French Open 2018: Novak Djokovic Advances, Stanislas Wawrinka Stunned on Monday
2015 French Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka crashed out on Monday at Roland Garros, as Guillermo Garcia-Lopez won 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
Wawrinka was a long way short of his usual best and struggled with a knee issue, allowing the Spaniard to spring an upset in the first round. The man the Swiss beat in the final three years ago, Novak Djokovic, is safely through after a routine win over Rogerio Dutra Silva.
Later in the day, Rafael Nadal begins his quest for an 11th French title as he meets Simone Bolelli in Round 1.
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In the women's draw, eighth seed Petra Kvitova is through after coming from behind to beat Veronica Cepede Royg. Second seed Caroline Wozniacki gets her tournament underway on Monday afternoon against Danielle Collins.
Here are the key early results from Roland Garros so far and a recap of the best of the action from Monday in Paris.
Selected Monday Results
Men's Draw
(20) Novak Djokovic bt. Rogerio Dutra Silva, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez bt. (23) Stan Wawrinka, 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3
Ernests Gulbis bt. (29) Gilles Muller, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
Women's Draw
(8) Petra Kvitova bt. Veronica Cepede Royg, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5
(13) Madison Keys bt. Sachia Vickery, 6-3, 6-3
(21) Naomi Osaka bt. Sofia Kenin, 6-2, 7-5
For the results in full, visit the Roland Garros website.
Wawrinka Out, Djokovic Eases Through
It's been a testing spell in Wawrinka's career, but he has always tended to perform well at this Grand Slam, winning in 2015, getting to the semi-finals in 2016 and finishing as a runner-up last year.
But he wasn't able to draw on past experiences here. While Wawrinka won two straight sets after losing the first, Garcia-Lopez started to grind down his jaded opponent. After winning a crucial fourth-set tiebreak, the momentum was with him in the decider.
As noted by Tennis.com, the three-time Grand Slam champion's ranking will take a huge hit after this surprise defeat:
Djokovic, the champion in 2016, had no major issues, although he wasn't at his best as he got past Silva in three sets.
The Serb was slow out of the blocks, losing the first two games. While the Brazilian battled well throughout, in the big moments Djokovic was able to show his class.
There was a special moment for Marco Trungelliti in his first match of the competition. As noted by the tournament's official Twitter account, at one point it didn't look like he would make it to the French capital for the contest:
Elsewhere, Kvitova continued her brilliant run on clay, getting past Cepede Royg 3-6, 6-1, 7-5. After losing the first set, she found some of her best tennis, making it 12 in a row on this particular surface.
As noted by Hannah Wilks of Live Tennis, the Czech played down her sequence of victories:
Madison Keys, seeded 13th, is also into Round 2 after she was a straight-set winner over American compatriot Sachia Vickery.
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