Iga Swiatek, who has struggled lately, and Carlos Alcaraz, who has not, got off to good starts in their French Open title defenses Monday, recording straight-set victories to reach the second round.
Swiatek was up first in Court Philippe-Chatrier and defeated 42nd-ranked Rebecca Sramkova 6-3, 6-3. Swiatek compiled 25 winners and 17 unforced errors in the 1-hour, 24-minute contest.
Alcaraz needed only about a half-hour more than that for a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Giulio Zeppieri, an Italian qualifier who is ranked 310th. Alcaraz won all 14 of his service games, saving the three break points he faced, at Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
“It was really, really solid,” Alcaraz said. “Really proud about my start.” Both Swiatek and Alcaraz sat in the Chatrier stands a day earlier to watch the farewell tribute to 14-time champion Rafael Nadal – and both active players wore the rust-colored T-shirts that read “Merci Rafa” distributed to spectators. Swiatek has often talked about her admiration for Nadal; Alcaraz is considered the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s heir apparent.
“For sure, there were tears,” said Swiatek, who faces 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu next. “It was amazing ceremony, and I´m happy that Roland Garros did this for Rafa. I´m happy that also the whole tennis world had an opportunity to kind of come together and just thank him. … He’s a GOAT, so I´m happy that I was there.”
Alcaraz is seeded No. 2 behind Jannik Sinner, who was scheduled to play Monday night, and is coming off a clay-court title at the Italian Open a little more than a week ago. Alcaraz beat Sinner in the final there.
Monday’s result gave Alcaraz 28 wins in his past 30 matches on red clay, including going 7-for-7 a year ago at Roland-Garros. One of the losses came against Novak Djokovic in the gold-medal match at last year’s Paris Olympics, held at the same site as the French Open.
Swiatek has slipped to No. 5 in the rankings, her first time out of the top two spots in about three years. She hasn’t reached a final at any tournament since collecting her third consecutive championship – and fourth in five years – in Paris in 2024.
The 23-year-old from Poland extended her French Open unbeaten streak to 22 matches and is trying to become the first woman to with four trophies in a row at the tournament in the professional era, which began in 1968. Monica Seles and Justine Henin also won three straight titles at Roland-Garros.
Emma Navarro, the ninth-seeded American who reached the U.S. Open semifinals last September, bowed out quickly in Paris, eliminated 6-0, 6-1 in just 57 minutes by Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain.
Bouzas Maneiro’s biggest win of her career also came in the first round at a Grand Slam tournament: She beat reigning champion Marketa Vondrousova in the first round of Wimbledon last year.
The Day 3 schedule includes past major title winners including Djokovic, Coco Gauff, Daniil Medvedev and Sofia Kenin, and runners-up such as Alexander Zverev and Jessica Pegula.