Roland-Garros: Auger-Aliassime and Thiem out, as Norrie battles through

Tenth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime is the latest big name to fall in the men’s singles of Stade Roland-Garros as Italian Fabio Fognini defeated the No 10 seed, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in Paris on Monday.

Auger-Aliassime was the fourth seed to fall in the men’s singles draw already, joining Dan Evans, Ben Shelton, Bernabé Zapata Miralles, Van de Zandschulp and Struff.

The Candian arrived in Paris having withdrawn from his quarter-final match against Arthur Fils in Lyon last week because of a shoulder injury. However, he had only won a single match on clay so far during the European swing, beating world No 223 Pablo Llamas Ruiz at the same event.

And he told journalists afterwards that he had been ill overnight.

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“The shoulder is not great, but that wasn’t the issue today. I got a bit sick last night, didn’t really sleep. Yeah, sick all night. That’s just a reality.

“I woke up this morning trying — I mean, it’s like I’ve been struggling with a few things, and it’s like, can you believe it, I get sick the day before my match?

“I tried to warm up. I tried to see the doctor, see what I could take, but after one set, you know, just cramping and just can’t move anymore. So, yeah, I don’t know.

“I wasn’t sure whether I should keep going or give myself a shot or if I should stop. It was a difficult time, but it’s okay. I just need to get healthy again.”

Roland-Garros, the Slam the Canadian has always had the most trouble with

Roland-Garros is the Slam the Canadian has always had the most trouble with, having never got past the fourth round in Paris; indeed, he got to that stage last year but before that he had been eliminated in the first round both times he had previously reached the main draw.

His plan is to be back in Canada to understand why he’s struggling so much this season.

Fognini is the second Italian man to win 25 or more main-draw matches at Roland-Garros, following Adriano Panatta.

Fognini, ranked No 130, will face Australian Jason Kubler next.He was joined later on Monday by Botic van de Zandschulp, who lost in four sets to Argentina’s Thiago Agustin Tirante.

Norrie survives Roland-Garros scare

Cam Norrie survived a huge scare in his opening round match, coming through a five-setter against mercurial home talent Benoit Paire in the afternoon Paris heat.

Norrie was trailing by two sets to one before rallying to take the final two sets, with his physical conditioning ultimately proving the difference in a match that went beyond three hours.

Struff, Zapata Miralles and Van de Zandschulp all fall

Jan-Lennard Struff was defeated by talented young Czech Jiri Lehecka. Although the seed in that match, Struff arguably was the underdog against such a promising young player.

Zapata-Miralles threw away a two set lead, losing in five to Diego Schwartzman.

Van de Zanchulp, meanwhile, fell victim to a huge shock out of Court 9, losing to little-known Argentine Thiago Agustín Tirante, currently ranked 153rd in the world.

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Paris (Grand Slam), other first-round results (Stade Roland-Garros, clay, EUR 49.600.000, most recent results first):

• Gael Monfils vs. Sebastian Baez
• Timofey Skatov vs. Grigor Dimitrov
• Michael Mmoh vs. Taylor Fritz
• Richard Gasquet vs. Arthur Rinderknech
• Quentin Halys vs. Guido Pella
• Emil Ruusuvuori vs. Gregoire Barrere
• Thiago Monteiro vs. Yannick Hanfmann
• Francisco Cerundolo vs. Jaume Munar
• Holger Rune vs. Christopher Eubanks
• Thiago Seyboth Wild vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Hugo Gaston vs. Alex Molcan
• Alexander Zverev vs. Lloyd Harris
• Alexander Bublik vs. Giulio Zeppieri
• Max Purcell vs. Jordan Thompson
• Yoshihito Nishioka vs. J.J. Wolf
• Elias Ymer vs. Casper Ruud
• Nicolas Jarry vs. Hugo Dellien
• Tommy Paul vs. Dominic Stricker
• Andrea Vavassori vs. Miomir Kecmanovic
• Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard vs. Genaro Alberto Olivieri
• Jannik Sinner vs. Alexandre Muller
• Luca Van Assche vs. Marco Cecchinato
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Flavio Cobolli
• Daniel Altmaier vs. Marc-Andrea Huesler
• Zhizhen Zhang vs. Dusan Lajovic
• Arthur Fils vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
• Filip Krajinovic vs. Frances Tiafoe
• Jiri Lehecka vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
• Hamad Medjedovic vs. Marcos Giron
• Dominic Thiem vs. Pedro Cachin
• Borna Coric vs. Federico Coria: monday
• Botic van de Zandschulp vs. Thiago Agustin Tirante: monday
• Novak Djokovic vs. Aleksandar Kovacevic: monday
• Taro Daniel beat Christopher O’Connell: 6-0, 6-2, 6-4
• Stan Wawrinka vs. Albert Ramos-Vinolas: monday
• Roberto Bautista Agut (19) beat Yibing Wu: 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-1
• Alexei Popyrin vs. Aslan Karatsev: monday
• Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Jack Draper: 6-4, 1-0 ret.
• Alex De Minaur (18) beat Ilya Ivashka: 6-1, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
• Juan Pablo Varillas beat Juncheng Shang (Q): 4-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1
• Diego Schwartzman beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles (32): 1-6, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-0, 6-4
• Cameron Norrie (14) beat Benoit Paire (WC): 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
• Denis Shapovalov (26) beat Brandon Nakashima: 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3
• Lucas Pouille (Q) beat Jurij Rodionov (LL): 6-2, 6-4, 6-3
• Ugo Humbert beat Adrian Mannarino: 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
• Alexander Shevchenko beat Oscar Otte: 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (2)
• Lorenzo Sonego beat Ben Shelton (30): 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
• Andrey Rublev (7) beat Laslo Djere: 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Corentin Moutet beat Arthur Cazaux (WC): 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
• Lorenzo Musetti (17) beat Mikael Ymer: 7-5, 6-2, 6-4
• Roberto Carballes Baena beat Emilio Nava (Q): 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-2
• Matteo Arnaldi beat Daniel Elahi Galan: 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-2
• Sebastian Korda (24) beat Mackenzie McDonald: 6-4, 7-5, 6-4
• Nuno Borges beat John Isner: 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (9)
• Jason Kubler beat Facundo Diaz Acosta (LL): 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) beat Jiri Vesely: 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7)
• Marton Fucsovics beat Hugo Grenier (WC): 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
• Thanasi Kokkinakis (WC) beat Daniel Evans (20): 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
• Radu Albot (Q) beat Patrick Kypson (WC): 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
• Karen Khachanov (11) beat Constant Lestienne: 3-6, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3
• Hubert Hurkacz (13) beat David Goffin: 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
• Tallon Griekspoor beat Pedro Martinez (Q): 6-4, 2-6, 0-6, 7-5, 6-3
• Sebastian Ofner (Q) beat Maxime Cressy: 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-2