The Latest: Johnson leads as play suspended at French Open


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PARIS (AP) — The Latest from the French Open (all times local):

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9:50 p.m.

Yuichi Sugita was making an impressive comeback against Steve Johnson of the United States in the first round of the French Open when play was suspended because of darkness.

The 25th-seeded Johnson eased through the opening two sets before his Japanese opponent began to fight back.

Johnson is leading 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 2-4.

It is the only unfinished match of the day.

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9:19 p.m.

Sixth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova is comfortably through to the second round of the French Open after beating Lara Arruabarrena of Spain in straight sets.

Cibulkova took around 80 minutes to secure a 6-2, 6-1 victory and a second-round match against either qualifier Ana Bogdan or lucky loser Ons Jabeur.

The Slovak player was wearing a necklace with the words "Singapore 2016" — a reference to Cibulkova's victory in the WTA Finals title in October in her first appearance at the tournament.

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7:45 p.m.

Both U.S. Tennis Association wild-card entries lost in the first round of the French Open.

Tennys Sandgren, a 25-year-old from Tennessee, was beaten 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 by Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan on Sunday.

It was the first Grand Slam main-draw appearance for Sandgren.

This was also the debut at a major tournament for 15-year-old Amanda Anisimova of New Jersey, the other USTA wild-card recipient. She lost to Kurumi Nara of Japan 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

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7:35 p.m.

In a record 20th appearance at the French Open, Venus Williams eased into the second round with a straight sets victory over Qiang Wang of China.

Williams, who is seeded 10th, saved two set points to win 6-4, 7-6 (3).

The 36-year-old American will play Kurumi Nara of Japan in the next round.

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7:15 p.m.

The point of the day at the French Open came from Dominic Thiem, one of the brightest talents in the game.

The sixth-seeded Thiem won a spectacular 12-shot rally during his 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 win over Bernard Tomic. Thiem first chased a drop shot, hit a shot between his legs and sealed the point with a stunning passing shot. Check it out here .

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6:50 p.m.

American teenager Amanda Anisimova's Grand Slam debut ended in defeat as she lost to Kurumi Nara of Japan in the first round of the French Open.

The 90th-ranked Nara beat Anisimova, who reached the junior final in Paris last year, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

The 15-year-old from New Jersey appeared to be on course for victory when she went 4-2 up in the second set but Nara fought back.

Anisimova clawed her way back from 4-1 down in the decider but Nara clinched the victory on her first match point when her opponent hit a forehand wide.

Anisimova, who is 262nd in the rankings, became the first player born in 2001 to earn a spot in a Grand Slam main draw when she claimed the U.S. Tennis Association's wild card for the French Open.

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6:35 p.m.

The oldest man in the singles draw at the French Open has prevailed over one of the youngest.

The 38-year-old Ivo Karlovic, who is also known for his big serve and 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) stature, advanced to the second round with a 7-6 (5), 7-5, 6-4 win over teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas.

"I did not know anything about him, so was trying to look around a little bit on the Internet," Karlovic said. "I did not really know what to expect and he can hit really hard with his forehand and backhand. But I did not really give him chances to hit a lot."

Tsitsipas, who will turn 19 in August, played for the first time in the main draw after coming through qualifying. The Greek's inexperience sometimes showed against Karlovic, hitting a double fault to lose the opening set and another one on match point.

"I'm a nice guy, I don't want to give lessons to younger guys," Karlovic said when asked about his 20-year age difference with Tsitsipas. "He is a little bit unexperienced but he'll have a very good career."

The youngest male player in Paris this year was 18-year-old Alex De Minaur, who lost in the first round.

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6:20 p.m.

Svetlana Kuznetsova struggled to keep up with the score at the end of her first-round victory over Christina McHale at the French Open.

The eighth-seeded Kuznetsova, who won the tournament in 2009, triumphed 7-5, 6-4 but had to check the score with the umpire toward the end.

She said: "I thought it was 4-3. I heard it was 5-4, and then I was just serving for the match. So umpire got me really happy. I'm like, 'What is the score?' He's like, '5-4.' I'm like, 'Oh, good.' And he looked at me like I was from another planet."

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5:26 p.m.

Sixth-seeded Dominic Thiem is safely through to the second round of the French Open.

Thiem, who reached the semifinals last year, comfortably beat Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.

The 23-year-old Thiem is an outside favorite to win the tournament. He is the only player to have beaten Rafael Nadal on clay this season.

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4:30 p.m.

The official French Open Twitter account appeared to forget that all Grand Slam men's matches are best of five sets.

With Grigor Dimitrov leading 6-2, 6-3 against Stephane Robert, a picture was posted with the caption: "No. 11 Dimitrov d. Frenchman Robert 6-2, 6-3 in 69 minutes to reach 2R."

The tweet was later deleted and an almost identical one — but with the final result — posted when Dimitrov won what proved to be a decisive third set 6-4.

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4:16 p.m.

Grigor Dimitrov has won his first match in four years at Roland Garros to reach the second round of the clay-court major.

Dimitrov made light work of veteran Frenchman Stephane Robert to win 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 on Court Philippe Chatrier, ending a four-match losing run in Paris.

The 11th-seeded Bulgarian, who was once regarded as a potential future No. 1, has never fared well at the French Open. He achieved his best result on the red clay in 2013 when he made it to the third round.

Dimitrov lost his opening match on his Paris debut back in 2011 and was also beaten in the first round over the past three years.

"It was a good test," Dimitrov said. "I knew what to expect, I just had to fight."

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3:47 p.m.

Former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova has beaten Christina McHale of the United States in straight sets to reach the second round of the French Open.

The eighth-seeded Kuznetsova, who won the tournament in 2009, triumphed 7-5, 6-4, sealing the result on the last of her three match points.

The 31-year-old Russian will face either Camila Giorgi or Oceane Dodin in the second round.

It is the fifth successive year that McHale has gone out in the first round at Roland Garros.

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2:08 p.m.

Angelique Kerber is the first women's No. 1 seed to lose in the French Open's first round in the Open era.

Kerber lost 6-2, 6-2 to the 40th-ranked Ekaterina Makarova of Russia.

Makarova broke Kerber's serve twice in the opening set and did so again in the second, racing into a 3-0 lead.

Kerber appeared to get back into the match when she recovered one break but the German immediately dropped her serve again.

There was another rapid exchange of breaks before Makarova sealed the result on her first match point with a forehand down the line after recovering from 40-0 down.

Kerber now has just two wins from her past four tournaments.

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1:41 p.m.

One of the hot topics at Roland Garros this year has been the return of Andre Agassi.

The eight-time major champion has been hired by Novak Djokovic as part of his coaching team as the former top-ranked Serb tries to turn around his form.

Stan Wawrinka, the 2015 French Open champion, told a press conference thatAgassi's return is "great for tennis" because "he's a great champion."

But don't expect Wawrinka to jump for joy if he crosses paths with Agassi in Paris. As a youngster, Wawrinka cheered for Agassi's biggest rival.

"I really was a (Pete) Sampras fan, to tell you the truth," he said.

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1:20 p.m.

Top-ranked Angelique Kerber of Germany has lost the first set of her opening match at the French Open.

Ekaterina Makarova of Russia, who is ranked 40th, broke twice early on to go into a 6-2 lead.

No female top-seeded player has ever lost in the opening round at Roland Garros in the Open era, which started in 1968.

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1 p.m.

Former U.S. Open runner-up Roberta Vinci could not find a way to end her losing streak at Roland Garros and lost in the first round of the French Open again.

The 31st-seeded Vinci, who ended Serena Williams' hopes of a calendar year Grand Slam by beating her in the semifinals at Flushing Meadows in 2015, lost 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to Olympic champion Monica Puig.

It's the fourth consecutive year that Vinci lost her opening match at the clay-court Grand Slam.

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12:28 p.m.

Petra Kvitova has made a winning return to tennis as she became the first player to reach the second round of the French Open.

The two-time Wimbledon champion struggled to hold back the tears after beating 86th-ranked Julie Boserup of the United States 6-3, 6-2.

Kvitova said: "I think it doesn't really matter how I played but I won."

The match, which was briefly interrupted by rain, lasted 1 hour, 14 minutes before Kvitova sealed it when Boserup hit the ball into the net.

The 27-year-old Kvitova, who is seeded 15th, hit nine aces and broke her opponent's serve three times.

Kvitova has not played in a tournament since she was attacked at her home in the Czech Republic in December.

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11:59 a.m.

After less than an hour of play at Roland Garros, the first rain drops of the tournament have started to fall at Roland Garros stadium.

It looks like it might only be a brief shower as players have not left the eight courts where matches are being played.

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11:10 a.m.

The 2017 French Open is officially under way. So is two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova's comeback.

The year's second Grand Slam tournament started on the red clay of Roland Garros under a partly cloudy sky Sunday, with Kvitova getting things going in the main stadium in a first-round match against 86th-ranked Julie Boserup of the United States.

Kvitova had not played in a tournament since she was stabbed during an attack at her home in the Czech Republic in December. She is seeded 15th in Paris.

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10:30 a.m.

The French Open is set to start, and the featured match on Day 1 will be two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova's return to competition less than six months after being stabbed.

The year's second Grand Slam tournament begins on the red clay of Roland Garros on Sunday.

The opening match in the main stadium is Kvitova against 86th-ranked Julie Boserup of the United States.

Kvitova has not played in a tournament since she was attacked at her home in the Czech Republic in December.

Others in action Sunday include seven-time major champion Venus Williams, top-ranked Angelique Kerber and 15-year-old American wild-card entry Amanda Anisimova against an opponent a decade older.

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More AP tennis coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/apf-Tennis

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