Maria Sakkari has suffered a first round exit at the hands of Karolina Muchova after losing 7-6(5) 7-5.

The Greek had high hopes for a deep run in Paris after an encouraging clay court season.

However Muchova’s variety and power was too strong as she came from a break down in both sets to seal the straight sets victory.

Next for Muchova will be Nadia Podoroska, who reached the semi-finals in Paris in 2020.

It was a promising start for Sakkari who had reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros before as the Greek took a 3-0 lead with some powerful shot-making.

However Muchova gradually built her confidence from the baseline and used her variety to grind the errors from an inconsistent Sakkari.

The eighth seed had lacked control on her shots and after a long game, Sakkari conceded the break back as the match was back on serve at 3-2.

Sakkari’s service games continued to be tested as she lacked confidence with her first serve as well as lacking effective point construction.

After saving two break points in the eighth game, Sakkari aimed to break down Muchova’s game with depth and angles.

However there was no consistent danger on big points which Muchova took advantage of in the eleventh game, comfortably breaking the world number eight’s serve.

This scrappy set of tennis would have another twist in the tale as Muchova lacked conviction on her own serve.

An aggressive return game from Sakkari saw her claw the break back as the opening set went to a tiebreak.

The tiebreak just like the rest of the set was full of momentum swings which saw Muchova manage to be the more consistent player.

A shanked forehand from Sakkari gave Muchova the advantage as she claimed the opening set in 67 minutes.

The second set was similar the first with Sakkari claiming the break in the opening game with authority before Muchova came back to level the set at 2-2.

As the set went on, the more tense both players became with opportunities being wasted.

However it was Sakkari who was the more error-prone and after three match points being wasted, Muchova struck the fatal blow on her fourth to claim victory.

For Sakkari, it’s her worst Grand Slam result since the Australian Open in 2021 as analysis will go on until Wimbledon.

As for Muchova, she celebrates another big win in 2023 with a match against Nadia Podoroska awaiting.

The first day of the French Open saw Aryna Sabalenka breeze into the second round but the talking point of the match occurred just seconds after it had finished. 

Approaching the net her opponent, Marta Kostyuk, refused to shake hands with the world No.2. Her decision to do so was because of Sabalenka’s home country supporting Russia in their war against Ukraine. It is not the first time that a Ukranian player has done this on the Tour but the crowd reception was something that has rarely occurred before. Kostyuk was booed off the court as a result of her gesture, even though it was widely expected that she would do this before the match. 

The situation adds to the frustration of Ukrainian players with some of them previously calling for tougher penalties to be implemented on Russian players due to the conflict. Something the governing bodies of tennis refused to do this as they argue that players shouldn’t be punished for the actions of their governments. The only exception was Wimbledon and the Lawn Tennis Association who last year banned Russian and Belarussian players from their events amid fear of those athletes being used for propaganda by the Russian regime. 

One of those watching Kostyuk’s match was journalist Sergey Kontorchik who is the founder of the Ukranian tennis website BTU. As somebody who follows the actions of his compatriots on the Tour every week, he admits the reception given to fans at Roland Garros to Kostyuk caught him off guard. 

“This is quite surprising to me. I think Marta and our players have explained quite clearly the reasons why this is happening,” Kontorchik tells Ubitennis.
“If somebody still doesn’t understand why Ukrainian players don’t shake hands with players from countries that kill Ukrainians and wage an invasive war, they won’t understand it anymore.”  

Kontorchik lives in Dnipro, a city located in the centre of the Dnipropetrovsk Region which borders Donetsk. On Friday two people were killed and 30 injured following a Russian missile strike on a outpatient clinic in Kontorchik’s city. 

The situation involving Kostyuk is even more surprising given the recent support that was shown towards one of her peers, Elina Svitolina, who won the Lyon Open title on Sunday.

“Not really, maybe somewhere in smaller tournaments,” Kontorchik replied when asked if he remembers any other players from his country going through a similar scenario to that of Kostyuk. 
“Even in yesterday’s final (of the Lyon Open), the public was quite on the side of the Ukranian.”

Quizzed about the incident during her press conference, Sabalenka said she understood her rival’s decision to not shake hands with her. Adding that Kostyuk shouldn’t have exited the court in the way that she did. Sabalenka has previously said players are entitled to hate her if they wanted to and has called for politics to be kept out of the sport. 

“I understand why they are not shaking hands with us. I can imagine if they gonna shake hands with us, and then what’s gonna happen to them from the Ukrainian side. So I understand that. And I understand that this is not kind of like personally, you know,” she said.
“I think she didn’t deserve to leave the court that way.”

Sabalenka also adds that she believes that ‘normal people’ would not support the ongoing war. This a rare statement from an athlete from either Russia or Belarus to make about the current situation. 

“I said it many, many times: Nobody in this world, Russian athletes or Belarusian athletes, support the war. Nobody. How can we support the war? Nobody, normal people will never support it.” She said.
“Of course, we don’t support war. If it could affect anyhow the war, if it could stop it, we would do it. But unfortunately, it’s not in our hands.”

However, that comment has been met with scepticism from Kostyuk who has publically called for the Australian Open champion to clarify her view about who she backs in the war and why.

“She never says that she personally doesn’t support this war,” Kostyuk replied during her press conference. 
“I feel like you (the media) should ask these players who would they want the war to win because if you ask this question, I’m not so sure these people will say that they want Ukraine to win.” 

Carlos Alcaraz enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2022 when he won his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open but his mentor believes now he is even better as a player. 

Juan Carlos Ferrero has overseen Alcaraz’s meteoric rise in the sport over the past few months. The 20-year-old has already won 10 ATP titles and reached the top of the ATP rankings. He is also the youngest player to have ever beaten both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the same tournament. As for this season, he enters into the French Open with a win-loss record of 30-3 but recently suffered a shock defeat to Fabian Marozsan at the Italian Masters. 

Despite the setback in Rome, Ferrero is confident that his compatriot is on the right track to become even better in the sport. Alcaraz is the top seed at Roland Garros this year. 

“As a person, I would say he’s more mature,” Ferrero told reporters in Paris on Sunday. “When you are on a team with people that are older, I think you grow up a little bit faster than maybe with other people that are the same age as you.’
“I think he grows up super fast on the court. He can read the matches a little bit better. Even before the match, like talking about the match, you can see that he’s more mature in all kinds of areas on the court.’
“So I would say he’s better than last year. The experience that he’s won US Open and lived the experience on the court that he did I think makes him grow faster than maybe other people, so definitely he’s a better player.”

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Ferrero’s biggest achievement as a player. At the 2003 French Open, he beat Fernando Gonzalez, the then reigning champion Albert Costa and Martin Verkerk en route to his first and only major title. 

It is experiences such as these that the 43-year-old believes enhance his credentials as a coach on the Tour. 

“I think playing the tour, knowing the players, knowing the experience that maybe he’s gonna have, it’s gonna help a lot to advise him with what’s gonna happen, how you’re gonna feel it at that moment or how you’re gonna play.” He explained. 
“It definitely helps a lot, coaching like this.”

Alcaraz is among the favourites for French Open glory this year. It is only the third time he is playing in the main draw of the tournament with his best result being a run to the quarter-finals 12 months ago. Prior to his first round match this year, he has won six out of eight matches played in Paris. 

“Anybody can lose in the first round, you don’t have a clue. But I think we play a very good clay season at the moment and this is the last one, so we are gonna try to give our best to make the best tournament possible,” Ferrero said of Alcaraz’s chances. 

Alcaraz will play Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in his opening match on Monday.