Mertens and Flipkens reach second round Roland Garros

Belgians Elise Mertens and Kirsten Flipkens have reached the second round at Roland Garros. Mertens, seeded 16^th, had a tough job in beating Varvara Lepchenko from the USA. The 22-year-old player from Leuven needed three sets to defeat the world’s number 92: 6-7(9) 7-6(4) 6-0.

The match on court 6 had to be postponed due to rain. Mertens was leading with 3-0 in the third set. On Tuesday, when the match was continued, the world’s number 16 did not give away any game to her left-handed opponent.

Mertens meet Heather Watson in the second round. The Brit easily defeated home player Oceane Dodin with 6-3 6-0.

Kirsten Flipkens also reached the second round in the French capital. The 32-year-old player from Geel defeated Tatjan Maria with 7-6(1) 6-4) and will meet Daria Kasatkina in de second round. The Russian 14^th seed convincingly won her match against Kaia Kanepi from Estland in the opening round with 6-4 6-1.