The French Open main draw kicked off in Paris on Sunday, highlighted by Lewis Williams winning in four sets over Darren Long in a match full of openings and targets. Meanwhile, Robert Shenkman, Bryn Sayers and Camden Riviere all got their campaigns underway with straight-sets wins over their unseeded opponents.
The early morning start kicked off the main draw with sixth seed, Robert Shenkman, taking on qualifier Erik Barker. Shenkman was looking to get his campaign off to a good start, having reached the semi-finals of the same competition twelve months prior. Barker’s forcing knocked Shenkman off his railroad almost immediately, switching instead to a slower side wall serve. Shenkman’s patient play was then rewarded, using his experience of the court to understand that he had the time to wait for the right ball to put away. Barker, meanwhile, kept his foot to the floor throughout. This meant everything that wasn’t perfectly on target was something Shenkman could easily mop up. Shenkman’s early lead was never troubled, easing his way to the first set.
With the glare from the sun beaming through the Eiffelean skylights and into the hazard end, Shenkman donned a cap for his receiving end play. Not wanting to linger longer than he had to, Shenkman opted for openings and chases wherever possible. Barker, who started the set aiming for patience and instead found himself even more rushed. By the end of the third set, Barker was swinging for the fences, allowing Shenkman to coast through to the finish line.
The afternoon beckoned with the matchup between Lewis Williams and Darren Long. Both players struggled to land their serve, with their side walls and underarm twists skipping off the steep penthouse, while their railroads opened them up to the force. However, it was Williams who was better able to deliver the ball from open space into a target. Long’s cause wasn’t helped by the ball cutting more than expected, leading to several not-up calls against him. It allowed Williams to push out a 5/1 lead in the first set. Long’s railroad then started to bite, regularly threatening to spin back up onto the bandeau, including one that fell clean into the winning gallery. He won the next four games, sending the set
to a deciding game. In response, Williams became more experimental with his serving. Failing to land a first serve, Williams leaned back on a bobble which Long hammered into the main wall. After going down the hazard end, with a chase, Williams tried to do the same, but Long’s instinctive volleys muscled the ball back over the net to take the set.
Williams broke Long’s seven game run in the third game of the second set, despite Long landing several nick railroads along the way. In the fourth game, Long served a railroad-bandeau-winning gallery, with his jaw dropping to the floor in astonishment at his feat. Williams’s response was to blast the main wall at every opportunity. He brought the set back level at 3-all and then 4-all as the players exchanged dedans. Williams reached his first set point after Long rolled over his ankle when stepping up to play the return of serve. He carried on, but Williams secured the set moments later.
Nothing slowed the battering the dedans was getting in the third set as both players took on the large opening from anywhere they could on the court. Long in particular put his wellbeing at stake in trying to defend them, at one point diving to the floor to get out of the way. As such, both players were having better runs from the hazard end, and neither was spending much time looking for chases. After Long had the better start, Williams had the better run, with more than a third of his points coming in targets.
Though Long looked a forlorn figure in the fourth set, he never threw in the towel. Williams still had to fight for every point, even though as Long’s movements became more laboured. Still, Williams was not able to twist in the knife as the players exchanged games throughout the set. Only in the final game did Williams truly look in control, securing his place into the quarter-final.
The next match was between Benedict Yorston and Bryn Sayers. Sayers never let Yorston establish his usual scrambling retrival, even on the bouncy Parisian court. Sayers kept the pressure up with unrelenting play around the angles of the tambour, while from the hazard end he picked off galleries whenever able. Yorston’s lack of offensive weapons stung, as Sayers was able to easily chase down anything coming his way. Sayers took the first set without trouble and built a big lead in the second. Yorston played himself into the match, picking up a couple of games at the end of the second set before going toe-to-toe with Sayers throughout the third. The Queen’s Club pro’s intensity dropped a bit, as some mistakes bled into his game that Yorston could capitalise on. They battled to 3-all, before Sayers once again broke away, refusing to let Yorston get anywhere near the set.
The last match of the day saw the World Champion, Camden Riviere, return to the Paris court, facing Henry Henman for their first round contest. Henman sought to make the play as funky as possible, embracing the chaos of the court and trying to generate good fortune from the ledges, edges and net cord. Riviere lapped it up, playing his fair share of bizarre returns, but then soon backed off and sought to absorb the play from Henman, especially around the tambour. Once he established a lead in the match, Riviere opened up again. His control was supreme, seemingly directing the ball from anywhere onto the base of the tambour. Through the second and third sets, Henman was matching Riviere in the rallies but could never find a way past, with the World Number 1 picking off winners whenever presented. Henman couldn’t keep it controlled enough to trouble Riviere, succumbing to a straight sets defeat.
Play continues on Monday with the remaining first round singles matches. Play will be held over two separate sessions with an earlier start and later finish.
Match results:
9:30 AM: Erik Barker lost to Robert Shenkman (6) 2/6 1/6 0/6
12:00 PM: Lewis Williams (7) def Darren Long 5/6 6/4 6/3 6/4
2:30 PM: Benedict Yorston lost to Bryn Sayers (5) 2/6 2/6 3/6
5:00 PM: Camden Riviere (1) def Henry Henman 6/2 6/1 6/0
Order of play for Monday (all times CEST):
9:00 AM: Levi Gale vs John Lumley (2)
11:30 AM: Ben Taylor-Matthews (4) vs Zak Eadle
5:00 PM: Bertie Vallat vs Steve Virgona (3)
7:30 PM: Nino Merola (8) vs Vaughan Hamilton