"So nervous" at first, Diego Schwartzman rolls in RG qualifying opener; Sara Errani advances

A day after Dominic Thiem won his qualifying opener in his final Roland Garros appearance, Diego Schwartzman followed suit on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

A 2020 semifinalist at the Paris major, Schwartzman dispatched Lukas Neumayer of Austria, 6-2, 6-3. The No. 29 seed in the men's field, Schwartzman capitalized on five of his seven break points to advance to the next stage after 70 minutes.

“Being honest, the first two games I was so nervous. I was not feeling my body—playing good, but it was tough to make good decisions with the game,” he was quoted as saying afterwards by the official tournament website.

“After that I started to play much better, trying to enjoy, trying to smile and enjoy the people no matter if I do well or not.”

Schwartzman is set to retire in February 2025 at his home tournament in Buenos Aires. The former world No. 8 made his major main-draw debut exactly 10 years ago here by coming through qualifying and faced Roger Federer following a first-round win over Gastao Elias. Schwartzman has appeared in every main draw of the event since that breakthrough moment.

The 31-year-old next faces Quentin Halys. The local hopeful posted a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Alexis Galarneau.

Their section of the draw opened up Monday when 25-year-old Frenchman Ugo Blanchet stunned top seed Cristian Garin in three sets. Just last month, Garin—the holder of five ATP clay-court crowns—had ousted Alexander Zverev in the Munich quarterfinals.

Playing his first match since narrowly losing to Rafael Nadal in Rome, eighth seed Zizou Bergs rolled over wild card Clement Chidekh, 6-1, 6-1. American J.J. Wolf, the No. 2 seed, held off Ryan Peniston, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2.

In the women’s qualifying draw, top seed Sara Errani launched her campaign by defeating Ann Li, 6-3, 6-4. Errani owns 23 main-draw wins at Roland Garros, highlighted by four successive quarterfinals or better than began with a 2012 runner-up showing to Maria Sharapova.

The 35-year-old arrived in good spirits, having captured the Rome doubles trophy alongside countrywoman Jasmine Paolini. Alice Tubello presents her second challenge on the terre battue.

Former semifinalist Tamara Zidansek, seeded 25th, dismissed Polona Hercog with a 6-2, 6-4 win. Eighth seed Katie Volynets also cruised, 6-1, 6-2, against Lucrezia Stefanini.