French Open: Wawrinka out, rains halts Nadal

Stan Wawrinka was the big-game casualty in the first round in Paris as the Pole was dumped out of the French Open by Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

The 33-year-old, who has been plagued by a knee injury and arrived at Roland Garros having won just one match on clay in Geneva last week, was beaten 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 by the Spaniard.

The defeat means that the three-time Grand Slam champion will slip from 30th in the world to outside the top 250 after the tournament, having failed to defend the ranking points he gained in 2017.

Read more:What makes Nadal almost unbeatable on clay?

"There is no frustration (at rankings slip). It's just tough," said Wawrinka, who was beaten in last year's French Open final by world number one Rafael Nadal.

"But again, I knew from the beginning that it will take a long, a lot of time to get back. I knew that from the surgery that it will take a year at least to get where I want to be."

Djokovic through, Rain halts Nadal

Elsewhere, 12-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic cruised into the second round seeing off Brazilian world number 134 Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

The Serb dropped serve three times and will have to markedly improve to challenge  Nadal in the latter stages of the tournament, but he was still far too good for Dutra Silva on Court Philippe Chatrier.

"It was good to start this year with a win. I wasn't at my best, he played with a lot of spin. I didn't play very well, but I won in three sets," said the 20th seed, who will next face Spanish qualifier Jaume Munar.

But defending champion Nadal's match against world number 129 Simone Bolelli was stopped by rain. Nadal secured the first two sets 6-4, 6-3, but trails Bolelli 3-0 in the third.

In another ongoing match, ninth-seeded John Isner leads wild-card entry Noah Rubin 6-3, 7-6 entering the third set of their all-US encounter.

The downpours also prevented two-time champion Maria Sharapova from starting her opener against Richel Hogenkamp of the Netherlands.

Azarenka out and questions maternity policy

Victoria Azarenka bowed out in the first round after a 7-5, 7-5 defeat by Katerina Siniakova.

The Belarusian says she's divided about whether top tennis players should get extra assistance when they return to the tour after pregnancy.

Serena Williams' Grand Slam return at the French Open following the birth of her daughter in September has focused attention on the issue. She was No. 1 when she left the tour to give birth, but is currently ranked No. 451. French Open organizers did not seed the three-time champion at Roland Garros.

"It's very easy to say, 'Oh, you know, they are not seeded, it's terrible, bad rules.' But there are a lot of things that are going into this rule and into the thought process."

No problems for Wozniacki 

Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki rolled into the second round with a routine 7-6 6-1 win over Roland Garros debutant Danielle Collins.

The second-seeded Wozniacki, who claimed her maiden Grand Slam title in Australia in January, delivered a solid display punctuated by only a few mistakes to move past her up-and-coming American rival.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is also through after defeating Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.

Trungelliti wins after 1,000km road trip

Read more: Epic drive and epic win for Marco Trungelliti

The road trip was worth it for Marco Trungelliti, the "lucky loser" who drove for about 9 hours with his brother, mother and grandmother from Barcelona to Paris in order to get into the French Open — and then won.

Trungelliti, a 28-year-old Argentine ranked 190th, lost in qualifying at Roland Garros and then headed home to Spain.

But when an eighth spot in the main draw opened up because of an injury withdrawal, Trungelliti raced back to France. He faced Bernard Tomic in the first round on Monday and emerged with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory in a match that lasted nearly three hours.

mds (AFP/AP)