Rankings don’t mean much with surprises aplenty in mixed doubles
THE Mixed Doubles competition of the 2024 Olympics got underway at Roland Garros overnight, and right out of the gate the surprises came.
German pair Laura Siegemund and Alexander Zverev found out the hard way that their number one ranking was merely a number after they succumbed to Czech pair Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac in straight sets.
It was a hard fought straight sets win for the Czech pair, who took almost an hour and 20 minutes to ultimately prevail 6-4, 7-5.
Despite claiming the win, Siniakova and Machac did so without serving any aces (the Germans served five by comparison). but they also did not serve any double faults, which their opponents served three of.
Siniakova and Machac also blitzed them on the backhand winners – recording six to the Germans’ zero – but the even starker stat was the unforced errors. The Germans recorded 19 of them, while the Czechs only recorded eight.
The Czech pair now move on to face Japan’s Ena Shibahara and Kei Nishikori, after they beat home town favourites Caroline Garcia and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.
In other results, it was a big day for Sara Errani, who as well as winning her women’s doubles match teamed up with countryman Andrea Vavassori to defeat the AIN pair Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev. The Italians next face Dutch duo Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof, who upset Greek pair Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas in just over an hour and a half.
It was also a good day for Australia’s Matthew Ebden and Ellen Perez, with the second seeds having a straight forward win over Spanish pair Sara Sorribes Tormo and Marcel Granollers. They have to wait one more day to find out who their next opponents are, with their potential opponents facing off tonight Australian time.
Mixed Doubles Results – July 29
Siniakova/Machac defeated Siegemund/Zverev 6-4, 7-5
Errani/Vavassori defeated Andreeva/Medvedev 6-3, 6-2
Schuurs/Koolhof defeated Sakkari/Tsitsipas 6-4, 7-6
Perez/Ebden defeated Sorribes Tormo/Granol 6-3, 6-4
Shibahara/Nishikori defeated Garcia/Roger-Vasselin 6-4, 3-6, [10-7]
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