Giorgi and Paolini greet London, Swiatek starts well

It was about to become a nice surprise, the match that everyone took for granted between Jasmine Paolini and Petra Kvitova. The Tuscan put the bi-champion of Wimbledon 2011 and 2014 in very serious difficulty, and while not really going close to success, she kept the Czech in check for long sections of the match. Everything, or at least a lot, was decided in that second set, when Paolini had the chance to take home the partial, without however having match points in favor.

The match, which ended 2-6 6-4 6-2, inevitably experienced the ups and downs of the strongest player on the field, Kvitova, fresh from last week’s success in Eastbourne. Paolini had the merit of having understood that she had absolutely nothing to lose, and despite paying respect to Petra in centimeters, in thrust and experience, she kept the dribble against the former world number two very well, especially in the first set. , also thanks to the periodic indecisions of Kvitova, very bad with the service. In the second set, Paolini, who went under a break, managed to recover parity at 3-3, only to lose the partial 6-4. Less fought in the third set, with Petra who ended up winning with an easy 6-2. The idyll between Camila Giorgi and the grass ends. The Italian n.1 stops in two sets (with 46 free) against the number 92 in the world Frech and in the women’s draw only Elisabetta Cocciaretto remains to represent Italy.

Roll Swiatek, Cornet controversy

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All easy for the world number one and dominator of the WTA circuit Iga Swiatek. The Polish champion, winning number 36 in a row, dismissed the Croatian Jana Fett 6-3 6-0 on her debut. Badosa, Sakkari and Ostapenko also did well, while Bencic was out. The statements of Alizè Cornet are discussed. The Frenchwoman stated, in no uncertain terms, that there was an outbreak of Covid in Paris but no one spoke, unlike the one that happened in Wimbledon with Berrettini and Cilic. “At Roland Garros there was an epidemic of Covid, nobody talked about it. In the locker room they all had it and we didn’t say anything – said the Frenchwoman, who qualified for the second round – I think there were some in Paris cases and that there was an unspoken agreement between us, no do-it-yourself tampons to avoid getting into trouble – the French tennis player’s version -. I saw girls wearing masks perhaps because they knew they were positive and didn’t want to infect others ” .

Hi Serena

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A bitter debut with defeat for Serena Williams, seven times winner of this tournament. The American champion hadn’t played for more than a year, since Wimbledon 2021, when she came out in tears against Sasnovich due to injury. The almost forty-one year old really struggled against French Tan, an opponent who in better times would most likely have beaten her too, playing with her left hand. Serena instead lost badly against the 25-year-old Parisian, winner in three sets (7-5 ​​1-6 7-6). A Serena who seemed to be able to control the game, was ahead in the hot moments of the Match, even in the supertiebreak, and then went out. Will it be goodbye or goodbye for Serena?