The first day of the 2025 French Open is behind us, and if you missed the action, you need not worry. We’re going to briefly summarize what happened on the opening day of the second Grand Slam of the season, including wins by Ben Shelton and Aryna Sabalenka.
There was plenty of great tennis played, along with rain delays and late finishes, and we’re going to cover all of it in this recap.
Ben Shelton through & other ATP results
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Other players who managed to advance include Reilly Opelka, who overcame Rinky Hijikata; Pablo Carreno Busta, who secured a strong win over Francisco Comesana; and Lorenzo Musetti, who easily won his opener.
Ben Shelton played in the final slot on opening day against Lorenzo Sonego, and it turned out to be a spectacular match. Sonego is no stranger to pulling off upsets, and on clay, he can be particularly dangerous. Shelton experienced that rollercoaster firsthand, needing five sets to win the match, but ultimately, the American got the job done.
With this win, Shelton joined fellow Americans Frances Tiafoe, Emilio Nava, and Jenson Brooksby, who also won their openers. The best match of the day was arguably the one between Nuno Borges and Kyrian Jacquet, another five-set thriller.
Jacquet held a 2-0 lead over Borges in sets, but then the Portuguese player woke up and turned the match around, winning three sets in a row.
Check out the full list of matches and results below.
Men’s Singles – Round 1
- Marton Fucsovics def. Tristan Schoolkate — 3–0
- Mariano Navone def. Brandon Nakashima — 3–1
- Hamad Medjedovic def. Kamil Majchrzak — 3–0
- Tommy Paul def. Elmer Moller — 3–1
- Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard def. Zizou Bergs — 3–1
- Reilly Opelka def. Rinky Hijikata — 3–1
- Pablo Carreno Busta def. Francisco Comesana — 3–1
- Damir Dzumhur def. Thiago Agustin Tirante — 3–1
- Vit Kopriva def. Thiago Monteiro — 3–2
- Daniel Elahi Galan def. Valentin Royer — 3–2
- Lorenzo Musetti def. Yannick Hanfmann — 3–0
- Juan Manuel Cerundolo def. Alex Michelsen — 3–0
- Fabian Marozsan def. Luca Nardi — 3–0
- Frances Tiafoe def. Roman Safiullin — 3–0
- Matteo Gigante def. Benjamin Hassan — 3–0
- Emilio Nava def Botic Van de Zandschulp — 3–0
- Jenson Brooksby def. Jaime Faria — 3–1
- Nuno Borges def. Kyrian Jacquet — 3–2
- Ben Shelton def. Lorenzo Sonego — 3–2
- Quentin Halys def. Tomas Machac — 2–0 (match retired)
Aryna Sabalenka enters second round with ease & other WTA results
On the women's side, we saw some impressive performances from several top players. Elina Svitolina continued her fantastic form, dismantling Turkey's Zeynep Sonmez 6-1, 6-1. Aryna Sabalenka didn't hold back either, dominating Kamilla Rakhimova 6-1, 6-0, confirming her title candidacy.
A lot has been said about Sabalenka being the No. 1 seed and whether she is truly the favorite, but with performances like this, it's easy to see why she's considered the frontrunner.
Last year's Olympic champion, Qinwen Zheng, also made a strong return to the clay courts of Paris. She faced Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a tough opponent, but managed to secure the win in two sets.
Donna Vekic and Amanda Anisimova also made winning starts, neither facing much difficulty. Leylah Fernandez, however, had a tough draw against Olga Danilovic, who played sensationally well at last year's French Open.
Danilovic once again came out firing, easily defeating Fernandez in two sets—perhaps a surprising result. Many expected a much closer contest, but in the end, Danilovic was simply too strong.
The same could be said for Jasmine Paolini, who not only played outstanding tennis at last year's French Open but also reached the final. She recently won the Italian Open, leading many to consider her a dark horse candidate for the title.
Would she be a dark horse winner given her form and her back-to-back Grand Slam finals last year? Probably not, but she did face a real challenge in her opener. After taking the first set 6-1, she lost the second before barely clinching the deciding set, surviving a major scare.
Another surprising result was the elimination of Marta Kostyuk, who has been a consistently strong player for a while. She ran into an inspired Sara Bejlek, and the Czech player showed no mercy, winning 6-3, 6-1.
Overall, it was an exciting opening day of tennis, though lacking some star power. But it's only day one—bigger names are set to compete over the next couple of days, including Casper Ruud, Holger Rune, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek, Naomi Osaka, and many more.
Women’s Singles – Round 1
- Anna Bondar def. Laura Siegemund — 2–0
- Eva Lys def. Peyton Stearns — 2–0
- Viktorija Golubic def. Petra Kvitova — 2–1
- Victoria Mboko def. Lulu Sun — 2–0
- Elina Svitolina def. Zeynep Sonmez — 2–0
- Aryna Sabalenka def. Kamilla Rakhimova — 2–0
- Emiliana Arango def. Alexandra Eala — 2–1
- Dayana Yastremska def. Destanee Aiava — 2–0
- Qinwen Zheng def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova — 2–0
- Jil Teichmann def. Lucrezia Stefanini — 2–0
- Diana Shnaider def. Anastasiia Sobolieva — 2–0
- Leyre Romero Gormaz def. Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah — 2–0
- Donna Vekic def. Anna Blinkova — 2–1
- Iva Jovic def. Renata Zarazua — 2–1
- Amanda Anisimova def. Nina Stojanovic — 1–0 (retired)
- Olga Danilovic def. Leylah Fernandez — 2–0
- Jasmine Paolini def. Yue Yuan — 2–1
- Linda Noskova def. Anastasia Potapova — 2–1
- Sara Bejlek def. Marta Kostyuk — 2–1
