The 2020 French Open has already produced some amazing storylines after just the first round of action. Much of the drama has come in the women’s draw, where 16-year-old sensation Coco Gauff has once again delivered a stunning upset in a Grand Slam as she knocked out a top-10 seed in her French Open main draw debut.
Meanwhile, French player Kristina Mladenovic suffered her second horrific meltdown in as many Grand Slam matches as she collapsed after a missed call by the chair umpire.
Not to be outdone, the men’s draw saw some history made with the second-longest match in the tournament’s illustrious history.
SBOTOP breaks down all the big happenings that went down in the first few days of the French Open.
Coco Gauff upsets No. 9 seed Johanna Konta
Coco Gauff is back. The 16-year-old produced one of the most shocking French Open 2020 results of the first round as she knocked out No. 9 seed Johanna Konta in straight sets, 6-3 6-3.
Gauff has had a rough stretch since the season restart; she had lost four of her last five matches heading into Roland Garros, which includes her disappointing first-round exit in the US Open.
But she looked much better against Konta, who now joins Venus Williams and Naomi Osaka in the list of big names the teenager has defeated in a Grand Slam.
Gauff was still far from perfect as she made 12 double-faults in the match. But the 17-year-old stayed more composed than her more experienced opponent and capitalised on Konta’s 41 unforced errors.
Gauff wasn’t the only teenager who defied the French Open 2020 betting odds to score a major upset. Danish 17-year-old qualifier Clara Tauson topped No. 21 seed Jennifer Brady, 6-4, 3-6, 9-7, to advance.
Tauson will take on another American in Danielle Collins in the second round. Meanwhile, Gauff will face Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan, who advanced after compatriot Camila Giorgi had to retire from their match.
Kristina Mladenovic blasts umpire after latest Grand Slam meltdown
Kristina Mladenovic can’t stop collapsing in Grand Slam matches at the moment. In her first match following her epic meltdown in the US Open, the French player crashed out of the French Open with a 7-5, 6-3 defeat to German Laura Siegemund.
Mladenovic was serving for the first set at 5-1, but the chair umpire missed a double bounce on her drop shot on set point. The French player was furious about the missed call and placed the blame squarely on the umpire.
“If [Siegemund ] would have done it, she would have all my respect and be super fair play,” Mladenovic said. “But she’s not the one responsible. I think the chair umpire is the one that should be really focused on that call.”
It wasn’t quite as sad as Flushing Meadows, though, where she served for the match at 6-1, 5-1 against Varvara Gracheva then lost a tiebreaker and was crushed 6-0 in the third set.
This disastrous defeat comes on the heels of Mladenovic’s amazing collapse in the US Open. She was serving for the match up 6-1, 4-1 against Varvara Gracheva but conspired to lose a tiebreaker and was demolished 6-0 in the third set.
Siegemund will move on to the second round to face compatriot Julia Gorges, who defeated American No. 19 seed Alison Riske 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-1.
Giustino wins second-longest French Open match
The men’s draw hasn’t featured as much first-round drama with favourites Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal recording routine wins. Although, World No. 4 Daniil Medvedev once again crashed out early; the Russian still has yet to win a single match in his career at Roland Garros.
But the biggest news to emerge from the men’s draw was that Lorenzo Giustino and Corentin Moutet played out the second-longest match in French Open history.
The marathon match lasted six hours and five minutes, with Giustino getting the win, 0-6, 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/3), 2-6, 18-16. The final set alone last three gruelling hours.
The match fell 28 minutes short of the tournament’s record match between Fabrice Santoro and Arnaud Clement in 2004.
“In the end, well, the most aggressive, the guy who tried to win won the match,” said Giustino.
“Both I think we don’t want to lose the match. Nobody made a mistake in the important points, both we were like super solid and we played our best tennis in the best and most important points.”
Giustino will now go on to play 12th seed Diego Schwartzman for a place in the third round.
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