Tsonga dims French hope at Roland Garros

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's French Open hopes vanished into thin air on Wednesday when he was sent packing in the first round with a 7-5 6-4 6-7(6) 6-4 defeat against Argenitine Renzo Olivo on Wednesday.

The French 12th seed, who had just won the Lyon Open on clay, bowed out after saving three match points in the only game played on Wednesday after the match was interrupted by dusk on Tuesday.

"We were back to the hotel around 1am, I had a massage, it was not easy to sleep. I knew the first point today was important," world number 91 Olivo, who trained in France from 2012-2016, said courtside in French.

Olivo served for the match on Wednesday but a burly Tsonga had broken back to keep his hopes alive.

"I just tried to play every point as it was the last," said Olivo, who handed Tsonga his second first-round defeat at Roland Garros.

No French man has won the French Open since 1983, let alone a grand slam title.

Venus looks to capitalise

With superstar sister Serena away pregnant, 36-year-old Venus Williams carried the standard for the Williams family with a second-round thumping of Japan's Kurumi Nara.

Seeded 10th here, Williams ground her Japanese opponent into the red Parisian dust in a contest that at times almost veered into miss-match territory before ending 6-3 6-1.

Williams never appeared extended on the Philippe Chatrier court, but she nevertheless delivered a display of exquisite shot-making to a crowd denied a real contest.

"You know, it's always a joy when you can control the match," she said afterwards. "That always feels good."

The win makes her the oldest woman to reach the third round at the French Open since Billie-Jean King in 1982.

Next up is either Dutch qualifier Richel Hogenkamp or Belgian Elise Mertens.

"I don't think I have played either in singles, so it will be interesting to, like, see how that ball is coming at me," she mused.

"I just want to win, so whoever I play, I just would like to win that match. That's how you have to be is greedy."

It is Venus's 20th attempt at winning this title, and time may be running out for her, and for tennis fans to enjoy her languid shot-play.

She came closest in 2002 when she was beaten in the final by her younger sister, as she was at both Wimbledon and the US Open that year.

WEDNESDAY'S SINGLES RESULTS

Round 2 (Men)

Lucas Pouille (France) beat Thomaz Bellucci (Brazil) 7-6(5) 6-1 6-2
Pablo Carreno (Spain) beat Taro Daniel (Japan) 7-5 6-4 4-6 6-0
Milos Raonic (Canada) beat Rogerio Dutra Silva (Brazil) 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-4
Albert Ramos (Spain) beat Benjamin Bonzi (France) 6-2 6-1 6-1
Rafa Nadal (Spain) beat Robin Haase (Netherlands) 6-1 6-4 6-3
Nikoloz Basilashvili (Georgia) beat Viktor Troicki (Serbia) 7-6(3) 7-6(2) 7-6(6)
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) beat Marco Trungelliti (Argentina) 7-5 6-4 7-5
Novak Djokovic (Serbia) beat Joao Sousa (Portugal) 6-1 6-4 6-3
Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) beat Tommy Robredo (Spain) 6-3 6-4 7-5
Horacio Zeballos (Argentina) beat Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 7-6(5) 7-6(5) 6-3
Steve Johnson (US) beat Borna Coric (Croatia) 6-2 7-6(8) 3-6 7-6(6)
Diego Schwartzman (Argentina) beat Stefano Napolitano (Italy) 6-3 7-5 6-2
David Goffin (Belgium) beat Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukraine) 6-2 6-4 3-6 6-3
Dominic Thiem (Austria) beat Simone Bolelli (Italy) 7-5 6-1 6-3
Round 1
Renzo Olivo (Argentina) beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) 7-5 6-4 6-7(6) 6-4

Round 2 (Women)
Ons Jabeur (Tunisia) beat Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) 6-4 6-3
Zhang Shuai (China) beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Belarus) 6-2 4-6 6-3
Kristina Mladenovic (France) beat Sara Errani (Italy) 6-2 6-3
Timea Bacsinszky (Switzerland) beat Madison Brengle (U.S.) 6-0 6-2
Elise Mertens (Belgium) beat Richel Hogenkamp (Netherlands) 6-3 6-4
Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) beat Francoise Abanda (Canada) 6-0 6-0
Catherine Bellis (US) beat Kiki Bertens (Netherlands) 6-3 7-6(5)
Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Spain) beat Anett Kontaveit (Estonia) 6-7(4) 6-4 6-2
Shelby Rogers (US) beat Cagla Buyukakcay (Turkey) 7-6(6) 6-4
Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) beat Johanna Larsson (Sweden) 6-3 1-6 6-3
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US) beat Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) 7-6(5) 7-6(5)
Samantha Stosur (Australia) beat Kirsten Flipkens (Belgium) 6-2 7-6(6)
Venus Williams (US) beat Kurumi Nara (Japan) 6-3 6-1
Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) beat Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) 6-2 6-2
Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) beat Monica Puig (Puerto Rico) 6-3 6-2