Strasbourg
Roland Garros Women’s Day 2
Three-time quarter-finalist Elina Svitolina, fresh from a baby break, stepped back onto the Roland Garros clay on Monday and emerged after barely an hour later a 6-2, 6-2 winner.
The Ukrainian mother of a daughter with French husband Gael Monfils put out 2022 semi-finalist Marta Trevisan of Italy 48 hours after winning her first title since 2021 in Strasbourg.
Svitolina, an outspoken fundraiser for her country during the invasion by Russia, kept politics out of her on-court speech as she looked ahead to the next round at her first Grand Slam since the Australian Open nearly a year and a half ago.
“It’s extremely special for me to get the first win of a Grand Slam,” the No. 192 who rose more than 300 places as a result of her title said.
“I’m really, really happy with how I played today, I’m looking forward to net one
“It was a great match. I played very solid. I knew I had to bring my best game today. I have a lot of confidence after Strasbourg.”
Svitolina improved to 31-6 in the first round here, winning 27 of her last 28 opening round matches at the Slams dating to the 2015 Australian Open . Her lon loss came at 2018 Wimbledon
Fifth seed Caroline Garcia scored a morale-boosting home win 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4 over China’s Wang Xiyu, breaking in the final game.
The French No. 1 who claimed the WTA year-end title in October needed nearly two and three-quarter hours to advance.
“The crowd really lifted me, I gave all of my energy here,” the winner said.
“It was a tough match but I kept a positive attitude.I was able to find a solution to a complicated situation.”
Swiss 12th seed Belinda Bencic, playing for the first time since April and sporting a heavily taped shoulder, went down 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to tournament debutante Elina Avanesyan.
Former US Open winner Sloane Stephens beat Karolina Pliskova for the second time at Roland Garros and fifth overall as she dismissed the former No. 1 in a 6-0, 6-4 hammering.
It took 84 minutes for the American who won the US Open six years ago to reach the second round.
No. 30 Stephens has pulled out of a 2023 slump, winning 10 of her last 12 matches; Pliskova has been dealing with a knee injury since Madrid last month.
The Czech sent over a 31st unforced error on the first match point for Stephens.
No. 138 qualifier Kayla Day was victorious in her first main draw match at a major since 2016 in New York, defeating France’s former WTA No. 10 Kristina Mladenivoc 7-5, 6-1.
Main photo:-Caroline Garcia (FRA) wins first round match by Roger Parker International Sports Fotos Ltd
Emma Navarro won the 2026 WTA Strasbourg Open singles final defeating the top seed, Victoria Mboko, in three-sets, 6–0, 5–7, 6–2.
In a match lasting two hours and 20 minutes the unseeded American dominated the opening set, but the Canadian world No. 9 fought back to claim a tight second set.
Navarro regained control in the final set to secure her third career WTA singles title and her first-ever title on clay.
Emma Raducanu will head to the Sunday start at Roland Garros with one clay court match in her spring resumee after taking a 6-4, 7-6 (4) opening loss in Strasbourg to Diane Parry.
The Briton had played her last match more than two months ago at Indian Wells, came and went on the clay Tuesday after a long pause due to various injury and illness scenarios.
The No. 37 was coachless until a few days ago when she returned Andrew Richardson to post after he guided her to the US Open title in 2021 as a teenaged qualifier.
Raducanu could well struggle in Paris when Grand Slam play gets underway after missing most of the spring.
The Brit got away to a 4-2 led over Frenchwoman Parry, but the margin soon evaporated as double-faults came into play.
She salvaged five break points in the second set but was unable to establish a comeback rhythm against her 94th-ranked local opponent.
Raducanu managed to stop Parry from serving out a 5-4 lead but was unable to make a match of it in the tiebreaker as she took the loss after two and a half hours in the French city near the German border.
Though she lost serve five times, Raducanu did hold off 16 other break chances in the defeat.
Emma Raducanu has gone back to the future with her latest choice of coach, choosing to re-group with the mentor who helped her to a US Open title five long years ago.
The Briton whose career has been a patchwork of changing coaches and near-constant injuries and illness since her 2021 big day in New York, revealed she has re-employed Andrew Richardson, her OG coach.
The pair split not long after then-teenaged Raducanu won the Open title from an unprecedented qualifying start.
She has since struggled and wil head to Roland Garros from next Sunday with only one clay tournament, a late wild-card entry into Strasbourg.
“Grateful to have reconnected with someone who has known me for over a decade now and looking forward to building together one iteration at a time,” she posted on social media.
The WTA no. 30 has played just 15 matches this season – none on clay – with her last one more than two months ago.
Main photo:- Emma Raducanu with her coach, Andrew Richardson at the 2021 US Open
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