Swift exit for Stearns

New York Times

25-05-2025

Follow our live coverage from the French Open at Roland Garros, with the tournament honoring 14-time champion Rafael Nadal Getty Images
Stearns 0-6, 3-6 Lys
Peyton Stearns is the first seed to exit this year's French Open, going down in straight sets to Eva Lys.
The American, seeded No. 28 after her run to the quarterfinals of the Italian Open in Rome, never really got going against her German opponent.
Stearns beat Grand Slam champions Madison Keys and Naomi Osaka, and the resurgent Elina Svitolina, on her run in Italy — winning all three matches in third-set tiebreaks having suffered a series of close defeats to higher-ranked players in the past.
This time, she found herself on the other end of the bargain.
Sönmez 1-6, 1-6 Svitolina
Game over for Zeynep Sönmez, as she is swept away convincingly by Elina Svitolina in the end on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
Next up there will be a home talent in 21-year-old French 37th seed Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, taking on Belgian Zizou Bergs.
Svitolina is not the only woman through to the second round of the singles, by the way…
It was a topsy-turvy first set that went the way of young Dane Elmer Møller, against Tommy Paul.
Møller had a set point when serving at 5-4, got broken, but then rebounded to take the tiebreak 7-5.
The owner of a devastating if unconventional backhand, Møller is playing his first match at a Grand Slam — and is now a couple of sets away from a big upset and a first ATP-level match win.
Møller 7-6(5), 1-0* Paul
How hard is Tommy Paul being made to work in his first-round match? I think the expression on Elmer Møller's face above says it all.
The 21-year-old Dane is making his Grand Slam debut — and he takes the opening set over the 12th seed in a tiebreak.
It's been an impressive start. Can Paul respond?
We are up and running on Court Philippe-Chatrier, with the seats slowly filling up and the No. 1 seed, Aryna Sabalenka up against Kamilla Rakhimova.
These two also met in the early rounds of the French Open two years ago, with Sabalenka winning in straight sets.
Let's see what we get today.
Elina Svitolina has a 25-8 record in 2025 and as you will have seen below, she is well on her way to adding win No. 26 against Turkey's Zeynep Sönmez.
The Ukrainian started the year at No. 27 in the world, but deep runs at some of the biggest events of the year to date — and a title in Rouen, France — have propelled her back inside the world's top 15.
Keep an eye too on Victoria Mboko, the Canadian 18-year-old who has already won 38 matches in 2025 and is playing in her first Grand Slam main draw.
She's up a set on Lulu Sun, the New Zealander who made last year's Wimbledon quarterfinals as a qualifier. Getty Images
No early dramas for the women's 13th seed so far.
Elina Svitolina rattled through her opening set inside 33 minutes against Turkey's Zeynep Sonmez, 6-1.
She is also a break up in the second set and looking good for a swift conclusion off the back of a strong returning display.
Svitolina is a former world No. 3 and reached the fourth round at Roland Garros last year, as well as the quarterfinals of the Australian Open in January.
We also have play underway on Court Simonne-Mathieu, and with U.S. interest too.
Tommy Paul is 12th seed at this French Open, and opening against qualifying lucky loser, Elmer Moller. It's not been the best start either, with Paul already a break down in the opening set.
Here's the rest of the order for today: E. Møller (LL) 4-2 T. Paul (12)
(LL) 4-2 (12) D. Shnaider (11) vs. A. Sobolieva (Q)
(11) vs. (Q) D. Vekić (18) vs. A. Blinkova
(18) vs. T. Macháč (21) vs. Q. Halys
Again, these are all currently pencilled in for the afternoon session today.
The second show court at Roland Garros is Court Suzanne-Lenglen, and you will know that play has already begun here.
Elina Svitolina has made a fast start too, against the world No. 76.
This is the order of play for today beyond the opening match… Z. Sönmez 1-4 E. Svitolina (13)
1-4 (13) G. Mpetshi Perricard vs. Z. Bergs
vs. F. Tiafoe vs. R. Safiullin
vs. J. Paolini vs. Y. Yuan
The first and last match take place in the women's singles and all are scheduled for today's afternoon session.
Let's take you through today's order of play, starting with the first-round matches on the high profile show Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Play is due to start here at the top of the coming hour… A. Sabalenka (1) vs. K. Rakhimova
(1) vs. A. Pavlyuchenkova vs. Q. Zheng (8)
vs. (8) L. Musetti (8) vs. Y. Hanfmann (Q)
(8) vs. (Q) B. Shelton (13) vs. L. Sonego
So it's two women's singles ties followed by the men, with Ben Shelton's first-round match coming in the evening session — meaning it will not start before 8:15 p.m. local time (2:15 p.m. ET).
A very good morning, wherever you are in the world, and welcome again to our live coverage of the French Open at Roland Garros.
I have good news. We have tennis taking place in Paris!
Specifically, Zeynep Sönmez taking on 13th seed Elina Svitolina on Court Suzanne-Lenglen in the first round of the women's singles.
We'll bring you updates from that match and all the key action across the courts at Roland Garros throughout the sessions, today and each day of the championships.
But we won't stop there. You'll get insights, stories, analysis, things you didn't know and sidenotes you weren't aware you needed.
Welcome to the ride and get in touch with me and my colleagues throughout the French Open, with an email to [e-mail] Getty Images
The first day of a Grand Slam is always special — even those on a Sunday, which can feel a little bit like a soft start.
This one should be a bit different though, as the main event will be a ceremony for Rafael Nadal to honour the 14-time champion.
Last year was his final Roland Garros, but the goodbyes then felt a bit awkward and bittersweet given his clear injury issues (and the fact we didn't know for definite it actually was goodbye, even though everyone kind of did).
Hopefully this will be more of a celebration, and some special guests are due to attend.
No player has made themselves feel at home like Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. The Spaniard dominated the men's singles event for 20 years, picking up a record 14 titles along the way.
It earned the now-retired Nadal his own statue outside the famous old venue, where he amassed a remarkable 112 wins and just three defeats in his career.
He won his first title as a 19-year-old in 2005 and the French Open did not see another winner until 2009. The last of Nadal's titles came in 2022 after years of sweeping aside every possible record.
Here are some of the best: Record titles won: 14
14 Highest number of victories at a single major: 112
112 Longest winning streak in Roland Garros history: 39 matches (2010-2015)
39 matches (2010-2015) Seven finals won in straight sets
finals won in straight sets Four titles won without dropping a set
The first major of the year saw Aryna Sabalenka attempt to become the first woman since Martina Hingis to win three Australian Open titles in a row.
And it very nearly happened for Sabalenka, who finished as runner-up to Madison Keys as the American secured her first major title.
The 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 match was a thriller with Keys winning match point against the top seed with a forehand in a thrilling final set.
On the men's side of the competition, top seed Jannik Sinner secured his second major and second consecutive Australian Open title with victory against Alexander Zverev.
He won in three sets, with a backhand to finish things off in a rally that featured a lovely drop shot to get Zverev scampering across the court.
As a warm-up on clay for Roland Garros, the Italian Open proved to be an intriguing tournament. Jasmine Paolini was crowned the winner as she overpowered Coco Gauff in the final, 6-4, 6-2.
By doing so, she became the second Italian woman in the open era to to win the tournament.
Defending champion Iga Świątek went out in the third round while winner of the first major of the year, Madison Keys, exited in the third with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka eliminated in the quarterfinals.
It sets up a tantalising French Open where form and being a favourite could go out of the window.
In the last clay competition before Roland Garros, we were treated to a thriller.
Carlos Alcaraz picked up his seventh Masters 1000 title with a straight-sets victory against Jannik Sinner to win the Italian Open in Rome.
Defending champion Alexander Zverev went out in the quarterfinals against Lorenzo Musetti, while Sinner made his first tournament appearance since serving a three-month ban imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Sinner's appearance in the final made him the first Italian to reach that stage since 1978.
Alcaraz's victory made him the youngest man since Rafa Nadal to reach the quarterfinals of all nine ATP 1000 events. Getty Images
Welcome to Roland Garros, where it rains! Something the English are very familiar with.
The 2025 French Open will begin under grey skies in Paris, with a smattering of rain disrupting players' practices this morning.
The usual calculus for tennis is rain stops play. At a clay-court tournament, things are a little more complicated.
Cooler weather means a given shot will fly more slowly through the air than in warmer conditions; the ball will also bounce lower when it lands.
Clay is already the slowest surface in tennis and in damp, cool weather the matches can very quickly get sludgy.
If it really starts raining, the two biggest courts have roofs. Court Philippe-Chatrier is the biggest and has had coverage since 2020, while Court Suzanne-Lenglen unveiled its flowing canopy in 2024.
The latter is a bit different to other tennis roofs, because it is open to the elements at the sides of the court, while Chatrier's roof — like those at Wimbledon plus the U.S. Australian Opens — creates a more hermetic seal.
For now, only clouds loom before play begins at 11 a.m. local time (5 a.m. Eastern).
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Be it a comment, question, observation, prediction, or something else — we welcome it all.
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So get involved!
And what about the women's tournament? Well, that threw up some tantalising first-round matches too. We can't wait for these: Naomi Osaka vs Paula Badosa
Jasmine Paolini vs Yue Yuan
Rebecca Sramkova vs Iga Świątek
Olivia Gadecki vs Coco Gauff