Gauff wins after forgetting rackets, Medvedev exits French Open

Coco Gauff forgot to bring her rackets to the court but reminded her rivals of her French Open title ambitions with a commanding win while Daniil Medvedev lost his composure on a cold and blustery Tuesday as he crashed out in the opening round.
Last year’s runner-up Alexander Zverev had no such trouble as he cruised into the second round in his latest bid to win an elusive Grand Slam title after losing three major finals including at this year’s Australian Open.
Former Roland Garros runner-up Gauff provided early comic relief as the second seed grinned sheepishly and showed her empty bag to her entourage, who scampered to reunite her with her equipment before she thumped Olivia Gadecki 6-2 6-2.
The Madrid and Rome finalist made up for the delayed start by easing through the first three games and wrapped up the opening set with a battling hold after dropping her service earlier.
Gauff’s compatriot and former runner-up Sofia Kenin also advanced to the second round after a 6-3 6-1 win over French number one Varvara Gracheva while Hailey Baptiste beat 2023 semi-finalist Beatriz Haddad Maia 4-6 6-3 6-1.
Former world number one Victoria Azarenka became the oldest woman in the professional era since 1968 to win a singles Grand Slam main-draw match with a 6-0 6-0 scoreline, after the 35-year-old dished out a double bagel to Yanina Wickmayer.
Marketa Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion, breezed past Oksana Selekhmeteva 6-4 6-4 while sixth seed Mirra Andreeva beat Cristina Bucsa 6-4 6-3 to underline her title credentials after an inspired run to last year’s semi-finals.
On the men’s side, third seed Zverev sealed a comprehensive 6-3 6-3 6-4 victory over American Learner Tien while 11th seed Medvedev was beaten 7-5 6-3 4-6 1-6 7-5 by Cameron Norrie.
Dusan Lajovic crashed out 6-2 6-4 7-6(4) to Kazakh lucky loser Alexander Shevchenko and Serbian compatriot Laslo Djere fell 6-3 6-4 7-6(6) to Australian ninth seed Alex De Minaur.
Three-times champion Novak Djokovic was looking to lift the spirits of Serbian fans with a victorious start in his bid for a record 25th Grand Slam, with the 38-year-old taking on American Mackenzie McDonald.
It was the end of the road for Bulgarian veteran Grigor Dimitrov, however, after the 16th seed pulled up with injury against Ethan Quinn to exit a fourth straight Grand Slam due to retirement.
Sinner beats Arthur for 15th straight Grand Slam win
Jannik Sinner stretched his Grand Slam winning streak to 15 matches by grabbing the last five games to complete a 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 victory over Arthur Rinderknech of France in the French Open’s first round. The No. 1-ranked Sinner is playing in his second tournament since serving a three-month doping ban that was announced shortly after he won the Aus Open in January. His case came to light shortly before last year’s U.S. Open, which Sinner also won. The 23-year-old Italian has three Grand Slam titles in all, each trophy arriving on hard courts, and his best showing at Roland-Garros was making it to the semifinals a year ago before losing in five sets to eventual champion Alcaraz. The result against the 75th-ranked Rinderknech in Court Philippe-Chatrier was Sinner’s 62nd win in a row against opponents outside the top 20.