French Open 2019 Results: Del Potro, Osaka Highlight Tuesday's Singles Winners

Naomi Osaka weathered a storm to defeat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 0-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1 in a difficult first-round matchup at the 2019 French Open on Tuesday.

First seed Osaka suffered a bagel loss in the first set and was one game from a shock early exit on Court Philippe-Chatrier, only to respond in robust fashion and set up a second-round clash with Victoria Azarenka.

The top seeds had more fortune in the men's singles, and No. 5 Alexander Zverev came back from two sets down to beat John Millman 7-6 (4), 6-3, 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-3 and secure his place in the second round. 

No. 8 seed Juan Martin del Potro and No. 9 seed Fabio Fognini beat first-round opponents Nicolas Jarry and Andreas Seppi, respectively, in four sets and also move on to the second stage.

Defending champion Simona Halep started her tournament with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Ajla Tomljanovic, while American Madison Keys made light work of Evgeniya Rodina en route to the second round.

No. 17 seed Anett Kontaveit was knocked out following a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 defeat to Karolina Muchova. Meanwhile, Carolina Garcia and Daria Kasatkina booked straight-sets victories over respective opponents Mona Barthel and Jasmine Paolini.

Tuesday's Results

Men's Singles

(9) Fabio Fognini bt. Andreas Seppi: 6-3, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3

Taylor Fritz bt. Bernard Tomic: 6-1, 6-4, 6-1

Federico Delbonis bt. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez: 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

(8) Juan Martin del Potro bt. Nicolas Jarry: 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4

(5) Alexander Zverev bt. John Millman: 7-6 (4), 6-3, 2-6, 6-7 (5), 6-3

Yoshihito Nishioka bt. Mackenzie McDonald: 6-7 (7), 6-0, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

Elliot Benchetrit bt. Cameron Norrie: 6-3, 6-0, 6-2

Mikael Ymer bt. Blaz Rola: 6-0, 6-3, 7-6 (5)

(30) Dusan Lajovic bt. Thiago Monteiro: 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

(28) Kyle Edmund bt. Jeremy Chardy: 7-6 (1), 5-7, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5

Ivo Karlovic bt. Feliciano Lopez: 7-6 (4), 7-5, 6-7 (7), 7-5

(18) Roberto Bautista Agut bt. Steve Johnson: 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

Jordan Thompson bt. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina: 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (3)

(10) Karen Khachanov bt. Cedrik-Marcel Stebe: 6-1, 6-1, 6-4

(22) Lucas Pouille bt. Simone Bolelli: 6-3, 6-4, 7-5

Martin Klizan bt. Mikhail Kukushkin: 3-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3

(23) Fernando Verdasco bt. Dan Evans: 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2

Gregoire Barrere bt. Matthew Ebden: 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-1

Antoine Hoang bt. Damir Dzumhur: 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3

Adrian Mannarino bt. Stefano Travaglia: 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2

(14) Gael Monfils bt. Taro Daniels: 6-0, 6-4, 6-1

Women's Singles

(21) Daria Kasatkina bt. Jasmine Paolini: 6-2, 6-3

Irina-Camelia Begu bt. Lin Zhu: 6-1, 6-1

Monica Puig bt. Kirsten Flipkens: 6-1, 7-5

(22) Bianca Andreescu bt. Marie Bouzkova: 5-7, 6-4, 6-4

Karolina Muchova bt. (17) Anett Kontaveit: 3-6, 6-2, 6-2

Amanda Anisimova bt. Harmony Tan: 6-3, 6-1

(24) Carolina Garcia bt. Mona Barthel: 6-2, 6-4

Victoria Azarenka bt. Jelena Ostapenko: 6-4, 7-6 (4)

Anna Blinkova bt. Margarita Gasparyan: 6-3, 4-6, 8-6

Magda Linette bt. Chloe Paquet: 3-6, 6-1, 6-2

Kurumi Nara bt. Dalila Jakupovic: 7-5, 5-7, 6-3

(1) Naomi Osaka bt. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova: 0-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1

(11) Aryna Sabalenka bt. Dominika Cibulkova: 7-5, 6-1

(27) Lesia Tsurenko bt. Eugenie Bouchard: 6-2, 6-2

Priscilla Hon bt. Timea Babos: 3-6, 6-2, 6-1

(16) Qiang Wang bt. Saisai Zheng: 6-1, 7-5

Aleksandra Krunic bt. Daria Gavrilova: 6-3, 2-2 (retired)

(14) Madison Keys bt. Evgeniya Rodina: 6-1, 6-2

(3) Simona Halep bt. Ajla Tomljanovic: 6-2, 3-6, 6-1

Iga Swiatek bt. Selena Janicijevic: 6-3, 6-0

Katerina Siniakova bt. Elena Rybakiva: 7-6 (5), 6-1

(29) Maria Sakkari bt. Anna Tatishvili: 6-0, 6-1

Visit the Roland Garros website for results and the draws in full.

Recap

Two years after Alison Van Uytvanck dumped her out of Roland Garros in straight sets at the first hurdle, Osaka was on the brink of an almost identical slip on Tuesday when Schmiedlova raced off the starting line.

But while the bagel defeat in their opening set might have made Osaka blush, Gracenote Olympic noted it's not necessarily a bad omen for the top contenders:

Schmiedlova's calm under pressure was worth points in itself amid some windy conditions. The topsy-turvy nature of the clash was summarised best by a string of four games at 4-4 in the second set when each player broke their foe twice in succession to go to a tiebreak.

That ultimately served as the foundation for Osaka to restore order, and only four of her 38 unforced errors came in the third set, per WTA Insider:

Things were similarly rocky in the opening round for Zverev, who won three sets in a row from two down to edge Millman out of the competition after a four-hour showdown.

The German may have been caught cold or played worse than Millman earlier on, but he showed great grit to remain in contention as the match entered the tighter exchanges, via Roland Garros:

Zverev smashed his racquet after losing the fourth set and being pulled back to 2-2. But he recovered in time to see out his only break-free set in the fifth.

The 22-year-old's service game was near-faultless in the clutch decider, and Zverev time a late burst to break for 5-3 and serve for the victory.

It's become a habit of his play to not consistently close out major tournament matches quickly, but Zverev told the Tennis Channel after his win that the match went how he was expecting:

Zverev finished the match with 17 aces to Millman's none, per Roland Garros, and won 73 percent of his first-service points to illustrate where their duel was decided.

Del Potro, 30, was also slow off the mark against Chile's Jarry but held on to emerge a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 victor and clinch his first major win since fracturing his knee last year.

The clash between Ivo Karlovic (40 years, three months) and Feliciano Lopez (37 years, eight months) caught attention as the oldest in tournament history, and the veterans didn't fail to entertain, per ATP Media Info:

Karlovic glanced a narrow result in a back-and-forth 7-6 (4), 7-5, 6-7 (7), 7-5 result, while Fognini took out Italian compatriot Seppi 6-3, 6-0, 3-6, 6-3 in Tuesday's curtain-raiser.

It was a mixed bag of results for Great Britain's representatives on Tuesday. Headliner Kyle Edmund beat Jeremy Chardy in a five-set thriller to advance, but countrymen Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans were knocked out by Elliot Benchetrit and 23rd seed Fernando Verdasco, respectively.

Halep won her maiden major at Roland Garros last year and is hoping to make a third consecutive French Open final in 2019. Her average serve speed was 12 miles per hour slower than opponent Tomljanovic, who eventually wilted in a tense third set after fighting her way to 1-1 in sets:

Three of the four major finals Halep has reached in her career have come in Paris, and second-round opponent Magda Linette—who beat Chloe Paquet in three sets on Tuesday—will offer another warm-up opportunity.

Keys is also positioned in the top half of the bracket and could encounter the Romanian in the semi-finals, igniting her campaign with a routine 6-1, 6-2 win over Rodina:

The 24-year-old recorded her best French Open finish when she ventured to the semi-finals last year, and wildcard Priscilla Hon is the next threat to her beating that run in 2019.

Bianca Andreescu, 18, was another who pulled her way into the second round, despite clocking up an unhealthy number of unforced errors against Sofia Kenin:

Azarenka beat 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 7-6 (4) and will be no slim challenge for Osaka when they meet later on this week.