PARIS, May 28 — The fickle Paris crowd made themselves heard on day one of the French Open as they booed and jeered when Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk refused to shake hands after her first-round match against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus on Sunday.
Kostyuk had warned she would not do so with Russian and Belarusian players due to Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour and she kept her word on a sun-kissed court Philippe Chatrier after losing 6-3 6-2 to world number two Sabalenka.
Earlier, spectators lined up in huge numbers under panama hats and umbrellas as the year’s second Grand Slam tournament started in bright sunshine at Roland Garros.
After a record 50,000 people - compared to 29,000 last year - attended the qualifying event this week, Sabalenka and Kostyuk opened proceedings on centre court as the fashionably late fans queued to get their seats.
With temperatures at 22 degrees and expected to reach 26 in the afternoon, the water vending stands were busy.
In a men’s tournament without 14-times winner and defending champion Rafael Nadal who is injured, 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas will be the biggest name in action on Sunday.
“Of course, it’s a big miss. My son really wanted to see Nadal but now we will be supporting (Carlos) Alcaraz,” said Gerald Furst, who runs a tennis club in the south of France.
“I like (Novak) Djokovic as well, he’s an amazing player. I believe it will be a semi-final between Alcaraz and Djokovic. We want to see this match.”
Serbian Djokovic is bidding for his third French Open title.
“It’s very bad for the tournament that Nadal is not there. We hope he’ll be here next year. I’m happy a new guy will be the champion, but for me Nadal is the best on this surface,” said Ragis Poiet.
“Djokovic will find it difficult if he plays Alcaraz but I think he will be able to win.” — Reuters
