In the end, it is of course true that Lorenzo Musetti actually had no real chance of a surprise in round one of the French Open 2022 against Stefanos Tsitsipas. 6: 2, 6: 3, 6: 2 - that reads as if Tsitsipas was always in control of the second night session of the tournament at the Stade Roland Garros. Regardless of the 5:7 and 4:6 in the first two rounds. That's the charm - or the brutal reality - of the best-of-five format. Both Musetti and Tsitsipas had to experience this last year, and against the same man at that: the Italian went down against Novak Djokovic after a 2-0 set lead, just like Tsitsipas later in the final.

The atmosphere in the stands, which were almost full at the beginning, suggested that the fans could live well with a victory for Musetti. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had been retired on the same court that afternoon, a group of fans dressed in white apparently having bought tickets for both the day and evening shifts just not to miss Tsonga's farewell. And while they were there, the drum was also used for Lorenzo Musetti. Was Tsitsipas impressed by that? Perhaps. The winner of Monte Carlo made a lot of frame shots, shots that were too short and made wrong decisions.

Tsitsipas fends off a match point in Rome

It almost seemed that Tsitsipas was biased by the favorable draw that had placed him in the lower half, but Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev in the upper half. That's how Zverev went at the Australian Open in Melbourne in early 2022, when the way to the final after Djokovic's exclusion seemed temptingly clear. Zverev was eliminated by Denis Shapovalov in the round of 16. As the match continued on the Philippe-Chatrier court, Stefanos Tsitsipas became more stable, while Musetti also lost physical strength.

Will the unleashing act free Tsitsipas for the upcoming tasks? This cannot be ruled out. After all, he had to dig deep into the magic box early on in Rome. In the Foro Italico, Grigor Dimitrov was just one point short of beating Tsitsipas, who now has to face Zdenek Kolar from the Czech Republic.

Simon postpones farewell

An even bigger drama happened at the same time as the Tsitsipas match on the Simonne-Mathieu court. Similar gameplay, but different ending. A good one for Gilles Simon, the French veteran who was still hugging his old pal when saying goodbye to Tsonga. And will soon become a tennis pensioner himself. Simon had to accept the equalizer against Pablo Carreno Busta after a 2-0 set lead, but finally won 6: 4, 6: 4, 4: 6, 1: 6 and 6: 4.

Here the individual tableau in Roland Garros

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