Eighth seed Alex de Minaur, who produced his best clay tennis just days ago with a Hamburg semi-final, began his French Open campaign 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 on Monday over Brit qualifier Toby Samuel, the No. 159.

“Happy to get my campaign started, it’s never easy starting the first match of a
tournament… but to get the win in straight sets, I thought I played a very consistent match. I did what I needed to do,” the Aussie said.

 Rising Spanish hope Rafael Jodar raced through a five-set match in 96 minutes as he hammered out a 6-1, 6-0, 6-4 defeat of American Aleksandar Kovacevic.

The 19-year-old has won 16 or his last 19 matches and is playing in only his second Grand Slam.

Thansis Kokkinakis joined his seeded compatriot with an opening win, requiring nearly four and a half hours to defeat Frenchman Terrance Atmane 6-7 (5), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

The Aussie was playing his first Tour match in more than four months after injuries forced walkover at events in Adelaide and at a Croat Challenger this month.

One-time top 10 player Matteo Berrettini earned his first win here since 2021 as the former Wimbledon finalist defeated Marton Fucsovic 6-7 (2), 7-5, 6-1, 6-2.

The 105th-ranked Italian was competing in Paris after missing four editions through injury and earned his ninth win of the season.

Former champion Stan Wawrinka bowed out of his final Roland Garros edition as he hangs up his racquet at season’s end afr a two-decade-plus career at age 41.

The three-time Grand Slam champion Swiss lost to Dutchman Jesper de Jong, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 and said goodbye to the Roland Garros crowd.”This was amazing, more than what I could expect and what I could do enough, finishing
with so much support, so much love from the people.

“It was exactly the reason why I kept playing for so long.

“I’ve been on Tour for more than 20 years.
For me, when I was young, my dream was to be a professional tennis player, to be in the top 100, to have the opportunity to play those tournaments.

“But I never expected to achieve so big in the tennis. I never put any limit in my career.

“I always wanted more.I always walk out to get more, push myself, push my own limits, and try to find my own way to get there.

“So I’m happy and proud of what I achieved all those years, of course.

“Today it was really tough. It’s never easy to say good-bye to something you love so much.”

Former Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova said that an unexpected  night-time door knock from a stranger was enough to prevent her from allowing what turned out to be a drug-test official from administering an out-of-competition test.

As a result, the Czech lifted the All England Club trophy in 2023 is now facing up to a four-year ban for failing to allow a mandatory player drug test.

Vondrousova, ranked 46th, last played in Adelaide in January and has since been dealing with injury and mental stress, said she was fearful of letting the unknown official into her home, citing the case of fellow Czech Petra Kvitova.

The fellow Wimbledon champion suffered knife wounds on her hands and arms during a 2020 home invasion, leaving her compatriot fearful of a similar situation.

Tennis anti-doping bosses suggest that Vondrousova could face a hefty ban if found guilty of avoiding the testing regime during the incident last December.  

Vondrousova laid out her defence in a social media post:

“For a long time, I’ve been dealing with injury, constant pressure, and ongoing sleep issues that left me feeling exhausted and fragile.

“It slowly wore me down more than I probably realised at the time. And on top of that, years of hateful messages and threats have affected how safe I feel in my own space.

“When someone rang my door late at night without properly identifying themselves or following protocol, I reacted as a person who felt scared.

“In that moment, it was about feeling safe, not about avoiding anything. Experts confirmed I suffered an Acute Stress Reaction (F43.0) and Generalised Anxiety Disorder (F41.1).

“In that moment, fear clouded my judgement and I just could not process the situation rationally. After what happened to Petra, we don’t take strangers at our door lightly.”

Main photo:- Marketa Vondrousova won Wimbledon 2023 – by Roger Parker ISF Ltd

Mirra Andreeva is carrying no pretensions of fame as the teenaged defending champion returns to defend her title at the WTA Dubai event.

The world No. 7 scored a prestige win here a year ago at the Aviation club as she lifted the trophy with a defeat of Clara Tauson.

After rising in the standings thanks to backing up her Gulf title with a Masters title  a few weeks later at Indian Wells, the 18-year-old continued to make progress by claiming last month’s Adelaide honours.

But Andreeva, coached by former Wimbledon winner Conchita Martinez, prefers to keep life as simple as possible.

The youngster feels uncomfortable when she is compared to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, a Dubai absentee after a late withdrawal.

“I always travel with my family. For me it’s not as difficult as I would have imagined, maybe for some players like Aryna.

“She’s maybe three times more famous, maybe even
four times more famous. I think for her it’s maybe a little bit more difficult.”

Andreeva comes into her title defence after a third-round loss last week in nearby Doha, going down to Canadian Victoria Mboko whom she beat in the Adelaide final a month ago.

Mboko, who reached the weekend Doha final against Dubai seed Elena Rybakina, subsequently withdrew from Dubai with injury.

“I’m actually very excited to come back here again and play in front of the people here,” Andreeva said. “Obviously I have great memories from
last year, so I just can’t wait for the tournament to start.

“I cannot say for sure if I’m going to be able to defend the title or not, because

obviously it’s a new year, new tournament. 

“I’m going to do everything I can to try and defend the title because this is the first time I come to the tournament as a defending champion. It’s something
new for me.

“I can’t wait to play my first match here and we will see how it goes.”

Main photo:-Mirra Andreeva in action at last month’s Australian Open – by ISF Ltd