The main draw of the French Open finally commenced on Sunday, May 24, after the conclusion of the dramatic qualifying rounds. While the rainy conditions in Paris had become a major problem during the first few days of the qualifiers, the weather had gotten significantly hotter by the time the main draw arrived. With the temperature soaring as high as 33°C in the French capital on Sunday, some players just weren’t able to handle the hot conditions on the court. 

The first player who faced problems on the court was Gabriel Diallo. He took on James Duckorth in the first round, and it is safe to say that the match didn’t quite go his way. Diallo lost the first set 3-6 and then trailed 1-4 in the second set. Having struggled with a lingering back injury for most of the clay swing, it appeared that the Canadian’s physical issues were back when he took an off-court medical timeout. Though Diallo did return to the court, he wasn’t able to continue playing and was forced to retire from the match due to injury problems.

Arthur Gea was another player who had a forgettable day at the office on the opening day of the French Open’s main draw. He took on World No. 15, Karen Khachanov, and faced an unexpected issue when he was serving at 1-4 in the first set. Turns out that Gea wanted to take an emergency bathroom break mid-game. As the game lingered on and got leveled at 40-40, things became desperate for the Frenchman, and he couldn’t help but take a medical timeout soon after.

“I’ve got the runs, I need to go to the bathroom, I can’t move anymore, I’m gonna sh*t on the court,” Gea was heard saying during the match.

Things wouldn’t get any better for Gea after the medical timeout, as he would go on to lose the first set 3-6. He gave a great fight to Khachanov in the second set and took it to a tiebreaker. However, the Russian eventually prevailed and clinched the second set 7-6. Khachanov would finish the match with a dominant display in the third set and won it 6-0 to advance into the second round.

It certainly was a great start to the French Open campaign for Khachanov, who hasn’t been able to impress much in the clay-court season so far. He has a win-loss record of 7-5 on clay so far this season and will be aiming to make a deep run at Roland Garros so that he can end the swing on a positive note.