Elena Rybakina has recovered from a rocky start to comfortably beat Belgian Greet Minnen 6-2 6-3 in the French Open first round, looking fully recovered from her recent illness. Rybakina was unable to defend her Italian Open title because of sickness and after losing serve in the opening game at Roland Garros on Tuesday to go 2-0 down, it looked like the former Wimbledon champ might be in for a troublesome morning. She also had the memory of having to withdraw from the French Open last year before her third-round match.
"Last year I missed this tournament and it was really hard but really happy to be back and compete here," Rybakina told the Court Suzanne Lenglen crowd. Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion. "I'm really happy, thank you so much for coming guys, it's been an amazing atmosphere.
" After Minnen's fast start, fourth seed Rybakina settled down to take the next six games and win the first set, and the Kazakh began the second in the same fashion as she cruised into a 4-0 lead. Minnen rallied and broke serve, and when Rybakina broke for a third time in the second set and served for the match, the Belgian broke again. But it only delayed the inevitable as the Kazakh held her next service game to win the match.
The new roof was in use again on Lenglen, as the rain fell on Roland Garros, but Rybakina was untroubled by the conditions. "Of course, the ball is a little bit heavier and you need to move better and it's different,.
