Could Roland Garros be where Andrey Rublev makes his breakthrough at a major?
The seventh seed made a good start on Sunday when he defeated Laslo Djere 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round. The 25-year-old hit 37 winners to move on after two hours and 32 minutes.
Rublev appeared in difficulty when Djere moved ahead by a service break in the third set, level at one set apiece. But the 13-time ATP Tour titlist buckled down from there to avoid a second first-round exit at the clay-court major in three years.
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His confidence is as high as ever. Earlier this clay swing, Rublev captured his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Monte-Carlo and reached the final at the ATP 250 event in Banja Luka.
Rublev is also comfortable on the Parisian clay, having reached the quarter-finals here twice. He will next play a Frenchman, Corentin Moutet or Arthur Cazaux.
Djere was a tricky opening opponent, as the Serbian won an ATP 500 on clay in 2019 at Rio de Janeiro. But Rublev limited his unforced errors to just 24, which proved critical.
The seventh seed will not play a seeded opponent until at least the fourth round. That is because 30th seed Ben Shelton, his projected third-round opponent, fell in the first round on Sunday.
Lorenzo Sonego defeated the American 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Court 13. The Italian avenged a three-set loss to Shelton last year in Cincinnati. He took advantage of 49 unforced errors from the lefty to move on after two hours and 53 minutes.