Solid start to French Open

While Jewish American Madison Brengle lost in straight sets to Egypt’s Mayar Sherif in the first round of the 2023 French Open on Monday, other players of interest to Jewish and Israeli tennis fans have fared better so far in the annual major played on clay.

Jewish Italian Camila Giorgi, ranked 36th, won her round one match 6-3, 6-4 against French veteran Alize Cornet, overpowering her with her renowned aggressive, high risk style of play.

But she was due to face a much tougher challenge in round two against third-ranked American Jessica Pegula.

In men’s first round singles action, Russian-Israeli Aslan Karatsev, despite being ranked 62nd and being a semi-finalist at the Madrid Open last month, had to advance to Roland Garros through qualifying.

He carried on his good form of late on clay by outlasting Aussie Alexei Popyrin 6-3, 6-7, 6-1, 6-2 first up, to book a round-two clash with American Frances Tiafoe, the 12th seed.

Jewish Argentine Diego Schwartzman has had a tough year so far, dropping to a ranking of 95, and had to dig really deep to win an epic round-one match 1-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-0, 6-4 against the 32nd seed, Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles, and was due to face 80th-ranked Portuguese player Nuno Borges in round two.

And Israeli-born Canadian Denis Shapovalov, the 26th seed, also had an epic five-set, first-round battle, eventually defeating 45th-ranked American Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 to earn a shot next against unseeded Italian Matteo Arnaldi.