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Russia's Rublev advances to second round of French Open

In the second round, the Russian will play against unseeded Australian Adam Walton

PARIS, May 27. /TASS/. Russian Andrey Rublev has beaten South Africa's Lloyd Harris in the first round of the French Open Tennis Championship.

Rublev, seeded 17th at the tournament, was able to take down the Frenchman in four sets 6:4, 4:6, 6:3, 6:1. Harris made it to the main draw through qualifying. In the second round, the Russian will play against unseeded Australian Adam Walton.

Rublev, 27, is the 15th-ranked player on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has won 17 titles under the auspices of the organization. In Grand Slams, however, Rublev has seen limited success, never able to make it out of the quarterfinals on tennis' biggest stages. In 2021, Rublev, paired with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, won Olympic gold in mixed doubles. He also won the Davis Cup and the ATP Cup as part of the Russian team.

Harris is 28, and is ranked 227th in the world. He has no ATP singles titles. In Grand Slam tournaments, the furthest he has ever advanced is the third round.

The French Open is the second Grand Slam tournament of the season. Played on clay courts, it runs through June 8. The reigning men's champion is Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz. The only Russian to ever win the tourney is Yevgeny Kafelnikov in 1996.

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