The number 14 seed, Roberto Bautista Agut, got his 2016 French Open campaign off on the right foot. He dominated on the clay court in Paris, France, defeating Dmitry Tursunov in straight sets: 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. Bautista Agut took control of the match early and got off the court in merely 86 minutes.
Bautista Agut gets break early
Bautista Agut’s opening service game was a battle all on its own as he dropped the first two points. But then, the Spaniard came back and ran off four straight points to keep the match on serve. That ability to bounce back paid dividends in the same game as Agut broke the 33-year-old Russian in stunning fashion. Agut won the first two points of that game as well as the last to take a commanding 2-0 lead early.
The 14th-seeded Agut consolidated his break with ease as he won all four points in the third game of the set. Tursunov won a service game on the second time of asking but he had to work to make it 1-3. The Russian dealt with a second break point in as many games, although he fought it off, getting the game to deuce before winning his service game two points later.
For the remained of the opening set, the two traded fairly comfortable service games. However, Agut looked more confident on the court as he attacked early and often. While Agut failed to convert his first set point on the Russian’s serve, he won the opening set in the 9th game while on his serve.
Breaks galore in the second
The two men looked calm when serving to each other in the first set, but that was not the case to open the second. Tursunov lost his serve right away, winning only one point. In many cases, this could have been a bad omen and his game -- and the set -- could have unraveled fairly quickly. That was not the case today.
Tursunov fought hard with Bautista Agut in the latter’s opening service game. After racing out to a 0-30 lead, Agut came back to level things at 30-all. Tursunov kept battling though and eventually got back on serve to make it 1-1. However, Tursunov failed to consolidate his break as he was broken for the second consecutive game.
Once more, the next five service games were held as the pair dropped a combine one point during these stretch of games. But again, in the final game of a set, Tursunov lost focused and got broke for the third time in the second set.
Roberto Bautista Agut dominates final set
There were more breaks in the third set of the match but it was Agut who dominated. He won his opening service game and worked hard to get that first break.
Although Agut could not consolidate the break, he did break Tursunov again after a couple of opportunities fell his way. The remaining games in the match went to Agut as he won the last four games.
Up next
Roberto Bautista Agut will take on Paul-Henri Mathieu in the second round of the tournament.