After a lot of hard work, Angelique Kerber made it into the second round of the French Open for the first time since 2018.
Two days after winning her 14th tour title in Strasbourg, the former number one in the world defeated Magdalena Frech from Poland 2: 6, 6: 3, 7: 5 with a lot of effort. The woman from Kiel had previously fended off two match balls.
The start of the duel of the three-time Grand Slam winner was delayed due to rain interruptions, then Kerber got off to a weak start and made 13 unforced errors in the first set.
Kerber improved and earned the decisive sentence with a much more focused appearance, in which she came back after a break and with considerable willpower. Next opponent is the French Elsa Jacquemot.
Previously, Andrea Petkovic had convinced. The all-time favorite from Darmstadt, who reached the semi-finals in the French capital in 2014, put on a bold performance in her 6-4, 6-2 opening win against France’s Oceane Dodin and now meets Victoria Azarenka from Belarus.
Nastasja Schunk also has a chance to advance to the second round in a difficult duel with former world number one Simona Halep from Romania on Tuesday.