PARIS: Felix Auger-Aliassime survived a major scare but managed to beat Peruvian qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas and reach the second round of the French Open, here on Sunday.
The World No. 9 recovered from a slow start to overcome Peruvian qualifier Juan Pablo Varillas 2-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 in a dramatic opening day encounter on Court Philippe Chatrier.
In a tight match, the Canadian struggled to cope with the World No. 122's variety and intensity in the first two sets, with the Peruvian visibly pumped on what was his Grand Slam debut. However, Auger-Aliassime managed to turn the tables as he cut down on errors.
The ninth seed found more first serves and hit with greater power, forcing Varillas into mistakes to advance after three hours and 13 minutes.
The 21-year-old is making his third appearance in Paris and will next play Aslan Karatsev or Argentine qualifier Camilo Ugo Carabelli. Earlier this month, the Canadian reached the quarter-finals at ATP Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome in May.
In their first ATP head-to-head meeting, Varillas made a fast start against Auger-Aliassime, quickly finding his range to break immediately. He hit his consistent groundstrokes with depth and precision for the opening 90 minutes, committing just seven unforced errors across the first two sets to take control.
However, Auger-Aliassime refused to go away, raising his level in the third set as he cut down on mistakes and started to take the ball earlier to remove time from the Peruvian, who started to tire.
The Canadian won 100 percent (12/12) of his first-serve points in the fourth set to level the match before he gained the crucial break in the eighth game of the fifth set to eventually break Varillas' resistance. He then held serve to triumph, letting out a roar in relief.
Former champion Garbine Muguruza suffered a second consecutive first-round exit at the French Open, biting the red dirt in a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss to Estonian Kaia Kanepi as she continued on her downward trend.
Muguruza, who lifted the Suzanne Lenglen Cup in 2016 and reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros two years later, was in cruise control in a one-sided first set before Kanepi ground her way back into the match.
In men's section, third seed Alexander Zverev beat Austria's Sebastian Ofner 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 to advance further. In other first round matches, Argentine Diego Schwartzman trounced Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, Number 18 seed Grigor Dimitrov beat Marcus Giron 6-1, 6-1, 6-1, Hugo Dellien bested former US Open winner Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, Number 23 seed John Isner beat Quentin Halys 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(8), Tallon Griekspoor humbled the Number 25 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 2-6, 6-0, 6-4, 6-3.
In women's section, Greece's Maria Sakkari defeated France's Clara Bugel 6-2, 6-3 and progressed to the second round. Katerina Siniaková beat Petra Martic 6-4, 7-6 (6), Olga Danilovic beat Dalma Gálfi 3-6, 7-6 6-2, Aliaksandra Sasnovich beat Wang Xinyu 6-4, 6-1, Sorana Cîrstea beat Tatjana Maria 6-3, 6-3, Elise Mertens beat Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 6-1 in other matches of Day 1. Agencies
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