Champ Wawrinka survives Rosol scare in first round

Defending French Open champion Stan Wawrinka survived a huge first-round scare against Lukas Rosol yesterday, scraping his way to a 4-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory in over three hours.
Never at Roland Garros had the men’s singles champion lost in the opening round the following year, but the third-seeded Swiss was in danger of making unwanted history after twice falling a set behind.
Wawrinka, who defeated the Czech on Friday in the Geneva Open semi-finals, dropped the opening set on Court Philippe Chatrier after surrendering his serve in game five.
The world number four rattled through the second set to level and seemingly get back on track, but 59th-ranked Rosol appeared on course for a repeat of his stunning 2012 win over Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon when he moved ahead once more in the third.
Wawrinka was forced to defend a pair of break points at 2-all in the fourth, with the Swiss then ripping a trademark cross-court backhand passing shot to move 5-3 ahead and send the contest to a fifth set.
The defending champion forged ahead with a crucial break in the third game of the decider before closing it out to book a second-round match-up with Japan’s Taro Daniel.
“It was a really tough match today, the conditions were slow and heavy,” said Wawrinka, with the start to Monday’s play delayed by two and a half hours after more heavy rain in the French capital.
“It was a typical first-round match, I didn’t play my best tennis and made a lot of mistakes. But he was playing really well.
“He was going for his shots all the time and wasn’t missing much until he started to tire a little in the fourth and fifth set. But before that I was always under pressure.
“It’s a good thing to get through, but it’s never the best to start with a five-set match and not play your best.
“I’m really happy with the way I found solutions. It’s a good victory, he was playing really well and it wasn’t easy for me to get into the match. Now I have the chance to keep improving for the rest of the tournament.”
Wawrinka admitted he was unaware no reigning champion had ever suffered an opening-round exit in Paris, grinning while replying: “And it’s still not the case, so it’s good.”
Rosol, whose run to the third round at the Australian Open in January was also ended by Wawrinka, said memories of his stunning win over Nadal four years ago hadn’t sprung to mind when another upset looked possible.
“I had my chances today, I wanted payback after Geneva,” said Rosol. “I didn’t think about the Nadal match -- it was totally different. I just tried to focus on today.
“I played a good match and hope I can continue this good level for the next tournaments.”
Japan’s fifth seed Kei Nishikori reached the second round with a 6-1, 7-5, 6-3 win over Simone Bolelli of Italy.
Nishikori goes on to face Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov after finishing off a first-round tie which had been suspended overnight with him leading 2-1 in the third set.
It was a 50th career Grand Slam match win for Nishikori who made the quarter-finals in Paris in 2015.
“It wasn’t easy. I started really well. I was up 6-1, 3-0, I think. Pretty aggressive and moving the ball pretty good. He started playing little better in the second, but I thought it was a great match for me,” said Nishikori.
Canadian eighth seed Milos Raonic, a 2014 quarter-finalist, defeated Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7/5).
Tipsarevic was playing his first Roland Garros since 2013 after being treated for a benign tumour on his left foot.

French Open Results
Men’s singles (Round I)
Marco Trungelliti (Argentina) beat 10-Marin Cilic (Croatia) 7-6(4) 3-6 6-4 6-2; Ivan Dodig (Croatia) beat Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 6-4 5-7 7-5 2-6 6-3; 16-Gilles Simon (France) beat Rogerio Dutra Silva (Brazil) 7-6(5) 6-4 6-2;Fernando Verdasco (Spain) beat 33-Steve Johnson (US) 7-5 6-4 7-5; Guido Pella (Argentina) beat Diego Schwartzman (Argentina) 6-2 3-6 6-2 6-3; Jordan Thompson (Australia) beat Laslo Djere (Serbia) 6-3 6-4 7-5; 5-Kei Nishikori (Japan) beat Simone Bolelli (Italy) 6-1 7-5 6-3; 22-Viktor Troicki (Serbia) beat Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) 2-6 6-3 5-7 7-5 6-3; 27-Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) beat Albert Montanes (Spain) 6-2 7-6(7) 7-6(5); Taro Daniel (Japan) beat Martin Klizan (Slovakia) 3-6 4-6 7-5 6-4 3-0 (Klizan retired); Adam Pavlasek (Czech Republic) beat Roberto Carballes (Spain) 6-2 4-6 6-3 1-6 6-1; 3-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) beat Lukas Rosol (Czech Republic) 4-6 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4; 23-Jack Sock (US) beat Robin Haase (Netherlands) 6-3 7-5 3-6 6-7(3) 6-2; Dustin Brown (Germany) beat Dudi Sela (Israel) 6-7(5) 6-4 7-6(5) 4-6 6-4; 30-Jeremy Chardy (France) beat Leonardo Mayer (Argentina) 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-2; Adrian Mannarino (France) beat Mikhail Kukushkin (Kazakhstan) 6-4 2-6 6-2 6-4; 8-Milos Raonic (Canada) beat Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) 6-3 6-2 7-6(5); Dusan Lajovic (Serbia) beat Denis Kudla (US) 6-4 6-3 6-3

Women’s singles (Round I)
25-Irina Begu (Romania) beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US) 5-7 6-1 6-3; CoCo Vandeweghe (U.S.) beat Naomi Broady (Britain) 6-4 3-6 6-3; Zarina Diyas (Kazakhstan) beat Carina Witthoeft (Germany) 2-6 6-4 6-2; Johanna Larsson (Sweden) beat Magda Linette (Poland) 6-3 4-6 7-5; Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine) beat 7-Roberta Vinci (Italy) 6-1 6-3; 2-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) beat Bojana Jovanovski (Serbia) 6-0 6-2; Caroline Garcia (France) beat Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) 6-3 7-5; Annika Beck (Germany) beat Maryna Zanevska (Ukraine) 6-1 6-2; Elena Vesnina (Russia) beat Madison Brengle (US) 6-2 6-3; Shelby Rogers (US) beat 17-Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) 3-6 6-4 6-3; Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) beat 16-Sara Errani (Italy) 6-3 6-2; Heather Watson (Britain) beat Nicole Gibbs (US) 5-7 6-2 6-2; Yanina Wickmayer (Belgium) beat Alexandra Dulgheru (Romania) 6-1 6-3; 6-Simona Halep (Romania) beat Nao Hibino (Japan) 6-2 6-0; 13-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Yaroslava Shvedova (Kazakhstan) 4-6 6-1 6-4; Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (Croatia) beat Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) 6-1 6-2; Cagla Buyukakcay (Turkey) beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Belarus) 5-7 7-6(2) 6-2; 4-Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Spain) beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (Slovakia) 3-6 6-3 6-3; Myrtille Georges (France) beat Christina McHale (US) 6-7(7) 6-0 6-3; Polona Hercog (Slovenia) beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino (Spain) 6-4 7-6(4); Naomi Osaka (Japan) beat 32-Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) 6-4 7-5; 30-Barbora Strycova (Czech Republic) beat Lucie Hradecka (Czech Republic) 6-4 7-5; 19-Sloane Stephens (US) beat Margarita Gasparyan (Russia) 6-4 6-3; Veronica Cepede Royg (Paraguay) beat Sabine Lisicki (Germany) 6-2 6-2