Thiem into French Open second round

Third seed Thiem, beaten by Rafael Nadal in the last two French Open finals, was handed a tough first round against the Croatian, but was at his best under the roof on Court Phillipe Chatrier.

However, Felix Auger-Aliassime’s main draw debut at the French Open ended in brutal fashion as the Canadian was humbled 5-7, 3-6, 3-6 by Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan.

The 20-year-old Auger-Aliassime, in his second senior appearance at Roland Garros after losing in qualifying in 2018, never found his range. Meanwhile in women’s singles, Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic put in a power-packed show to beat Oceane Dodin (France) 6-3, 7-5, and breeze into the second round.

The 30-year-old last played in the US Open and arrived here without participating in any lead-up events on clay.