Greek tennis stars Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas have both secured their places in the second round of Roland Garros after strong opening performances in Paris.
Sakkari produced one of her best displays in recent years on the Paris clay, defeating world No. 12 Linda Noskova 7-5, 7-6(3) in a gripping contest lasting one hour and 53 minutes.
The victory marked Sakkari’s first Roland Garros win since 2022 and ended a difficult run at the French Open, where she had struggled to progress in recent seasons.
The Greek star started strongly, opening up leads of 2-0 and 4-2 in the first set before Noskova fought back to level at 4-4. Sakkari regained control at the crucial moment, breaking in the 11th game before confidently serving out the set.
The second set proved even more dramatic. After initially leading, Sakkari fell behind 4-1 and later faced triple set point at 5-2, 0-40. However, the former Roland Garros semi-finalist responded brilliantly, winning 11 consecutive points to completely swing the momentum of the match.
Noskova collapsed under pressure, producing three double faults in one service game, while Sakkari maintained her composure to force a tie-break and seal the match 7-3.
The win was Sakkari’s second victory over Noskova in three meetings and their first clash on clay. She will now face qualifier Claire Liu for a place in the third round.
Meanwhile, Tsitsipas enjoyed a far more straightforward path into the second round after French opponent Alexandre Muller retired injured midway through their match.
The Greek world No. 79 was leading 6-2, 3-0 after just 50 minutes when Muller was forced to withdraw with a foot problem.
Muller had initially started strongly, breaking Tsitsipas early to lead 2-0 after capitalising on a poor opening service game from the Greek. However, Tsitsipas quickly settled into rhythm and dominated proceedings from that point onward.
The Frenchman later took a medical timeout before eventually retiring after losing nine consecutive games.
The comfortable victory marks a welcome change for Tsitsipas, who has endured several difficult Grand Slam campaigns in recent years.
The former French Open finalist has now reached the second round at Roland Garros for the ninth consecutive year and will next face either Matteo Arnaldi or Tallon Griekspoor.
