Germany’s Daniel Altmaier scored an early upset at the French Open on Monday with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory against fourth-seeded Taylor Fritz in Paris.
Altmaier saved four of five break points and finished with a 46-34 advantage in winners to overcome 14 aces by Fritz, the 2024 U.S. Open finalist.
Altmaier’s win in two hours and 41 minutes was the fifth of his career against a top-10 opponent, and his third on the clay at Roland Garros: No. 8 Matteo Berrettini in 2020 and No. 9 Jannik Sinner in 2023.
“It was very special,” Altmaier said. “I think I was working really hard the past weeks to get confidence, preparing myself for those kinds of matches. I feel like I’m ready to play whoever is going to face me. I’m really happy to get this first win and I really love my performance.”
Altmaier, 26, will face Vit Kopriva of the Czech Republic in the second round.
“I try to be as humble as possible,” Altmaier said. “The sacrifices every tennis player is (making) is unbelievable. I have a long vision, and I definitely want to achieve something big in this sport, and I’m working for that, so that’s why I have to win matches.”
No. 1 seed Jannik Sinner won his 15th straight Grand Slam match by taking down France’s Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 late Monday night. Sinner saved 5 of 7 break points while breaking his opponent’s serve on 5 of 6 chances.
Sinner will face another Frenchman in the second round, none other than 38-year-old Richard Gasquet, who will retire from tennis after this tournament. Gasquet defeated countryman Terence Atmane 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.
“He gave so much to our sport, he has given you all so much so I’m happy to share the court with him,” Sinner said of Gasquet. “I know you’re going to support him, so it’s OK.”
In other action, No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain opened his title defense with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri.
Alcaraz saved all three break points and finished in just under two hours with 31 winners and 23 unforced errors. The four-time Grand Slam winner won 21 of 25 points at the net to set up a second-round date with Hungarian Fabian Marozsan.
“It was really, really solid,” said Alcaraz, who is trying to become the first repeat champion since Rafael Nadal in 2019-20. “The first round of the tournament is never easy, coming here as the defending champion could be even tougher. But I just started pretty well and kept my good pace during the whole match. I tried to be focused on my game, to get a good rhythm.”
No. 7 seed Casper Ruud of Norway opened with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas. No. 20 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece beat Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. No. 23 Sebastian Korda held of Italy’s Luciano Darderi 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. No. 25 seed Alexei Popyrin was ahead 7-5, 6-4, 1-2 when Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka retired. No. 26 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina eliminated fellow Spaniard Pablo Llamas Ruiz 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3.
In the later part of the day, the only notable upset saw Canada’s Gabriel Diallo take down No. 18 seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. Danish 10th seed Holger Rune got past Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. No. 14 seed Arthur Fils and No. 22 seed Ugo Humbert, both of France, advanced along with No. 24 Karen Khachanov of Russia and No. 27 Denis Shapovalov of Canada.
Also advancing were Britain’s Jacob Fearnley, France’s Hugo Gaston, Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic, Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic, Austrians Sebastian Ofner and Filip Misolic, Spaniard Jaume Munar and Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands.
–Field Level Media
