Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Andy Sims

Roland Garros: Jacob Fearnley downs Stan Wawrinka as Brits progress through opening stages in Paris

Progressing: Jacob Fearnley - (Getty Images)

British number two Jacob Fearnley enjoyed a dream French Open debut with a straight-sets win over former champion Stan Wawrinka.

Fearnley, who was just three years old when Wawrinka made his first appearance at Roland Garros in 2005, won 7-6 (8) 6-3 6-2 in a little over two hours.

Wawrinka's title came 10 years ago and now, aged 40, he is by no means the force he once was.

But this was still a major feather in Edinburgh-born Fearnley's cap and with a dose of Scottish revenge for good measure - Wawrinka had knocked out Andy Murray in the opening round last year.

The crowd were overwhelmingly in favour of the veteran Swiss, but 23-year-old Fearnley shrugged off the partisan comments.

"A lot of it was in French," he said. "There were a lot of guys that were talking to me. I knew that they were supporting Stan.

"Honestly, it was mostly in French. They could have been saying nice things, but I doubt it..."

In the WTA draw, British number seven Jodie Burrage came up short against former world number seven Danielle Collins.

Burrage, making her Roland Garros debut after missing out last year through injury, was narrowly beaten 7-6 (1) 6-4 in the first round.

Burrage, 25, fought back from 5-3 down to serve for the first set, only for 31-year-old American Collins to force a tie-break which she then won comfortably.

Collins, who beat Iga Swiatek in Rome last week, went through the gears at the start of the second but Burrage still showed plenty of fight, retrieving one of two breaks to trail 5-4.

But Collins held serve to get over the line and inflict the first casualty on the British contingent this year.

"It was a tough match," said Burrage, who wears ankle braces after undergoing four operations.

"I was happy with some of the stuff I put out on court and not happy with other parts. I did my best and fought until the end. It just didn't work enough today."

Britain's top WTA player, Katie Boulter, made unnecessarily hard work of beating French wildcard Carole Monnet to break her Roland Garros duck.

Boulter led a player ranked 193 places below her 5-3 in the first set, but allowed Monnet to take it to a tie-break which the home hope won.

However, Boulter regrouped in the next set and eventually ran out a comfortable 6-7 (4) 6-1 6-1 winner.

"My first victory here, I'm really pleased with myself," she said. "You never forget your first win so this is going to feel special."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.