Roland Garros takeaways: Zheng makes winning return to Paris
The last time Zheng Qinwen stood on Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros, she was making history as the first Chinese player to win the Olympic gold medal -- famously toppling Iga Swiatek for the top prize last August.
Roland Garros: Draws | Scores | 411
On Sunday, she made a winning return to the venue by kicking off her French Open campaign with a 6-4, 6-3 win over 2021 tournament finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
With the 1-hour, 22-minute win, the No. 8 seed exacted a measure of revenge against former World No. 11 Pavlyuchenkova -- having lost to her in their first career meeting in Cincinnati last summer -- and also improved her first-round record at Roland Garros to 4-0.
Here are more takeaways from Zheng's opening win:
First rounds stay fruitful for Zheng: The first round of Grand Slams have been a happy hunting ground for Zheng in her career. The 23-year-old is now 14-2 at the opening hurdle at majors -- and both of those opening losses have come at Wimbledon.
Playing under the roof on Chatrier roof as rain disrupted play elsewhere, Zheng never trailed in her latest opening effort -- but she was tested significantly. First, she needed to regroup after Pavlyuchenkova pulled even from 4-1 down in the first set. She broke for the set in the 10th game, hitting two of her 13 winners in the set -- nearly double that of Pavlychenkova -- on the first two points, and forcing the 33-year-old into two more misses with more aggressive play.
In set two, she twice led by a break, only to be broken back right away each time. But her fifth break of Pavlyuchenkova's serve in the match proved decisive, after denying her three chances to level the set at 4-4.
"I think the match is not easy, especially if she's playing really aggressive. And then she had couple of great winners," Zheng said afterwards. "I'm just happy to won the first match here because I always think the first match in the Slams is tricky."
Will clay-court success mean Parisian glory? In her fourth French Open, Zheng will be hoping that her clay-court success elsewhere will finally translate to a deep run at the Parisian major. Dating back to the Olympics last year, Zheng is now 17-3 on clay in her past 20 matches.
What's next?: In the opening hours of Day 1, Zheng's path forward already cleared of one potential threat. Germany's Eva Lys was a 6-0, 6-3 winner over No. 28 seed Peyton Stearns -- who beat Naomi Osaka and Elina Svitolina on her way to the semifinals at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia and was Zheng's projected third-round opponent.
Lys will face talented Canadian 18-year-old Victoria Mboko next, who was a 6-1, 7-6(4) winner over 2024 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Lulu Sun in her Grand Slam main-draw debut, while Zheng will face Colombia's Emilana Arango, who ousted Alexandra Eala.
