After what was something of a washout on day one, the French Open got going in earnest on Monday, despite a further six matches being unable to finish, with 12 postponed. With the tournament already providing some suprising results, read on for a roundup of yesterday's action at Roland Garros.
Murray fighting to avoid shock exit
Andy Murray will have to work hard this morning to avoid becoming the biggest casualty of the tournament so far. Up against wily Czech veteran 37-year old Radek Stepanek, Murray dropped the first two sets and looked a shadow of the player who defeated Novak Djokovic in Rome last week. The world number two has come back from a two set deficit eight times in his career though, and began to mount another comeback, swatting aside his opponent 6-0 in the third and taking a 4-2 lead in the fourth before play was suspended due to the fading light. The match will finish second on court Phillipe Chatrier this morning.
Defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka was the biggest name to reach the second round on Monday, although he was made to work for his victory by Lukas Rosol. The famously inconsistent Swiss was not at his best, hitting 46 unforced errors to go along with his 56 winners, but in the end was good enough to claim victory. Wawrinka lost in round one two years ago, and at two sets to one down, it looked like a repeat may have been on the cards. In his own words, though, he "found a solution."
Dimitrov and Cilic eliminated
Elsewhere there were mixed results for the men's seeds, with Kei Nishikori and Jack Sock returning to complete victories in their unfinished matches from day one, but a surprise loss for Marin Cilic to qualifier Marco Trungelliti.
Grigor Dimitrov, unseeded as he continues his fall down the rankings fell victim to the Serbian number two, Victor Troicki to continue a disappointing 18 months which has seen him drop as far as 36 in the world. Milos Raonic had no such trouble with another Serbian, the returning Janko Tipsarevic, while Richard Gasquet also secured a straight sets win to get started at his home Grand Slam.
Halep and Radwanska storm through
Agnieszka Radwanska and Simona Halep led the way on the women's side, giving up just four games between them as they raced into round two. Both women will be eyeing deep runs this fortnight, and got their campaigns off to the best possible start with quick, straight sets wins.
Fourth seed and last year's Wimbledon finalist, Garbine Muguruza had to fight back from a set down to claim her second-round place. Despite a slow start, Muguruza will not be underestimated by her opponents here after defeating Serena Williams in round four two years ago.
Former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova also made it through to round two, coming back from a set down to defeat the unseeed Yaroslava Shvedova 4-6 6-1 6-4. Joining her in round two was British number two Heather Watson, with a hard fought 5-7 6-2 6-2 victory over talented American Nicole Gibbs.
Elsewhere, there were surprise straight sets defeats for clay court specialists Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci, who went down to Tsvetana Pironkova and Kateryna Bondarenko respectively.
All results
[2] Andy Murray vs. Radek Stepanek: To finish, 3-6, 3-6, 0-6, 2-4
[3[ Stan Wawrinka d. Lukas Rosol, 4-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
[5] Kei Nishikori d. Simone Bolelli: 6-1, 7-5,, 6-3
[8] Milos Raonic d. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(5)
[9] Richard Gasquet d. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4
Marco Trungelliti d. [10] Marin Cilic, 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
[15] John Isner vs. John Millman: To finish, 6-7(4), 7-6(12)
[16] Gilles Simon d. Rogerio Dutra Silva, 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-2
[22] Viktor Troicki d. Grigor Dimitrov, 2-6, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3
[23] Jack Sock d. Robin Haase, 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 6-7(3), 6-2
[27] Ivo Karlovic d. Albert Montanes, 6-2, 7-6(6), 7-6(5)
[29] Lucas Pouille vs. Julien Benneteau: To finish, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
[30] Jeremy Chardy d. Leonardo Mayer, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
Fernando Verdasco d. [33] Steve Johnson, 7-5, 6-4, 7-5
[2] Agnieszka Radwanska d. Bojana Jovanovski, 6-0, 6-2
[4] Garbine Muguruza d. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
[6] Simona Halep d. Nao Hibino, 6-2, 6-0
Kateryna Bondarenko d. [7] Roberta Vinci, 6-1, 6-3
[13] Svetlana Kuznetsova d. Yaroslava Shvedova: 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
Shelby Rogers d. [17] Karolina Pliskova, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
[19] Sloane Stephens d. Margarita Gasparyan, 6-4, 6-3
[21] Samantha Stosur vs. Misaki Doi: To finish, 6-2, 1-3
[25] Irina-Camelia Begu d. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
[27] Ekaterina Makarova vs. Varvara Lepchenko: To finish, 5-7, 6-4, 4-1
[30] Barbora Strycova d. Lucie Hradecka, 6-4, 7-5
[32] Naomi Osaka d. Jelena Ostapenko, 6-4, 7-5