Two-time French Open semifinalist Nikolay Davydenko has fallen in the first round at Roland Garros after a straight-sets defeat to 22nd seed Andreas Seppi on Monday.
Seppi, enjoying his highest-ever world ranking of No. 25, knocked out Davydenko, a former world No. 4, 6-3, 7-6(5), 7-5 to reach the second round, where he will play either Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin or Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis.
For Davydenko, the defeat was the first time he had lost in the first round in Paris since 2004.
Russian men’s No. 2 Alex Bogomolov Jr. is in action later Monday against Arnaud Clement of France.
Earlier Monday, Russian 11th seed Vera Zvonareva withdrew from the tournament with a shoulder injury ahead of her first-round match with world No. 67 Timea Babos.
On Sunday, Russian qualifier Andrei Kuznetsov took advantage of a sluggish start from fifth seed and local hero Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to take the first set 6-1, but was outplayed for the rest of the match after the Frenchman found his stride.
Tsonga eventually prevailed 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to knock out the former Wimbledon junior champion in their first-ever meeting.
