Greek tennis stars Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas both progressed to the second round of Roland Garros following impressive opening-round performances in Paris.
Sakkari delivered one of her strongest displays in recent seasons, overcoming world No. 12 Linda Noskova 7-5, 7-6(3) in a high-quality battle that lasted one hour and 53 minutes on the Paris clay.
The victory was particularly significant for Sakkari, marking her first win at Roland Garros since 2022 after a challenging stretch at the tournament in recent years.
The Greek began confidently, racing to leads of 2-0 and 4-2 in the opening set before Noskova clawed her way back to level at 4-4. Sakkari responded at the perfect moment, securing a crucial break in the 11th game before serving out the set with authority.
The second set brought even more drama. Although Sakkari initially held the advantage, she soon found herself trailing 4-1 and staring at triple set point at 5-2, 0-40. The former Roland Garros semi-finalist responded superbly, reeling off 11 straight points to completely shift the momentum.
Noskova struggled under the pressure, committing three double faults during one service game, while Sakkari stayed composed to force a tie-break and eventually close out the match 7-3.
The result gave Sakkari her second win over Noskova in three meetings — and their first encounter on clay. She will next face qualifier Claire Liu for a spot in the third round.
Meanwhile, Tsitsipas had a far less demanding route into round two after French opponent Alexandre Muller retired injured during their match.
Tsitsipas, ranked world No. 79, was leading 6-2, 3-0 after just 50 minutes when Muller was forced to withdraw with a foot injury.
Muller made the brighter start, breaking Tsitsipas early to move ahead 2-0 after taking advantage of an erratic opening service game from the Greek. However, Tsitsipas quickly found his rhythm and took full control from there.
The Frenchman later required a medical timeout before eventually retiring after losing nine consecutive games.
The comfortable victory represents a positive start for Tsitsipas, who has faced several difficult Grand Slam campaigns in recent seasons.
The former French Open finalist has now reached the second round at Roland Garros for the ninth straight year and will next take on Matteo Arnaldi.