Round 1 : surprises' day

Lucas Corvée (75) is the second single player who qualified yesterday into main draw. He played his match with such an amazing support from the public. He expressed to us how grateful he was to play in front such a helping public. Even if he lost his match, he will keep the positive and learn from his mistakes. “I’m disappointed of course. 19-19 at the last game, it was close. But I will come back stronger.” Score: 21-17 20-22 21-19

At the same time, his peer, Brice Leverdez (24) was playing his first match. The number 1 French player faced the Danish Rasmus Gemke. He hasn’t let a shadow of a doubt. Score: 21-15 21-9. “It was a good match. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s coming next”

One of the 2 French men’s double pair was playing his match this afternoon. Thom Gicquel and Ronan Labar supported by the crowd tried to find a way to impose their game. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough this time. The Japanese Kamura/Sonoda are ranked 3. Score: 21-12 21-12 However, this is positive for our frenchies. This is with a disappointed tone that they said : “They were really tough opponents and we knew it. We had nothing to loose.”

Delphine Lansac faced the Chinese Akane Yamaguchi, 5th seed of the woman’s single draw. Delphine struggled to follow the pace. The French crowd was behind her and she is actually very grateful about it. “It was tough to recover from yesterday. Qualification phase was intense. My fitness was not at its best today. I was tired. The public has been a real help to outdo myself.” Still smiling, she seemed happy about her tournament in general. Score: 21-15 21-18

The second French men’s double pair faced an Indian pair: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. In fact, Bastian Kersaudy and Julien Maio come from two exhausting matches to get here: During the qualification phase yesterday, both men had to push themselves. Today, it was not enough. Score: 21-12 21-14

Thomas Rouxel, after qualified yesterday, played his first round match against the Chinese Qiao Bin. That pair was more aggressive and had more opportunities. Thomas said that it was positive and he is now looking forward to playing in Germany for his next tournament. “I’m going to recover and do better next time” Score: 21-18 15-21 21-12

Last match of the day from France: Delphine Delrue and Léa Palermo. Tough match for the girls. They faced certainly the worst opponents they could wish for: the title-holders, the Chinese pair Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan ranked 2. Score: 21-10 21-14

The olympic champion Carolina Marin made her entrance on court this morning. For her come back, she faced the Japanese Minatsu Mitani. The Spanish player easily imposed her game at the very beginning of the match. Her opponent comes back from an injury, maybe that’s why the match went only by 2 straight games. The Spanish player is Europe’s spearhead in Women’s Singles. “I’m happy about the public here, they’re always following me. It’s like being at home” Score: 21-17 21-18

Chen Long (6) was the next one to performe on court. A match against the Dutch Mark Caljouw. A good start for the Chinese as he easily qualified for the next round. Score: 21-12 21-17

The woman single 1st seed of the tournament, Tai Tzu Ying from Chinese Taipei also qualified by winning her match against the Chinese Chen Xiaoxin. A long match that took 1 hour. The young player from Chinese Taipei qualified to the next round. Score: 21-9 19-21 21-16.

The Legend Lee Chong Wei is used to the French Open. Actually, the 3 times he was present, he has won the gold medal... Until today. Yes, Lee Chong Wei has been eliminated at the first round against the Japanese Kenta Nishimoto. Such a disappointment for everyone as we won’t be seeing LCW anymore for the rest of the French tournament. His defeat is going to rekindle discussions about his retirement. The 35 years of age is now ranked 7. We’re wondering how long he will continue to play in high level. Score: 21-14 21-15

The title-holder, the Chinese Shi Yuqi played against the Japanese Kazumasa Sakai. He lead the match at the very beginning and qualified for the next round without maintain the suspense. (21-19 21-19)

A remake of last year's final in the women’s single draw happened today: The Chinese He Bingjiao met the American Beiwen Zhang. Once again, the Chinese won. She is now going to try to reach the final and win the gold medal for the second consecutive time in Paris. Score: 18-21 21-16 21-15.