Tsitsipas survives Musetti, Sasnovich ousts Raducanu

PARIS – Stefanos Tsitsipas came back from the brink to reach the French Open second round as Roland Garros was again overshadowed by the crisis engulfing Wimbledon.

Fourth seed and 2021 runner-up Tsitsipas defeated world No. 66 Lorenzo Musetti, 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, in a match which finished early Wednesday.

Greek star Tsitsipas triumphed as 20-year-old Musetti collapsed from the brink of a famous Paris win for the second year in succession.

Twelve months ago, the Italian took the first two sets against Novak Djokovic in the last 16 before injury forced a final set retirement.

He enjoyed a flying start when the night session first round tie started Tuesday, sweeping through the first two sets, out-hitting Tsitsipas just as he had done against Djokovic.

But then came the familiar power failure and Tsitsipas comfortably pocketed the next two sets.

“It was positive and a good effort in the end. I wasn’t feeling very good in the first two sets, something was off with my game. Lorenzo wasn’t giving me any rhythm,” said the 23-year-old.

World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev also eased into the second round but could not escape the shadow of Wimbledon, the Grand Slam tournament where he has been declared persona non grata.

Medvedev routed Argentina’s 103rd-ranked Facundo Bagnis, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, on the back of 35 winners.

One place he will not be going, however, is the All England Club next month after Wimbledon banned all Russian and Belarusian players in response to the invasion of Ukraine.

The ATP and WTA responded by stripping the sport’s most prestigious tournament of ranking points.

Meanwhile, US Open champion Emma Raducanu was knocked out, losing to Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1, in the second round.

The British 12th seed, making her professional debut this year at Roland Garros, had also lost to 47th-ranked Sasnovich at Indian Wells in 2021 in her first match since her shock US Open victory.

“After the first set, I thought I couldn’t win so I just played it point by point,” said the 28-year-old Sasnovich.

Raducanu hit 33 unforced errors and paid the price for not converting five break points in the third game of the decider.

Spanish third seed Paula Badosa, a quarterfinalist last year, swept into the second round with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over French wildcard Fiona Ferro while  Simona Halep, the 2018 champion, defeated Germany’s Nastasja Schunk, an 18-year-old lucky loser from qualifying, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.