Paris, May 30:
Alexander Zverev, the man seen as a potential French Open champion, crashed out in the first round today while Johanna Konta became the second top 10 women’s player to exit.
Zverev, just 20 and fresh from his sensational Rome Masters demolition of Novak Djokovic, slumped to a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 defeat to Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, 13 years his senior.
“I played absolute shit, that’s why I lost,” said Zverev.
“But life goes on, it’s not a tragedy. In Rome I played fantastic, I won the tournament. Here I played bad, I lost first round. That’s the way it goes.”
In a match controversially suspended on Monday at one set each, Zverev was defeated in a fog of mistakes and despondency.
The beanpole German committed 50 unforced errors and drew jeers from the Philippe Chatrier court crowd when he took out his frustration by hammering his racquet into the clay.
Left-handed Verdasco, playing his 14th Roland Garros and 56th consecutive major, had lost to Zverev in the first round on clay in Madrid earlier this year.
But he is an experienced Grand Slam competitor, making the last 16 in Paris on four occasions.
“I practised really hard before this match against a great player like Alexander and I am super happy to be here on this court,” said Verdasco who next plays France’s Pierre- Hugues Herbert.
“Maybe it was my experience. You have to be ready emotionally and physically because it can be a long match.”
Third seed and 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka was an easy winner, defeating Slovakian qualifier Jozef Kovalik by 6-2, 7-6 (8/6), 6-3.
Wawrinka saved two set points in the second set tiebreaker before going on to down the 152nd-ranked qualifier.
Juan Martin del Potro marked his return to the French Open after an absence of five years by defeating Argentine compatriot Guido Pella by 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.
“I love to be playing this tournament again after five years,” said 2009 US Open champion Del Potro, who reached the quarter-finals in his last appearance in Paris before blowing a two-set lead against Roger Federer. (PTI)
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