reached the second round of the 2023 French Open (Roland Garros) in women’s and men’s singles respectively as the major tennis tournament began in Paris on Sunday.

World No. 2 Sabalenka from Belarus beat her Ukrainian opponent Marta Kostyuk with sets of 6-3, 6-2 in a first round match at Court Philippe-Chatrier.

American No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula meanwhile eliminated her compatriot Danielle Collins 6-4, 6-2 at Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

Greek No. 8 seed Maria Sakkari had an early exit as she was beaten by Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova with sets of 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.

World No. 5 Tsitsipas from Greece beat his Czech opponent Jiri Vesely with sets of 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7) to reach the second round.

Seventh seed Andrey Rublev from Russia knocked Serbia's Laslo Djere out of the French Open, beating him 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The French Open, the second Grand Slam of the year, will run through June 11.