French Open LIVE Updates – Roland Garros Empty Stadium: In an absolute shocker, French Open opening day Centre Court matches were played in almost stadium. Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur suffered a shock first round exit and was absolutely shocked to play in front of ‘NO-CROWD’: Follow French Open 2022 LIVE Updates with InsideSport.IN
“Well, honestly, I wasn’t happy to play on a Sunday at 11am,” she added. “I’ve got quite a peculiar relationship with this court, I like it and I don’t like it at the same time.”
There were barely any fans on hand to watch the start of the first match on centre court this year — as this sad photo reveals.
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Only a David Law level of pumpedness would be completely undented by the empty seats on Chatrier.
Ons Jabeur deserves more 🤷♀️ pic.twitter.com/CElGpBO89A
— The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) May 22, 2022
French Open 1st Day: I wasn’t happy’: Opening day French Open photo is just sad
The world No. 6 crashed out to Poland’s 56th-ranked Magda Linette 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5.
The 27-year-old was seen as a potential champion in Paris, despite never having previously got past the fourth round.
Jabeur came into the event with a season-leading 17 wins on clay in 2022 and with the prestigious Madrid title under her belt and a runners-up spot in Rome against world number one Iga Swiatek.
However, she was undone Sunday by 47 unforced errors in the two hour 28-minute match.
“Obviously I was expecting better but we say maybe something happens bad because there is something good happening in the future,” said Jabeur.
“Hopefully the grass season, hopefully Wimbledon, I don’t know, but it’s definitely a great time to reflect and to see what’s going to happen next.
“So maybe it was a good thing to lose today. I would rather say this and be really tough with myself than waste all the good energy that I got from Madrid and Rome.”
Jabeur said she was not happy to see that she was starting proceedings on Court Philippe Chatrier on the opening day of the tournament, the first French Open with full crowds since 2019 after a pandemic-affected two years.
French Open 1st Day: I wasn’t happy’: Opening day French Open photo is just sad
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz lived up to the mounting hype with a winning start on Sunday.
Alcaraz, bidding to become just the eighth teenager to capture a major men’s title, defeated Argentine lucky loser Juan Ignacio Londero 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 without facing a break point on his Court Philippe Chatrier debut.
Widely tipped to end the dominance of 13-time champion Rafael Nadal and two-time winner Novak Djokovic, Alcaraz extended his season record to 29 wins and just three losses.
The 19-year-old crashed 22 winners past Londero who matched the Spaniard’s challenge early on until he was broken in the 10th game of the opening set.
Alcaraz then raced away with the tie courtesy of a double break in the second set and triple break in the third to set up a second round clash with compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
“I have been watching this tournament many years. It’s a unique place to play and I have been dreaming of playing here,” said Alcaraz, who made the third round in 2021 having come through qualifying.
Alcaraz has a season-leading four titles in 2022. At the Madrid Masters, he defeated Nadal, Djokovic and Alexander Zverev to take the title.
German third seed Zverev, a semi-finalist last year and who is scheduled to face Alcaraz in the quarter-finals, also eased into the second round with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 win over Austria’s Sebastian Ofner, the world number 218.
Tenth seed and 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza made a premature exit, beaten 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi, the oldest woman in the tournament who came back from a set and break down.
World number 46 Kanepi, who turns 37 next month, made the last eight at the French Open in 2008 and 2012. Sunday’s victory was her 10th top 10 win at a Slam.
French Open 1st Day: I wasn’t happy’: Opening day French Open photo is just sad
Greek fourth seed and 2021 semi-finalist Maria Sakkari made the second round with a 6-2, 6-3 win over France’s Clara Burel.
Two-time runner-up Dominic Thiem, whose ranking has slipped to 194 after a lengthy battle with a wrist injury, was another early casualty, losing 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to 87th-ranked Hugo Dellien of Bolivia.
Thiem, the 2020 US Open champion, has yet to win a match in six attempts since his return in March. He has now lost 10 tour-level matches in a row. His last victory came in Rome just over a year ago.
The 28-year-old, a former world number three, reached at least the quarter-finals at Roland Garros five years running from 2016 to 2020. He finished runner-up to Nadal in 2018 and 2019.
“It’s not the greatest feeling to go in a Grand Slam knowing that all is not perfect in practice,” said the Austrian.
Canadian ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime came into this Roland Garros without a win in two visits.
That almost became three when he gave up the first two sets to Peruvian qualifier and Grand Slam debutant Juan Pablo Varillas before he recovered to win 2-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.
Top seed and defending champion Djokovic, who turned 35 on Sunday, and fifth-seeded Nadal, with 41 Grand Slam titles between them, are not in action until Monday.
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