Beyond The Score

Intro:

Back in the Sunshine clay in Paris there is hardly a feeling to match it. Day one of any Grand Slam means anticipation, nerves and so many story lines ahead. With around twelve hours of action having passed let’s take a look back at some of the talking points today.

Sabalenka gets campaign off and running

A man by the name of Roger Federer used to speak about how a test in your first round, providing it isn’t too taxing, can often be beneficial to settling you into a Grand Slam. The score line of 6-3, 6-3 doesn’t really represent how tough a match this was for the world number two as this was a test. Opening slot on the opening Sunday is always tough. Ons Jabeur spoke recently about that while reflecting on her early loss last season at this stage. Quite ironically, she came in having won Madrid as well, in solid form. Going out this early can make you feel like you were never part of the tournament and is demoralising. Furthermore, there is an added piece of political friction which made this such an unusual clash.

Sabalenka is an outspoken Belarussian who despite her condemnation of Russia and Ukraine’s war says that politics shouldn’t be mixed with sport. In contrast Kostyuc, a Ukrainian, has called for all Russian and Belarussian players to be outright banned from participating. A frosty encounter was served at the end as the Ukrainian refused to shake hands with Sabalenka. This was met with ugly scenes of jeers and whistles.

The opening set was less than routine for Sabalenka with three double faults and being broke relatively early. You always worry about her service after last season’s issues. Even a slight wobble provokes the question: what if her serve escapes her again? With those ideas flowing through your head as a spectator you can only imagine what they’d be like for Sabalenka herself.

Yet, her 2023 growing maturity showed once more as she reacted excellently, with her serve actually becoming a weapon. Despite only hitting one ace she was able to dictate the points on her service to great effect. After all, on her service games only one rally went over nine shots, very efficient for the clay. She breezed through the second set and now faces world number 91 Iryna Shymanovich.

Khachanov shows steel

Karen Khachanov’s routine five setter was dished up today. Two sets down against a rowdy French crowd cheering on one of their own, let’s not play today down. It was an impressive comeback to add to his collection. His weapons really proved crucial. The contrast between the two sides of the net was telling. Lestienne standing at 5 foot 11 and serving on average 24mph slower, in the end he was bullied out of a victory. Like any sport you can only deal with the cards you are dealt with in a physical sense. Unfortunately for the Frenchman he was just inferior in many ways.

Yet, clay neutralises physical attributes. Translating this style into clay is often a tough task. You only need to look at Maxime Cressy’s earlier result to emphasise that you need more to your game than simply power in Paris.

Khachanov really deserves some respect. He has reached two consecutive semi-finals at Grand Slams and would have likely been an excellent competitor at Wimbledon had it not been for the Russian ban. It’ll be interesting to see if it was a case of running hot or can he back it up in Paris. Today was impressive as his horrific start had me thinking it was the former. He now faces Albot on Wednesday.

Tsitsipas wins but doesn’t look contention-worthy

And breathe. After four testing sets the Greek disposed of a Jiri Vesley who has won just two matches all season. A positive day overall but one that doesn’t fill you with confidence for his ultimate goal, to lift the title.

A runner up two years ago who was two sets up against Novak Djokovic you do wonder whether he will truly get over that mental heartbreak. Truth of the matter is that it doesn’t feel like he has made much progress since 2021. Sure he was runner up in Australia earlier in the year but how much was that due to a favourable run? Besides, he couldn’t manage a set of Djokovic.

Today was an enjoyable test though and he showed the guts to complete it in four. Failure to do so would have left him in a real tricky situation. Particularly with the likes of Djokovic and Alcaraz in his side the level will need to improve as Vesley with the utmost respect shouldn’t have challenged him. The Spaniard has only passed round one once in his last six attempts now at Roland Garros. Reverting back to Roger Federer’s mindset, it is perhaps what Tsitsipas needs.