- Cremona champion Scotland Rivers has taken a five-set victory in his first round match in Roland Garros against Croatia's Adem Tadić. On his least favourite surface, the West CWLander struggled early as he dropped the first set to Tadić before he began to find his feet on the red clay and storm back into the match with some aggressive tennis. Claiming twelve of sixteen games, he looked set for a four-set victory before Tadić managed to break in the sixth game of the fourth set and cling on to send the match to deciding fifth. The pressure was on, and although Rivers gave up an early break he managed to bring up two match points with a slick backhand winner off the Croat's second serve. It was enough to pick up the win as Tadić bowed out with a double fault; Rivers through 5-7, 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
- He meets thirteen seed Rick Henson after the former champion ousted Rivers' compatriot Rob Bowenburg in straight sets. The scoreline didn't really sum up how Bowenburg played as the improving Westerner had two set points to level the match at a set each. He couldn't convert either of them - admittedly in the face of two fine winners from Henson - and dropped the set 10-8 in the tiebreaker. Down two sets to love, Bowenburg needed a miracle but didn't get it - falling away abruptly to a 3-6, 6-7(8), 2-6 defeat.
- There was a big Grand Slam debut for Ishan Narang as the East CWLander played fine tennis to oust Spanish qualifier Rafael Fernando. Narang, fresh off a successful qualifying campaign, started like a rocket to take a two-sets to love lead with big serving and some solid baseline play. Fernando struggled with Narang's power, but managed to take the third set 6-4 and lead by a break in the fourth. It wasn't enough, though, as Narang fought back strongly against the weak serving of Fernando to pick up a 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 6-4 win. He meets eighteenth seed Diego Hurtado in the second round after the Colombian beat Ukraine's Roman Dorogan 6-3, 6-1, 6-3.
- In the all-Western qualifier bout, it was Jason Lawley who picked up the win over Pierre Rose in four sets. It was really a perfect opportunity to pick up some much-needed ranking points for both players, but in fairness it wasn't a match fought at the highest quality. Both players blew numerous opportunities, and Rose somehow managed to throw away a 5-2 lead in the second set and four different set point opportunities. Despite going down two sets, he showed some fight to clinch the fourth 6-4 before Lawley got the jump on him early in the fifth to lead 5-1. While he couldn't convert his first match point against the Rose serve, he clinched the match on serve to secure a second round appearance. 6-2, 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-2. His next opponent is 23rd seed Antonio Bachunelli who smashed Ivan Češljar 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.
- There was no such luck for East CWLand's Martti Korpinen who was on the receiving end of a disastrous defeat to Janos Varga. Varga was in great touch last week in Dusseldorf with a 3-0 record, and ensured that the World No. 125 would have time to focus on his doubles assault with a 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 win.
- Spas Delev came in as a bit of an underdog for his first round clash against highly touted Spanish youngster Marc Carretero, but ultimately outgunned the World No. 59 in a highly entertaining affair. It was a battle of the steely defence of Carretero against the all out assault of Delev whose style, if he was born in a different universe, could be described as Andrew Ilie-esque. Despite dropping the first set, Delev continued to chip away at Carretero with a barrage of searing forehands and continually created chances. Against the barrage of the Easterner, though, Carretero resisted and prevented being blown off the court against a man who was in the zone. While he couldn't win another set, it was a sign of the maturity of the young man which is a positive to come out of his defeat. Delev's 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 win sets up a second round clash with the Czech Republic's Petr Brožík after he ousted twentieth seed Henry Charles in an awesome five-set performance 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3.
- Delev could be shaping up for another third round meeting with rival Jojo Mustard after the fourteenth seed came from a set down to beat Dutchman Maarten Berg. It was always going to be a particularly difficult contest for Mustard with Berg fresh off a semi final appearance in Nice. The Dutchman was typically solid right throughout the match and wasn't too far behind Mustard who just had the extra polish and firepower as he picked up a 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(7) win. The Westerner was dealt a tough draw, and now meets in form Ukrainian Viktor Vuriak who cruised past local teenager Dominic Viens 6-1, 6-0, 6-3.
- Finally, Phoenix Wleft put up a fantastic fight against ninth seed Dwayne Murdoch before succumbing in three sets. Amazingly, Wleft was never a break ahead of Murdoch despite the extremely close scoreline as he produced a far bigger contest than the American admitted he suspected. The man who beat Blanco not long ago was pushed deep into each set, but ultimately the World No. 9 had just too much polish for the youngster in his 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 win.
- The match that promised the most delivered as West CWLand veteran Brett Read took out a tough five-set tussle against 21st seed Carlo Amato. After his finals appearance in Nice this past weekend, Read started like a shot to take a two-sets to love lead in seriously tense affair to leave the fiery Italian with his back firmly against the wall. It was a typical case of grafter vs. shotmaker as Amato continued to be frustrated by what was essentially a game of Pong as Read continued to get the ball back. But after taking the third and fourth sets with some inspired shots, the Italian looked like staging a miraculous comeback. However with the match heading into a fifth hour, it was clear that Amato's energy reserves were running low. Finally Read was sprung into a more assertive style and managed to shut off any talks of a dream comeback to secure his place in the second round 7-6(4), 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 6-2. He meets Jason Bradley who tamed the Latvian giant Ivars Emsis 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-4, 7-6(5) in a typical Emsis affair.
- In news that will have Sven Oxenstierna grinning ear-to-ear, Czech rival and third seed Radek Špidlá's horrific clay run came to an end with a four set loss to German leftie Alex Peters. The third seed was awful against the World No. 66 who even managed to get a read on the Špidlá serve in three of the sets en route to a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win. Elsewhere, top seed Jason Hall made a winning start with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over Ion Andueza of Spain.
FIRST ROUND
1-Hall def. Andueza, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2
17-Micic def. Q-Scalforo, 7-5, 6-4, 6-1
Santos def. Q-Martins, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(7)
13-Henson def. Bowenburg, 6-3, 7-6(8), 6-2
Rivers def. Tadic, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Q-Narang def. Q-Fernando, 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 6-4
18-Hurtado def. Dorogan, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3
5-Cowan def. Cordiero, 6-1, 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-5
Read def. 21-Amato, 7-6(4), 6-4, 4-6, 4-6, 6-2
Bradley def. Emsis, 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-4, 7-6(5)
Parmentier def. T. Vollan, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 4-6, 9-7
Q-Lawley def. Q-Rose, 6-2, 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-2
23-A.Bachunelli def. Cesljar, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2
26-Haas def. LL-Murray, 6-0, 6-1, 6-3
J. Varga def. Korpinen, 6-3, 6-0, 6-2
LL-Banks def. Menon, 6-0, 6-3, 6-1
7-Boros def. Aksu, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5
32-Orlov def. M-W. Li, 6-7(1), 6-2, 6-3, 7-5
Denisov def. Rodrigues, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1
Depuis def. Navarro, 4-6, 7-5(5), 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
Peters def. 3-Spidla, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
Brozik def. 20-Charles, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 (Match of the Day)
Delev def. Carretero, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
Vuriak def. WC-Viens, 6-1, 6-0, 6-3
14-Mustard def. Berg, 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(7)
9-Murdoch def. Q-Wleft, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5
WC-Lachance def. WC-Sagna, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(0), 6-0
Q-Holland def. Machado, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-5
22-Kennedy def. LL-Konc, 6-0, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(1)
- Seeded players out:
Carlo Amato;
Henry Charles;
Radek Špidlá.