French Open: Tunisian star Jabeur crushes unseeded Bronzetti
World number seven Ons Jabeur made a near-flawless start to her French Open campaign as she brushed aside unseeded Italian Lucia Bronzetti 6-4 6-1 on Tuesday to reach round two, while 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva grabbed her first Grand Slam main draw win.
Last year’s runner-up and fourth seed Norwegian Casper Ruud also made his way into the next round by thumping Swedish qualifier Elias Ymer 6-4 6-3 6-2 after American 16th seed Tommy Paul swatted aside Dominic Stephan Stricker 6-3 6-2 6-4.
Jabeur has had a stop-start season in which she had minor knee surgery before winning the title in Charleston and skipping the Madrid Open with a calf problem but the Tunisian was in peak form in Paris as she eased through the first set.
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Bronzetti came into the clash on Court Philippe Chatrier high on confidence after winning the first singles title of her career in Rabat but the 24-year-old’s hopes of ending a five-match losing run at the majors faded as the contest wore on.
Jabeur, the runner-up at last year’s Wimbledon and U.S. Open after a shock first-round defeat at Roland Garros, blended guile and power as she reeled off the breaks in the second set to go 5-0 up before dropping serve.
The 28-year-old quickly shook off that minor dip to comfortably close out the contest in the following game when Bronzetti sent a shot wide at the net.