Highly-rated Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov reached the French Open second round while Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm bowed out Tuesday as torrential rain caused havoc at Roland Garros. Dimitrov, dubbed 'Baby Federer' because of his similar style to the 17-time Grand Slam winner, went through to the last 64 when Colombian opponent Alejandro Falla retired with the Bulgarian 26th seed 6-4, 1-0 to the good.
The 22-year-old Dimitrov, the boyfriend of Maria Sharapova, could face world number one Novak Djokovic in the third round. Dimitrov was just one of three winners in early action on Tuesday after heavy rain caused a three-hour delay to the start of the programme. Barely 90 minutes of play was possible before the rain returned. "I am happy that I finished the match. It's never easy to play the first round in a Grand Slam especially with the weather the way that it was," said Dimitrov, who is seeded at a major for the first time.
He has enjoyed a breakthrough year, defeating Djokovic in the second round in Rome and making a first Masters quarter-final in Monte Carlo where he lost to Rafael Nadal. World number 83 Date-Krumm, who played her first Roland Garros in 1989 - three years before Dimitrov was born - probably wished it had kept on raining. The 42-year-old Japanese lost 6-0, 6-2 to Australian ninth seed Samantha Stosur, the 2010 runner-up and former US Open winner.
Date-Krumm became the third oldest player to compete in women's singles in the tournament - Martina Navratilova holding the record at 47 and 232 days from her 2004 showing. Fully 57 players in this year's women's singles draw were not even born when Date-Krumm made her Roland Garros debut. "Stosur is so strong and she's a specialist on clay," said Date-Krumm.
"Today she didn't make mistakes because I couldn't put her under pressure." Djokovic begins his campaign later Tuesday but faces a frustrating day battling the showers as well as Belgian opponent David Goffin. French Open results on Tuesday (x denotes seeded player):
Men (1st round): Lucas Pouille (FRA) bt Alex Kuznetsov (USA) 6-1, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2; Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x26) bt Alejandro Falla (COL) 6-4, 1-0 - retired; Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) bt Alexandr Dolgopolov (UKR x22) 7-6 (9/7), 6-4, 7-6 (9/7); Victor Hanescu (ROM) bt Bernard Tomic (AUS) 7-5, 7-6 (10/8), 2-1 - retired; Lu Yen-Hsun (TPE) bt Simone Bolelli (ITA) 6-4, 6-4, 2-1 - retired Tommy Haas (GER x12) bt Guillaume Rufin (FRA) 7-6 (7/4), 6-1, 6-3; Jack Sock (USA) bt Guillermo García-López (ESP) 6-2, 6-2, 7-5; Mikhail Youzhny (RUS x29) bt Pablo Andújar (ESP) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3; Federico Del Bonis (ARG) bt Julian Reister (GER) 6-7 (2/7), 6-1, 6-0, 6-4; Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) bt Florent Serra (FRA) 6-3, 6-4, 7-5
Women (1st round): Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ x27) bt Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 6-0, 3-6, 6-2; Marion Bartoli (FRA x13) bt Olga Govortsova (BLR) 7-6 (10/8), 4-6, 7-5; Mariana Duque (COL) bt Kristyna Pliskova (CZE) 6-2, 6-0; Jelena Jankovic (SRB x18) bt Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 6-4, 7-6 (9/7); Samantha Stosur (AUS x9) bt Kimiko Date Krumm (JPN) 6-0, 6-2.