CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP via Getty Images

French Open 2022 Results: Coco Gauff, Carlos Alcaraz Cruise to Wins in Sunday's Play

Mike Chiari

Victories by young, rising stars Coco Gauff and Carlos Alcaraz were the talk of the 2022 French Open on Sunday, as both players made it out of the first round.

Gauff's seed matches her age at 18, but she played well beyond her years, defeating Canada's Rebecca Marino 7-5, 6-0, and advancing to the second round after making it all the way to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros last year.

Meanwhile, the 19-year-old Alcaraz of Spain continued his remarkable season, beating Argentina's Juan Ignacio Londero 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 to keep himself in the hunt for another huge tournament win after previously winning the Miami Open and Madrid Open this year.

In addition to Gauff and Alcaraz, here is a rundown of every score from Sunday's men's and women's singles matches, as well as breakdowns of some of the biggest matches and moments.

Sunday 1st-Round Men's Singles Scores

(3) Alexander Zverev def. Sebastian Ofner; 6-2, 6-4, 6-4

(6) Carlos Alcaraz def. Juan Ignacio Londero; 6-4, 6-2, 6-0

(9) Felix Auger-Aliassime def. Juan Pablo Varillas; 2-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3

(15) Diego Schwartzman def. Andrey Kuznetsov; 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2

(18) Grigor Dimitrov def. Marcos Giron; 6-1, 6-1, 6-1

(21) Karen Khachanov def. Nuno Borges; 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4

(23) John Isner def. Quentin Halys; 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (6)

Tallon Griekspoor def. (25) Alejandro Davidovich Fokina; 2-6, 6-0, 6-4, 6-3

(26) Botic Van De Zandschulp def. Pavel Kotov; 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2

Pablo Cuevas def. (31) Jenson Brooksby; 6-2, 6-1, 6-2

Borna Coric def. Carlos Taberner; 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1

Hugo Dellien def. Dominic Thiem; 6-3, 6-2, 6-4

Jaume Munar def. Daniel Altmaier; 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3

Aljaz Bedene def. Christopher O'Connell; 6-2, 6-4. 6-7 (5), 6-1

Gregoire Barrere def. Taro Daniel; 3-6, 6-2, 0-6, 6-3, 6-4

Fabio Fognini def. Alexei Popyrin; 6-4, 7-5, 6-4

Camilo Ugo Carabelli def. Aslan Karatsev; 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5)

Albert Ramos Vinolas def. Thanasi Kokkinakis; 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5)

Jason Murray Kubler def. Denis Kudla; 7-6(5), 7-6(2), 7-6(3)

Bernabe Zapata Miralles def. Michael Mmoh; 7-6(7), 6-3, 7-5

Sunday 1st-Round Women's Singles Scores

(4) Maria Sakkari def. Clara Burel; 6-2, 6-3

Magda Linette def. (6) Ons Jabeur; 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5

Kaia Kanepi def. (10) Garbine Muguruza; 2-6, 6-3, 6-4

(14) Belinda Bencic def. Reka-Luca Jani; 6-1, 6-1

(17) Leylah Fernandez def. Kristina Mladenovic; 6-0, 7-5

(18) Coco Gauff def. Rebecca Marino; 7-5, 6-0

(23) Jil Teichmann def. Bernarda Pera; 6-2, 6-1

(26) Sorana Cirstea def. Tatjana Maria; 6-3, 6-3

(31) Elise Mertens def. Elena-Gabriela Ruse; 6-3, 6-1

Sloane Stephens def. Jule Niemeier; 5-7, 6-4, 6-2

Maria Camila Osorio def. Harmony Tan; 6-4, 6-3

Beatriz Haddad Maia def. Cristina Bucsa; 6-3, 1-6, 6-2

Karolina Muchova def. Carole Monnet; 6-3, 6-3

Aliaksandra Sasnovich def. Xinyu Wang; 6-4, 6-1

Katernia Siniakova def. Petra Martic; 6-4, 7-6 (6)

Olga Danilovic def. Dalma Galfi; 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2

Varvara Gracheva def. Astra Sharma; 4-6, 6-4, 7-5

Alison Van Uytvanck def. Ann Li; 3-6, 2-3 (Retired)

Marie Bouzkova def. Anastasia Gasanova; 6-2, 6-1

Donna Vekic def. Mirijam Bjorklund; 7-6 (6), 6-2

Men's Singles Recap

Unlike the women's draw, it was mostly chalk on the men's side with the vast majority of seeded players moving on to the second round.

It almost didn't go that way, though, as Felix Auger-Aliassime narrowly avoided a massive upset in what was the match of the day.

The No. 9 seed from Canada dropped the first two sets to Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas 2-6, 2-6, putting him on the brink of a shocking first-round elimination.

Auger-Aliassime battled back on the strength of his huge serve, however, and took the next three sets 6-1, 6-3, 6-3, to complete the first comeback of his career from two sets down.

The 21-year-old Montreal native appeared to be more relieved than anything after coming all the way back to win the match:

Jose Morgado of Diario Record in Portugal noted that it was a landmark win for Auger-Aliassime at Roland Garros:

While Auger-Aliassime is a star on the rise and reached the quarterfinals or better at each of the past three Grand Slam tournaments, he had never gotten past the first round of the French Open until Sunday.

Auger-Aliassime isn't considered a favorite to win the tourney given his struggles there over the past few years, but he has the makings of a dangerous player and a tough out moving forward.

The other two top-10 players in action were No. 3 Alexander Zverev and Alcaraz, and they both had a much easier time than Auger-Aliassime.

Zverev, 25, was a French Open semifinalist last year, and he is well on his way to getting back there after crushing Austria's Sebastian Ofner in straight sets.

Morgado noted that with the win, Zverev still has a chance to be the No. 1 player in the world by the end of the tournament:

Also, Ben Rothenberg of Racquet magazine noted that Zverev has a fairly easy path in the early going of the tournament following No. 25 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina's upset loss to Tallon Griekspoor:

Alcaraz showed once again Sunday why he may be the man to beat at Roland Garros outside of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

The 19-year-old cruised past Londero in straight sets and never faced a true test from his Argentine foe.

Alcaraz looked like a natural on the Paris clay, providing fans with shades of Nadal with some of the shots he executed and rallies he took part in against Londero:

Nadal is the undisputed king of clay, but Alcaraz is showing why he may be the heir apparent, which is fitting since he is Rafa's Spanish countryman.

As for the notable Americans, No. 23 John Isner advanced to the second round with a four-set win over Quentin Halys of France.

No. 31 Jenson Brooksby saw his tournament come to a swift and disappointing end, though, falling in straight sets to Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay.

Women's Singles Recap

Upsets highlighted the women's singles action, as a pair of top-10 players were ousted in the first round.

Perhaps the biggest upset of the day was No. 6 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia falling to Poland's Magda Linette in a tightly contested, three-set affair.

The result was particularly surprising since Jabeur had been excellent throughout the clay-court season leading up to Roland Garros, as pointed out by Tumaini Carayol of The Guardian:

All signs pointed toward Jabeur going on a deep run and perhaps even winning the French Open, but Linette had other ideas, and she didn't hesitate to celebrate one of the biggest wins of her career:

Perhaps no one was more shocked and disappointed than Jabeur, who tweeted the following after the upset loss:

Now, Jabeur's part of the draw has opened up significantly and perhaps made the overall path easier for top players like Iga Swiatek, Barbora Krejcikova and Paula Badosa as well.

The other major upset saw 10th-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain fall to noted giant-killer Kaia Kanepi of Estonia in three sets.

Muguruza is a two-time Grand Slam champion, including the 2016 French Open, and she has made it to the quarterfinals or better at Roland Garros four times, but she has not made it past the fourth round in any of the past four years.

The 28-year-old now has back-to-back first-round exits at the French Open on her resume, and the latest saw her blow a big lead.

Muguruza took the first set from Kanepi 6-2 and led 3-1 in the second set before Kanepi came storming back to win.

Per WTA Insider, Muguruza lamented the fact that she let another lead slip away:

Muguruza is far from the first highly seeded player to feel the wrath of Kanepi at a Grand Slam, though, as the Estonian owns the fourth-most wins over seeded players in the first three rounds of Grand Slam tournaments all-time:

With No. 15 Victoria Azarenka and Gauff in her area of the draw, there could be some more upsets in Kanepi's future.

It wasn't all about upsets in the women's draw, though, as several seeded players performed at a high level and advanced to the second round also.

No. 4 Maria Sakkari, No. 14 Belinda Bencic and No. 17 Leylah Fernandez were among those who cruised to straight-set wins, plus Gauff made quick work of Marino in her first-round encounter.

Gauff's winning effort came just one day after she celebrated her high school graduation in Paris:

Things were touch-and-go for Gauff in the early going, as the opening set nearly went to a tiebreak before she took it 7-5, but the rest of the match was pure domination in her favor.

Gauff didn't drop a game in the second set, and as pointed out by Rothenberg, Marino had no answers after a solid start:

Neither Serena nor Venus Williams entered the French Open this year, but a host of young American women are looking to go on a deep run, and many were in action Sunday.

In addition to Gauff's win, 2017 U.S. Open champion and 2018 French Open finalist Sloane Stephens was victorious in three sets over Germany's Jule Niemeier.

Bernarda Pera fell to Switzerland's Jil Teichmann in straight sets, and another American in Ann Li had to retire during the second set of her match against Alison Van Uytvanck because of a shoulder injury despite being up 6-3, 3-2, at the time.

   

Read 2 Comments

Download the app for comments Get the B/R app to join the conversation

Install the App
×
Bleacher Report
(120K+)