The first day of the French Open is always a great introduction to a Grand Slam tournament. There are not so many matches as to be overwhelming, but there is definite quality throughout the day as well as some star players to keep even the most casual of tennis fans interested. There were no major upheavals, but there was definitely enough action to give us portents for later on in the tournament.

Who Looked Good:

Roger Federer:  He wasn’t going to get a challenge from Lukas Lacko, but the way he cruised through the match should be very encouraging for his fans. He has looked inconsistent at times these past few years, but none of that showed in this match. He was cool and crisp and easily dismissed his overmatched opponent.

Dmitry Tursunov:  The once highly-touted Russian has had high expectations for his career ruined by injury, but he is still an incredible talent who can power the ball past just about anyone. He blasted 50 winners (to just 15 unforced errors) in a demolition of Potito Starace. If he reaches Federer in this form, he can make for a very interesting match.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga:   Tsonga’s first two sets were not his best tennis, but he showed some good flashes. In the third set, though, he came out firing. He blasted the ball all over the court, showing the great form that got him to the semifinals here last year. If he can keep that up, he will be dangerous to everyone in the draw.

Who Looked Bad:

John Isner: Why did a straight-sets win look bad? Isner’s ground game, especially on the return, was poor. He opened up exactly one break point chance in 3 sets. He had difficulty winning points from the baseline against Pierre-Hugues Herbert, something that does not bode well for his future prospects in this tournament.

Jerzy Janowicz:  It was a weird match from him. The match was entirely on his racket. He hit 44 winners in four sets but also threw in 67 errors. He hit 13 double faults and won less than 50% of the points on his second serve. On the other hand, he won 40% of his return points. He was swinging freely, and the ball landed in the court more often than not (barely).

Mikhail Youzhny:  Youzhny fell behind by two quick sets to Pablo Carreno-Busta and was only saved by Carreno-Busta seeming to get injured as the match went on. Carreno-Busta also did not have the stamina to go five sets. Even though Youzhny played better as the match went on, this was not a good showing from him.

Match of the Day:

There were several five-setters in the limited number of matches today, but this award goes to Radek Stepanek over Facundo Arguello. Arguello looked poised to pull off the upset, playing very well to go up two sets on Stepanek. Radek definitely could have lost that match. Arguello began cramping, though, which gave Stepanek an entry back into the match. Arguello tried to fight through it, but Stepanek did not show him any mercy. It was quite incredible to see the fight from Arguello in attempting to stay ahead in this match. In the end, though, Stepanek was too much and completed the comeback, winning the fifth set by a relatively wide (though certainly not comfortable) 6-2 margin.