PARIS (AP) – Juan Martin del Potro is back at the French Open for the first time in five years, and the 2009 U.S. Open champion had little trouble picking up a victory.
After a series of wrist operations kept him off tour for months at a time, del Potro has shown that he is once again capable of using his big forehand to great effect and he beat qualifier Guido Pella 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 in an all-Argentine matchup in the first round at Roland Garros on Tuesday.
In another early result at the year’s second major tennis tournament, No. 7 seed Johanna Konta of Britain bowed out with a 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 loss to 109th-ranked Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan. Considering the setting, the result is not all that surprising: Konta has now lost all three matches she’s played at the French Open over her career.
Winners included No. 18 Nick Kyrgios and No. 5 Elina Svitolina.
Del Potro showed no sign of the shoulder and back problems that hampered him at the Lyon Open last week and did not face a single break point.