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May 25, 2016

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Home » Sports » Tennis

Murray survives but Kerber upset in Paris

Source: Agencies | May 25, 2016, Wednesday | Print Edition

ANDY Murray rallied to win from two sets down for the ninth time, advancing to the second round of the French Open by beating qualifier Radek Stepanek 3-6, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 in Paris yesterday.

While Murray needed two days to progress, nine-time champion Rafael Nadal had a much easier time against big-serving Sam Groth, losing only three games in a 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 win.

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic eased past Lu Yen-hsun of Chinese Taipei 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. Last year’s runner-up is seeking a maiden crown at Roland Garros.

In the women’s draw, Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber lost in the first round. Hampered by a left shoulder injury, the third-seeded Kerber was beaten by 58th-ranked Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 2-6, 6-3, 3-6.

Francesca Schiavone, the 2010 French Open champion, was also eliminated, losing to Kristina Mladenovic 2-6, 4-6.

Stepanek, the oldest man in the field at 37, hit 57 winners in his suspenseful encounter on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Murray was leading 4-2 in the fourth set when play was suspended on Monday because of darkness. He was twice two points from losing while serving and trailing 4-5 in the fifth. But he held there, then broke Stepanek and served it out after wasting his first match point with a double-fault.

“It’s unbelievable what he is doing,” Murray said. “At 37 years old, coming out and fighting like that. I don’t expect to be doing that myself at that age.”

Murray had rallied from two sets down twice before at Roland Garros, against Richard Gasquet in the first round six years ago and then to beat Viktor Troicki in the fourth round in 2011.

Also advancing in the men’s draw were seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych, No. 13 Dominic Thiem, No. 15 John Isner and No. 20 Bernard Tomic.

Kerber received treatment on her shoulder during a changeover as she trailed 0-3 in the deciding set. The left-handed Kerber then briefly left the court and returned to win her service game but could not break back and lost the match.

Kerber arrived in Paris on the back of early losses in both Madrid and Rome. Last week, the German pulled out of the Nuremberg tournament because of her shoulder injury.

“It’s getting worse and worse, but I hope it’s not too bad,” Kerber said.

It was the second time in three years that the Australian Open women’s champion lost in the first round at Roland Garros — the same thing happened to Li Na in 2014. Chris O’Neil (1978), Barbara Jordan (1979) and Lindsey Davenport (2000) are the other reigning Australian Open champions who lost in the opening round on the Parisian clay.

China had a mixed day, with Zheng Saisai losing to No. 22 seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 3-6, 1-6 but Wang Qiang blanked French wildcard Tessah Andrianjafitrimo 6-0, 6-0 and Zhang Shuai beat Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 7-5, 6-2.

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