Associated Press 9y

The Latest: Venus snubs media after French Open loss

Tennis

PARIS -- 9:40 p.m.

Venus Williams has declined to speak to the media after her first-round exit at the French Open.

She is facing a potential fine for skipping the traditional news conference, although she issued a statement in which she said Sloane Stephens "just played better than me today."

Williams added she will now turn her focus to the grass-court season.

"I have a little while now between tournaments and so now I'll just get ready for the grass at Wimbledon," she said.

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9:12 p.m.

Just five of the 28 seeded players in action Monday failed to advance to the second round.

The most famous of them was Venus Williams, whose 18th appearance at the year's second Grand Slam was ended by fellow American Sloane Stephens on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Two of the seeded men exited: No. 11 Feliciano Lopez, who lost in straight sets to Teymuraz Gabashvili, and No. 30 Adrien Mannarino.

The other women to bow out were No. 14 Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 22 Barbora Strycova.

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8:25 p.m.

For the second time in three years, Venus Williams has lost in the first round at the French Open.

Venus, who was beaten by younger sister Serena in the 2002 final, lost 7-6 (5), 6-1 to 40th-ranked Sloane Stephens, a 22-year-old up-and-coming American player.

Stephens, who beat Serena at the 2013 Australian Open, made it to the fourth round in Paris each of the last three years.

At 34, Venus was the oldest woman in the draw.

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8:11 p.m.

This point was for the birds.

As Venus Williams hit a serve to Sloane Stephens on Court Suzanne Lenglen, the ball landed near a pigeon, which flapped its wings to get out of there.

That, in turn, startled Stephens, who let out a shriek.

The point was replayed, and Stephens won it to break for a 2-0 lead in the second set.

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8:03 p.m.

There is a tense battle on court 5, where Denisa Allertova has claimed the first set of her match against Johanna Konta after a tiebreaker featuring 36 points (19-17).

The set lasted 68 minutes. The second set is tied at 4-4.

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7:45 p.m.

Clinical.

Andy Murray did not waste any time on center court, dispatching Facundo Arguello 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 to assert his credentials in Paris.

On the back of his best season on clay, the third-seeded British player is among the favorites this year. He won his first two titles on the slow surface in the buildup to the French Open.

Against the Argentine lucky loser, Murray lost just eight points on his first serve, extending his winning streak on clay to 11 matches.

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7:15 p.m.

At age 25, Donald Young is very much of the selfie generation. Still, the 52nd-ranked American understands why Roger Federer complained about the loophole in security procedures that allowed a teenage boy to run across center court at the French Open and snap a picture with the 17-time Grand Slam champion.

"It's kind of like the new age to get a picture of yourself without having someone taking it," said Young, a first-round loser on Day 2. "But that was an unfortunate situation."

"That guy, he meant no harm," Young added. But "to get that close to someone like that, or to any player at all, it's kind of not comforting. It was definitely not the best of situations."

Tournament organizers say they haven't subsequently reinforced security but guards at courtside who watch over players were given a stern talking-to after Federer's complaints Sunday that security was lax.

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6:24 p.m.

A mid-match nosebleed for Nick Kyrgios is nothing new.

For years, he's found himself shoving cotton up a nostril -- as he did Monday during his first-round win at the French Open.

"I just tend to get nosebleeds. I can't control them," says the 20-year-old Australian, who beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon last year and Roger Federer in Madrid this month.

Kyrgios says he's learned to deal with having one nostril clogged and play through the hassle.

"I've been doing it for a long, long time," he says. "When I was young, as well, I'd get `em. It's quite strange, actually."

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5:42 p.m.

Maria Sharapova wasn't sticking around.

The defending women's champion chomped through her first-round opponent in 1 hour, 25 minutes and then headed straight back to the locker room, not giving the center court crowd the customary post-match interview. Her haste seemingly wasn't appreciated: there were hoots from the seats.

Fiftieth-ranked Kaia Kanepi gave Sharapova a workout, and the Russian also was troubled by a cough. Sharapova dropped her serve once in each set and was made to work hard by her gritty opponent.

Kanepi responded to Sharapova's attacks with powerful groundstrokes and saved a match point before a double-fault sealed her fate, losing 6-2, 6-4.

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5:25 p.m.

Nick Kyrgios came out with his nose ahead, the 29th-seed winning 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 against Denis Istomin.

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5:14 p.m.

Who says tennis lacks characters?

Nick Kyrgios, a 20-year-old Australian, likes a good grumble as he plays, even approaching the fiery levels reached by John "You cannot be serious!" McEnroe in his day.

"What a joke," the Aussie muttered under his breath -- and that was after winning the second set against Denis Istomin.

Kyrgios played a chunk of the first set with a wad of cotton stuffed into his left nostril, perhaps to stop a nosebleed.

There were unusual goings-on in the Uzbek's corner, too. He sniffed from what looked like a bottle of smelling salts during a changeover, grimacing and shaking his head at the whiff.

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4:03 p.m.

They made me do it!

Fabio Fognini says his colorful, flowery headband and all-black French Open outfit were not by choice.

The 28th-seeded Italian says his clothing sponsor made him wear the ensemble for his first-round match Monday.

"But they told me that if I won, I could (switch), because we also have a white outfit."

Mission accomplished: Fognini beat Tatsuma Ito of Japan 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

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3:47 p.m.

Agnieszka Radwanska, formerly ranked No. 2 and a 2012 Wimbledon finalist, fails to advance beyond the French Open first round for the first time since her 2007 debut at the clay-court major. The 14th seed loses 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to 83rd-ranked Annika Beck.

Angelique Kerber, seeded 11th, Elina Svitolina, seeded 19th, and 26th-seeded Samantha Stosur, the 2011 U.S. Open champion and 2010 French Open finalist, are through to the second round, all with straight-sets victories.

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3:17 p.m.

And then there was one.

Of the five Japanese men who started the French Open first round, the most since 1967, only fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori will play in the second round.

Go Soeda tumbled out first on Day 1, followed on Day 2 by Yoshihito Nishioka, Tatsuma Ito and Taro Daniel, all out in straight sets.

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2:30 p.m.

When a picture is worth 100 words. Associated Press photographer Christophe Ena captured every sinew of Alize Cornet's delight during her first win, in five attempts, against Italy's Roberta Vinci, going through 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to the French Open second round.

After the first set, "I told myself, `Oh la la. I'm going to fail yet again," the 29th-seeded Frenchwoman told the partisan home crowd on center court that roared her on.

"A super victory for me."

And a super photo from Ena, clickable here: http://tinyurl.com/pjn9n29

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2:00 p.m.

Feliciano Lopez of Spain, seeded 11th, is the highest seeded man to tumble so far, losing 6-3, 7-6 (9), 6-3 in the first round to 74th-ranked Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia.

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1:35 p.m.

That was quick.

The Grand Slam debut of 17-year-old Frances Tiafoe, the youngest man at this French Open, lasted just 1 hour, 40 minutes.

The first 17-year-old American man at the French since Michael Chang won the title in 1989, Tiafoe crumbled 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 against 36th-ranked Martin Klizan of Slovakia.

Tiafoe, from College Park, Maryland, earned a wild card from the U.S. Tennis Association for the main draw, a year after playing in the French Open junior tournament.

His first-round match was played on tiny Court 5 -- seating capacity 379.

Hardly the big time.

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1:04 p.m.

Fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych is through to the second round with a 6-0, 7-5, 6-3 win over Japanese qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka.

Against a player looking for a first-ever win on clay at a big tournament, Berdych overwhelmed Nishioka with powerful groundstrokes, sealing the first set in 27 minutes.

The Japanese teenager offered better resistance in the second set but wilted in the 12th game when Berdych applied more pressure with a series of good returns and broke with a backhand down the line that Nishioka returned wide.

Another break in the third set was enough for Berdych to improve his record on the Parisian clay to 18-11.

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12:48 p.m.

The eighth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro, who looms as a potentially tricky quarterfinal opponent for defending champion Maria Sharapova if they both get that far, made light work of her first-round 6-2, 6-2 victory against Monica Niculescu, a 67th-ranked Romanian.

Suarez Navarro, from Spain, was a quarterfinalist both last year and on her French Open debut in 2008. She made the day for a few kids in the crowd, stopping on her way back to the locker room to autograph their giant tennis balls.

Meanwhile, on center court, the home crowd is roaring for 29th-seeded Alize Cornet as the Frenchwoman wins the second set 6-4 to even up her first-round match against Roberta Vinci, who took the first set 6-4.

Cross fingers, the threat of rain appears to be receding, with bright sunlight and patches of blue sky poking through the dense clouds.

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12:19 p.m.

Sabine Lisicki, runner-up at Wimbledon in 2013, makes a strong start at the only major where she's never reached at least the fourth round, barely working up a sweat in a 6-3, 6-2 beating of 86th-ranked Monica Puig.

The German, seeded 20th, served out the first-round match with an ace. The expedited 66-minute victory leaves her plenty of time to relax back at the rented apartment she showed off here on her Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/sabinelisicki/status/602420477101998080

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11:41 a.m.

Spotted in the alleys of the French Open: Patrick Mouratoglou, coach of 19-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams, perched precariously on a concrete post, racket in the air, striking a warrior's pose for a French newspaper photographer.

Our AP Sports Writer Samuel Petrequin caught the moment here: https://twitter.com/sampetrequin/status/602765901914595328/photo/1

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11:00 a.m.

Bonjour.

The tennis equivalent of breakfast, lunch, dinner and plenty of snacking in between on Day 2 of the French Open, with a whopping 57 first-round singles matches spread across 15 courts filling with expectant crowds. In short, a quick-moving feast of bright yellow balls, blood-red clay and no shortage of tennis drama.

The big question: will rain hold off? Skies over Roland Garros on what is a national holiday for many French are thick with menacing dark clouds. Cloying dampness in the air could make for heavy and tiring playing conditions.

Andy Murray, Venus Williams and defending women's champion Maria Sharapova are among big names in action. Frances Tiafoe, at age 17 the youngest man here, flies the flag for tennis' next generation of potential stars. The oldest man in the draw, 36-year-old Radek Stepanek, is first out on Court 14, against 119th-ranked Ivan Dodig.

Yummy!

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