Christophe Ena/Associated Press
The first major upset of the 2021 French Open occurred on the first afternoon of action at Roland Garros.
Men’s No. 4 seed Dominic Thiem was upended in five sets by Pablo Andujar, a result that is even more shocking when you consider the Austrian was up two sets.
The loss continued a poor run of form for Thiem, who is 9-8 this season on the ATP Tour. He reached the quarterfinals at a major once in the three Grand Slams since winning the 2020 U.S. Open.
Thiem was not the only top seed in the men’s draw to struggle on Sunday, as Alexander Zverev was taken to five sets by his fellow German Oscar Otte.
Zverev survived the first-round test, but his win and Thiem’s loss showed that the bottom half of the men’s singles draw could be more wide open than we thought before Sunday.
There was little concern for the top players in the women’s singles draw, as Naomi Osaka and Aryna Sabalenka advanced in straight sets.
Angelique Kerber was the only seeded woman to lose on Sunday. Her defeat was an extension of her overall poor form on the Paris clay.
Sunday French Open Results
Men’s Singles
Pablo Andujar def. No. 4 Dominic Thiem, 4-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas def. Jeremy Chardy, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 Alexander Zverev def. Oscar Otte, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-0
No. 11 Roberto Batista Agut def. Mario Vilella Martinez, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2
No. 12 Pablo Carreno Busta def. Norbert Gombos, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3
Marcos Giron def. No. 18 Grigor Dimitrov, 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 3-0 (retired)
Botic van de Zandschulp def. No. 19 Hubert Hurkacz, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-2, 6-4
No. 22 Cristian Garin def. Juan Ignacio Londero, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2
No. 23 Karen Khachanov def. Jan Vesely, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3
Miomir Kecmanovic def. No. 25 Dan Evans, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4
No. 27 Fabio Fognini def. Gregoire Barrere, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4
Thiem appeared to be in decent control of his match until the third set came around.
Andujar took control of the third set by fending off a pair of break points earned by Thiem and by converting 16 of his 19 first-serve points.
The Spaniard’s first-serve percentage dropped in the fourth set, but he made up for that by winning nine of 10 points at net. Thiem was 5-for-12 on net points in the fourth set.
Andujar carried that momentum into the fifth set, where he bested the No. 4 seed in second-serve percentage, net points won and break points won. Andujar finished with an advantage over Thiem in most of the major stat categories.
With the win, Andujar now has victories over Thiem, a two-time French Open finalist, and Roger Federer on the clay in May.
Andujar has a chance to go far in Paris since he has no other single-digit seeds are in his section of the draw.
Zverev faces the same situation one section up from Andujar in the draw. He put away Otte by holding him to four game victories in the final three sets.
The left-handed German finished with nine aces and 50 winners, but his 32 unforced errors kept his fellow countryman in the match for two sets.
After Thiem’s loss and Zverev’s early struggles, Stefanos Tsitsipas could be viewed as the favorite to come out of the bottom half of the men’s draw.
Tsitsipas handled Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in straight sets to close out the play on Court Philippe-Chartrier.
Daniil Medvedev is the other player to watch in the bottom half, but he does not own a main-draw victory at Roland Garros. He starts his tournament on Monday.
Women’s Singles
No. 2 Naomi Osaka def. Patricia Maria Tig, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4)
No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka def. Ana Konjuh, 6-4, 6-3
No. 11 Petra Kvitova def. Greet Minnen, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
No. 15 Victoria Azarenka def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
No. 21 Elena Rybakina def. Elsa Jacquemont, 6-4, 6-1
Anhelina Kalinina def. No. 26 Angelique Kerber, 6-2, 6-4
No. 29 Veronika Kudermetova def. Amanda Anisimova, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1
No. 31 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Christina McHale, 6-4, 6-0
No. 33 Paula Badosa def. Lauren Davis, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
The biggest draw on the women’s side on Sunday was a showdown between major champions.
Victoria Azarenka got the best of Svetlana Kuznetsova in a three-set battle that the Belarussian finished off with a 6-3 third-set triumph.
The No. 15 seed outlasted Kuznetsova over two hours despite possessing the worse second-serve and break-point percentages.
In the third set, Azarenka shined on Kuznetsova’s serve, as she won 16 of 32 receiving points and broke her twice on five opportunities.
Azarenka may be on a collision course to face Sabalenka in the fourth round in what would be a battle of seeded Belarussian women.
Sabalenka cruised through her first-round match with Ana Konjuh to raise her expectations in Paris a bit. The No. 3 seed came into Roland Garros off a clay-court tournament win in Madrid in which she defeated Ashleigh Barty in the final.
Osaka had to play a few more games than Sabalenka, but she got through her first-round match in straight sets as well. The No. 2 seed has a fairly easy path to the quarterfinals with no players seeded above No. 15 in her section.
Kerber was the only seeded woman to lose on Sunday. The loss extended her first-round exit streak in Paris to three years.
Statistics obtained from RolandGarros.com.
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