The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Dimitrov added to list of shock casualties
IVO KA RLOVIC won his f irst French Open tennis match in seven years to send Grigor Dimitrov crashing out in the first round.
Dimitrov has been one of the stars of the season and, after reaching his first grand slam quarter-f inal in A ustralia, he had expected a better showing here.
But 6ft 11in Karlovic is always a man players like to avoid and he has been showing rare good form on clay having reached the final in Dusseldorf last week.
His record at Roland Garros leaves something to be desired, Karlovic having won only two matches in Paris in his career and none since 2007.
But his forehand was on fire as well as his serve and he ousted 11th seed Dimitrov 6-4 7-5 7-6 (7-4), clinching victory with his 22nd ace.
Dimitrov, who followed top-10 duo Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori out of the tournament, said: “It’s never easy to play against Ivo.
“Of course, it’s a big disappointment for me, losing first round of the tournament. I like my chances here.
“I’ve been playing good tennis on the clay courts, so I don’t want to be too disappointed. It happened.
“I just couldn’t find the rhythm, and I couldn’t achieve any of the little opportunities that I had in the match.
“So it’s something to obviously learn from, but in a way it was one of those days that you can’t control anything.”
Fifth seed David Ferrer made his return to Court Philippe Chatrier a year after reaching his first grand slam final and was very comfortable in a 6-4 6-3 6-1 win over Igor Sijsling.
Twelfth seed Richard Gasquet, who had not played a match since March because of a back injury, eased his way into the tournament with a 6-2 6-1 7-5 victory over Bernard Tomic.
The A ustralian, who has won just one match since hip surgery, is again being accompanied to tournaments by his father John, following the end of his A TP ban.
Tomic Sr was prevented from gaining accreditation at tournaments for a year after being found guilty of assaulting his son’s former hitting partner, Thomas Drouet.
The ban expired earlier this month, and Tomic said: “It’s good to have him back.