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Bethanie Mattek Sands Caroline Wozniacki Catherine Bellis Dominika Cibulkova Jelena Ostapenko Kiki Bertens Monica Puig Petra Kvitova Roland Garros Shelby Rogers

French Open Wednesday in PHOTOS: Ons Jabeur’s historic triumph, Kvitova’s loss and more

Day 4 of Roland Garros 2017 was highlighted by Ons Jabeur‘s upset of Dominika Cibulkova, as the Lotto-clad Tunisian became the first Arab woman to reach the third round of a Grand Slam singles tournament and the first lucky loser to reach the third round of the French Open since 1996. The day was also marked by the defeat of Petra Kvitova, whose comeback can be considered more than successful, nevertheless. All that and much more our photographer Jimmie48 covered in photos, so enjoy!

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Catherine Bellis Garbine Muguruza Petra Kvitova Roland Garros

Muguruza squeezes through to round three, Kvitova out

On Day 4 of Roland Garros 2017, defending champion Garbine Muguruza survived a scare but advanced to the third round, while Petra Kvitova‘s return to action came to an end in her second match at the tournament.

The fourth-seeded Muguruza was a set and a break down before beating world No.53 Anett Kontaveit 6-7(4) 6-4 6-2, the Estonian who had earned her first Top 10 win by beating the Spaniard during this claycourt season at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. This time, Muguruza managed to fight back, winning five of the last six games in the second set and then the last four games in the third set to continue her title defense.

The 15th-seeded Kvitova had remarkably opened her comeback with a first-round win at the French Open, but fell at the hands of Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the second round, albeit after two close tiebreaks, 7-6(5) 7-6(5).

Wearing a recognizable cherry-printed top, qualifier Mattek-Sands recorded her best Grand Slam result in almost two years. As even the score suggests, it was a close fight and it’s evident that Kvitova just needs to pile up more matches to get back in full form following a life-threatening knife attack. The Czech is now looking forward to the grasscourt season and Wimbledon where she’s a two-time champion.

Let’s also note that young American Catherine Bellis ousted freshly-crowned Nürnberg champion and last year’s French Open semifinalist Kiki Bertens, 6-3 7-6(5). In other news, there are no surprises, as seeds Venus Williams, Kristina Mladenovic and Caroline Wozniacki all won their second-round matches in straight sets.

Stay tuned, as tonight I’ll post all my photographer’s WTA photos from Wednesday at the French Open.

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Alize Cornet Anastasija Sevastova Caroline Garcia Elina Svitolina Eugenie Bouchard Johanna Konta Madison Keys Marketa Vondrousova Mona Barthel Roland Garros Simona Halep Sorana Cirstea

Day 3 PHOTOS: Konta suffers first-round loss, Halep progresses at the French Open

Tuesday at Roland Garros was marked by a premature exit of seventh seed Johanna Konta, who dominated the first set but eventually fell to Taiwanese world No.109 Hsieh Su-wei, and straight-set wins of fifth seed Elina Svitolina and third seed Simona Halep. Despite impressive career justified by her No.8 ranking, Great Britain’s Konta has never won a main-draw match at the French Open, having suffered three successive first-round losses. Our photographer Jimmie48 covered all that and much more in photos. Enjoy!

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Caroline Wozniacki Catherine Bellis Francesca Schiavone Garbine Muguruza Karolina Pliskova Kiki Bertens Kristina Mladenovic Lauren Davis Roland Garros

PHOTOS from Roland Garros 2017: Muguruza’s good start of title defense, Mladenovic and Wozniacki battle through

Day 2 of main-draw play at the 2017 French Open was marked by the start of Garbine Muguruza‘s title defense and the Spaniard was successful in eliminated the 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone 6-2 6-4. Second seed Karolina Pliskova powered through her opener, while seed No.11 Caroline Wozniacki and seed No.13 Kristina Mladenovic worked hard to progress into the second round. Moreover, Kiki Bertens, who has just won her second consecutive title at the Nürnberger Versicherungscup, continued her winning ways at Roland Garros, beating Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round. All that and more our photographer Jimmie48 covered in photos on Monday.

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Angelique Kerber Dominika Cibulkova Ekaterina Makarova Julia Goerges Monica Puig Petra Kvitova Roland Garros

French Open 2017 PHOTOS, Day 1: Kerber historic loss, Kvitova’s spectacular return

Sunday was the opening day of Roland Garros 2017 and even though the big tennis fortnight has just started, world number one Angelique Kerber is already out, having fallen to Ekaterina Makarova, while Petra Kvitova crowed her comeback from a career-threatening injury with a straight-set win in the first round. Our photographer Jimmie48 captured all those emotional moments, as well as victories of former semifinalist Dominika Cibulkova, who debuted her Lacoste Spring Player Dress, and Turkey’s Cagla Buyukakcay, who upset seed No.22 Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

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Angelique Kerber Petra Kvitova Roland Garros

No.1 Kerber upset in the first round, Kvitova victorious on comeback from stabbing

It may be the first day of main-draw play at the 2017 French Open, but we already have big headlines, as top seed Angelique Kerber made history, albeit in a bad way, becoming the first world number to lose in the first round of the claycourt Grand Slam in the Open Era, while Petra Kvitova crowned her comeback from December’s career-threatening injury with a straight-set victory.

Kerber sealed the desperate 2017 clay season with a 6-2 6-2 defeat to Russian Ekaterina Makarova, who never trailed in their encounter, as Kerber won just 49% of points behind her first serve and converted just two of 16 break point opportunities. All the German wants to do now is forget this period and turn the page during the grasscourt stretch of the year.

In other major news, Kvitova was a woman of a thousand smiles on Day 1, victoriously launching her emotional comeback from the knife injury she sustained to her left hand when a burglar attacked her in her apartment. The Czech defeated world No.85 Julia Boserup 6-3 6-2 in an impressive fashion. What’s even better, Kvitova didn’t feel any pain in her hand and now she can only look forward to her second-round meeting with Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Despite the loss, the 25-year-old Boserup had only praise for her opponent and tweeted: “Congratulations to Petra Kvitova for so much more than winning a tennis match today.”

Stay tuned, as I’ll post a bunch of my photographer’s photos of Kvitova’s smiles, Kerber’s defeat and much more later today.

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Angelique Kerber Francesca Schiavone Heather Watson Johanna Konta Julia Goerges Madison Keys Nicole Gibbs Petra Kvitova Roland Garros Sara Errani

PHOTOS from the French Open: Final round of qualifying + Kvitova’s comeback announcement

Friday at Roland Garros 2017 was marked by the final round of women’s qualifying and Petra Kvitova‘s announcement that the Grand Slam in Paris will be the place of her first match following December’s burglar attack. Our photographer Jimmie48 covered all that in photos, plus the press conferences of world No.1 Angelique Kerber, Johanna Konta and Marketa Vondrousova.

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Petra Kvitova Roland Garros

It’s official: Petra Kvitova’s comeback starts now, at the French Open!

Even though Petra Kvitova was spotted practicing at Roland Garros on Thursday, she kept us waiting until Friday to announce whether she would make a return from December’s home robbery stabbing during the claycourt Grand Slam and now it’s official: the Czech will compete in Paris, her first-round opponent being American world No.86 Julia Boserup.

My photographer Jimmie48 photographed Petra throughout the day and we could see nothing but smiles.

Wearing the Nike Summer Baseline Tank in paramount blue, Petra practiced on Friday morning in Paris, finalizing her comeback preparation that included a lot of careful and smart training throughout the six-month absence. Petra’s fitness coach David Vydra and tennis coach Jiri Vanek explained for the WTA in detail their gradual approach.

Today, Petra even showed some football skills during her practice.

Petra’s motivation, positive spirit and dedication enabled her to get a green light from her doctor Radek Kebrle, who had operated on her left hand for three hours and 45 minutes following the burglar attack. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that Petra’s playing hand will be strong enough to sustain the pressure of tough WTA competition. Welcome back, Petra!

 

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Ajla Tomljanovic Roland Garros

PHOTOS of Petra Kvitova’s French Open practice + second round of qualifying

Thursday at Roland Garros 2017 was marked by the second round of WTA qualifying action and we also got to see a smiling Petra Kvitova with coach Jiri Vanek on the practice court, as the Czech is expected to make a comeback from December’s stabbing when her playing hand was severely injured by a home invader. We’ll find out today in Kvitova’s press conference whether the comeback will happen now at the French Open or she’ll wait a bit more to get back to competition. Also spotted on practice courts were Ajla Tomljanovic, who is in the main draw thanks to her protected ranking, and Turkey’s Cagla Buyukakcay.

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Elina Svitolina Roland Garros

Nike’s Roland Garros 2017 dirt-inspired outfit

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus

After showing you Maria Sharapova’s and Serena Williams’ Nike dresses for the 2017 French Open, which will not see the light of the day as neither the Russian nor the American will play the Grand Slam in Paris this year, I’d like to present the separates that we’re bound to see all over the tournament site throughout the fortnight, as many players will wear them, including the WTA’s 2017 leader in the number of titles and match wins — Elina Svitolina.

The mock-neck Nike Summer Slam Premier Tank in paramount blue pairs with the Nike Summer Power Spin Premier Skirt which is distinctive for its white paint splash print, or as Nike explains “the scatter and grit of clay court during furious games”. Both items also exist in black, while the skort is available in two lengths.

Ipek Soylu of Turkey

If you browsed through our Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s qualifying photo galleries, you’ve already seen this kit in action a lot.

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus

The tank is made from circular knit fabric for enhanced breathability, as you can see in the pic above. The skort’s Nike Power fabric ensures stretch and support, Dri-FIT technology is there to wick sweat away, while mesh waistband brings targeted ventilation.

Fanny Stollar of Hungary

Besides the world No.6 Svitolina, I expect we’ll see Eugenie Bouchard, Annika Beck, Madison Keys, and many others in this outfit.

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