Aussies caught in French washout

Nick Kyrgios swept into the French Open second round before most of the opening day at Roland Garros was washed away.

Caught up in the weather dramas on a wet and windy Sunday in Paris were Australian pair John Millman and Jordan Thompson, both of whom were unable to take the court for scheduled matches.

Half of the matches on opening day were cancelled without so much as a warm-up and barely a quarter were completed.

One of the few that did go the distance was that of combative rising star Kyrgios, who waged a verbal war with chair umpire Carlos Ramos before downing Italian rival Marco Cecchinato in straight sets 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (8-6) 6-4.

The steady light rain ensured the clay surface was even more slippery than usual, and may have contributed to Kyrgios taking a hard fall early in the first set.

The 21-year-old slid when he came to the net to hit a volley, but was beaten and fell to the floor as he swivelled to reach Cecchinato’s winner.

“When I woke up this morning and saw the rain, I knew it was going to be heavy conditions,” Kyrgios said.

“I knew it was going to be a bit of a leveller out there. We were both going to be a little bit cold.”

A host of Australians will be in action on Monday (starting Monday night AEST), starting with Millman and Thompson as the backlog of matches is cleared.

Samantha Stosur will meet the dangerous Misaki Doi as she embarks on a tricky draw that would likely require her to go through last year’s runner-up Lucie Safarova and sixth seed Simona Halep to reach a potential quarter-final with world No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska.

Arina Rodionova faces a tough first match in Croatian teenager Ana Konjuh.

Australia’s remaining trio of Bernard Tomic, Sam Groth and Daria Gavrilova will all begin their campaigns on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Kyrgios will next face Dutch world No.123 Igor Sijsling on Wednesday.

“I know he’s probably played a lot of grand slams and my good friend Thanasi (Kokkinakis) played him a while ago, so I know what kind of game style he plays,” Kyrgios said.

“I’m just glad I got through today and got a couple of days off and can do everything I can to prepare for that.”

HOW THE AUSTRALIANS FARED ON DAY ONE OF THE FRENCH OPEN ON SUNDAY (PREFIX DENOTES SEEDING):

Men’s singles, first round

17-Nick Kyrgios bt Marco Cecchinato (ITA) 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

AUSTRALIANS IN ACTION AT THE FRENCH OPEN ON MONDAY:

Men’s singles, first round

John Millman v 15-John Isner (USA)

Jordan Thompson v Laslo Djere (SRB)

Women’s singles, first round

21-Samantha Stosur v Misaki Doi (JPN)

Arina Rodionova v Ana Konjuh (CRO)

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