PARIS, May 30, 2017

Nick Kyrgios opened his Roland Garros campaign,powering past Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 in his first round match on Tuesday. The 18th seed from Australia fired 20 aces and 40 winnners on Court 2, was only pushed in the second set but came through in one hour and 51 minutes.

Nick Kyrgios (photo: Brigitte Urban)

“There was a lot of question marks on how I would perform today. I haven’t had that many matches on the clay. Obviously been struggling physically, not feeling that confident,” Kyrgios said.

“I saw the draw and I thought it was going to be very tough. Philipp’s been around for a long time now and he knows what to do to win matches. I think he’s pretty comfortable on the clay.

“I served really well today at important times in the match, and I thought I just played the right style of game to win today with what I had. Hopefully, I can keep going,” the Australian youngster is looking forward to his second round match, taking on Kevin Anderson, who beat Malek Jaziri in three sets.

Del Potro Returns To French Open

On a packed Court 6, Juan Martin Del Potro started his first French Open campaign in five years against fellow Argentine Guido Pella. 

Injuries have kept Del Potro out of the tournament since 2012 when he reached the quarterfinals. He has had shoulder and back concerns recently, but is pleased to be back in action in Paris.

“I’m very happy to return after five years,” he said. “I’m going to play this tournament again which is really nice and very important. I hope to be in good condition.”

Del Potro celebrated a comfortable win, as he beat Pella 6-2, 6-1, 6-4. The 30-year-old “Tower of Tandil” is a potential third-round opponent for top seed Andy Murray.

“Of course I would have preferred to play against another player. It is never easy when you have to play a friend, a guy like Guido, which is so good on court. Off court, as well, we have a great relationship. We both captured the Davis Cup trophy a few months ago,” Del Potro said.