Grigor Dimitrov ends Egyptian Mohamed Safwat's unexpected French Open journey
Nick Kyrgios forced to withdraw after failing to recover from an elbow injury, saying a potential five sets on clay was "too risky"
Sunday 27 May 2018 19:13, UK
Grigor Dimitrov subdued Egyptian lucky loser Mohamed Safwat 6-1 6-4 7-6 (7-1) in the first round of the French Open on Sunday.
Safwat became the first man from Egypt to play in a Grand Slam tournament's main draw in 22 years.
The 182nd-ranked Safwat got into the field as a 'lucky loser' at the age of 27 despite losing in the final round of qualifying as Victor Troicki was forced to pull out of the match because of an injured lower back.
"I was warming up and my coach said, 'hey look' and we saw up on the board that I was playing a different opponent," said former Wimbledon semi-finalist, Dimitrov. "I didn't expect that."
Safwat said: "I only heard I was playing an hour before the match. I was warming up, I signed in as a lucky loser and I was told I might be on court at 11 o'clock.
"I dealt with it as best I could. I had never set foot on that court before."
Fourth-seeded Dimitrov next faces either American Jared Donaldson or Chile's Nicolas Jarry.
Second seed Alexander Zverev got his French Open title bid off to the perfect start with a 6-1 6- 6-2 thrashing of Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis.
The 21-year-old, who arrived at Roland Garros on a hot streak of form after titles in Munich and Madrid before an Rome Open final loss to Rafael Nadal, stormed to victory in only 70 minutes and will now meet either Czech Jiri Vesely or Serbia's Dusan Lajovic in the second round.
In other news, Nick Kyrgios has been forced to pull out of the French Open where he was due to meet Australian compatriot Bernard Tomic in the first round.
The 21st seed Kyrgios has been laid low recently with an elbow injury and has not played a singles match since a quarter-final loss to Ivo Karlovic at the US Clay Court Championships in April.
"Having consulted with my team and medical experts it is deemed too risky for me to step out and potentially play five sets on clay, especially as I have not played a singles match in nearly two months," Kyrgios wrote on Twitter.
"I've worked hard to be ready in time and desperately wanted to play Roland Garros, which is very special to me but I literally ran out of time.
"A dramatic spike in load on my elbow could potentially put me back to square one and with the grass court season around the corner it is something I can not and will not risk."
The enigmatic Kyrgios will now concentrate on preparing for the grass-court season.
Elsewhere, 19th seed Kei Nishikori overcame French wildcard Maxime Janvier, with the twice-quarter-finalist in Paris prevailing 7-6 (7-0) 6-4 6-4.
Gael Monfils battled from a set down to beat fellow Frenchman Elliot Benchetrit 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-1, while 10th seed Pablo Carreno Busta also fought back to oust Jozef Kovalik 4-6 6-1 7-5 7-6 (7-5).
