Three British men and three British women have made it to the second round of the French Open for the first time in the Open Era of tennis.
Some of the best British players competing in Paris have had an incredible start at Roland-Garros, and highly-favored Jack Draper overcame an early scare to defeat Italy’s Mattia Bellucci in four sets on Suzanne-Lenglen today.
Draper, who entered the tournament seeded fifth after making it to the final in Madrid earlier this month and narrowly losing to world number two Carlos Alcaraz in Rome before Roland-Garros, is Britain’s main hope for the next two weeks.
The 23-year-old had to wait until late in the evening in Paris to find out who he would face in the second round, but it will be French sensation Gael Monfils, who overcame a two-set deficit to defeat Bolivian Hugo Dellien and set up one of the most memorable matches of round two.
However, the victories of fellow British fighters Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley, who both took significant losses in the first round, have somewhat overshadowed Draper’s victory.
In a little more than two hours, Fearnley defeated 40-year-old former Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka in straight sets.
Similar to Draper, Fearnley will take ona hometown favorite in round two when Ugo Humbert, a Frenchman and number 22 seed, waits on
But Norrie’s victory over 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev, who lost in the opening round for the sixth time at Roland-Garros, was one of the most striking outcomes of the first round.
That shouldn’t take away from Norrie’s victory, though, as the Brit prevailed 7-5 in the decider after holding his own in a titanic match that lasted five sets.
As the British number one defeated French qualifier Carole Monnet in three sets, winning the final two 6-1 after losing the first on a tiebreak, Katie Boulter’s early scare did little to derail her on the women’s side of the draw.
In what will be an extremely challenging match, Boulter advances to round two to take on Australian Open champion Madison Keys after achieving her first-ever victory at the French Open.
Despite defeating Wang Xinyu yesterday, Emma Raducanu has arguably the most difficult draw of any woman in the draw because she will be meeting clay expert Iga Swiatek, who has already won four French Open titles at the age of 23.
Sonay Kartal, the only British player competing in Tuesday’s women’s draw, defeated Russian Erika Andreeva with little fanfare, 6-0, 6-2. The world number 56 will now take on Marie Bouzkova in round two, which should be a winnable match.
The fact that six players advanced to the second round indicates that British tennis is at its best for many years, particularly in the men’s division, where Draper has a strong chance to make significant progress over the next two weeks.