Stat of the Day: 10. Double-faults by Kvitova, who was a game from losing before winning in three sets.
Quote of the day: "It"s not that you said, "Towel!" too loud. It"s the way you said it." Chair umpire Carlos Ramos to Kyrgios, explaining why he assessed a code violation warning for unsportsmanlike conduct.
On court Monday: No. 2 Andy Murray vs. Radek Stepanek, No. 3 Stan Wawrinka vs. Lukas Rosol, No. 5 Kei Nishikori vs. Simone Bolelli (completion of suspended match); No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Bojana Jovanovski, No. 4 Garbine Muguruza vs. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, No. 14 Ana Ivanovic vs. Oceane Dodin.
Monday"s forecast: Rain. High of 59 (15 Celsius).
Online: http://www.rolandgarros.com/index.html
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
N. Djokovic v. A. Murray 2015 French Open Men"s Highlights / Semifinals Photo Nick Kyrgios returned a shot from Marco Cecchinato. Credit Thomas Samson/Agence France-Presse Getty Images
PARIS For much of the first half of 2016, Nick Kyrgios avoided the kind of on-court outbursts and controversies that were part of his breakout campaign last year. In contrast with his past behavior, he has not accosted any fans or made audible, inappropriate remarks about an opponents girlfriend.
There are moments when Kyrgios can be downright charming, even during his first-round match Sunday, when he repeatedly complimented his opponent and helped him find a lost piece of equipment.
But then there is his more volatile side, which resurfaced in a profane confrontation with the chair umpire in the same match and lit a spark on a rainy opening day at the French Open.
Later, rain suspended about half of the remaining matches, leaving Kyrgioss outburst as the most prominent event of an otherwise disappointing afternoon at Roland Garros.
I thought it was really tough, Kyrgios said, referring to the conditions. He used the same general terminology to describe the code violation that was assessed against him.
During his three-set match with Marco Cecchinato of Italy, which Kyrgios won, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6), 6-4, he barked, Towel! at a ball person, who was not as prompt with it as Kyrgios would have liked.
Carlos Ramos, the chair umpire on Court 1, immediately issued a code violation, which prompted Kyrgios to claim at the time that he was the victim of unbelievable bias.
Photo Kyrgios had reason to celebrate his tennis performance, but his intensity with the chair umpire was different. Credit Dennis Grombkowski/Getty Images
But at least Kyrgios, an Australian who is seeded 17th, was able to complete his match, unlike Kei Nishikori, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Heather Watson, whose matches were suspended. The American Jack Sock, seeded No. 23, had just lost a fourth-set tiebreaker to Robin Haase when play was called just after 6 p.m. They were scheduled to play the fifth set Monday.
Those who finished included Petra Kvitova, the No. 10 seed and one of several contenders in a muddled womens field hoping to upset Serena Williams. She beat Danka Kovinic, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The 11th-seeded Lucie Safarova, who lost to Williams in last years final and is regaining her form after several injuries and illnesses, defeated Vitalia Diatchenko, 6-0, 6-2, in 56 minutes.
Most of the worlds elite players, including Williams, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and last years mens champion, Stan Wawrinka, were not scheduled to play Sunday.
Before the rain, the local favorite Benot Paire of France, the No. 19 seed, beat Radu Albot, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands was also able to defeat Adrian Ungur of Romania, 6-1, 6-2, 7-6 (5), and will play Kyrgios in the second round.
In his postmatch interview, Kyrgios, 21, was asked one question about Sijsling. Most of the rest were about his dispute with Ramos in the first-set tiebreaker.
The incident came after Kyrgios had lost a point. He later claimed that with the crowd noise, the ball person had not heard him the first time, so Kyrgios had to yell louder. Ramos may have been quick to unholster the code violation, but he demonstrated patience after that as Kyrgios strung together a couplet of obscenities in protest.
How can you sit there and give me a code for that, but when Djokovic pushes an umpire out of the way, thats all right? Kyrgios asked Ramos. Tell the whole world thats all right.
Kyrgios was referring to an incident at the recent Rome Masters in which Djokovic pushed aside the umpires hand while they were examining where a ball landed on the red-clay surface. Djokovic was not penalized, and Kyrgios suggested that he suffered from a double standard.
I mean, I think we all know in this room if that was me that did that, it would be an absolute circus, Kyrgios said during a postmatch news conference. But if he did it, you know, nothing really happened of it. It speaks for itself.
Kyrgioss past behavior does invoke close scrutiny from commentators, fans and tennis officials. He has yelled at umpires and spectators and has made comments that have angered sports officials in Australia and beyond. The incident that created the most turmoil happened last August in Montreal. During a changeover, Kyrgios informed Wawrinka that his girlfriend had been romantically involved with another player, igniting the ire of Wawrinka and other players on the tour.
Earlier this month, Kitty Chiller, the former pentathlete and the chef de mission for the Australian Olympic team, said that Kyrgios and his fellow Australian Bernard Tomic had to improve their behavior or risk being left off Australias team at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Kyrgios adopted a more conciliatory tone after the match than he had demonstrated on court.
Its not an easy job out there, he said of the umpires. Especially five-set matches, to concentrate, I think they do a good job. All in all, they do a good job.
Kyrgios was also gracious toward his opponent. Even during some of the more contentious points of the match, he repeatedly lauded Cecchinato for making a nice drop shot or an impossibly good serve.
He even helped Cecchinato by finding his racket dampener after it had fallen off.
While Cecchinato looked frantically to and fro, Kyrgios spotted the tiny object on the side of his court, picked it up and tossed it over the net to his grateful opponent. Perhaps that is why Cecchinato deflected a question about Kyrgioss confrontation with the umpire.
I dont know what he said, Cecchinato said. I dont care. He plays very good. He has a big serve, and I like him.
Correction: May 22, 2016
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the score of Benoit Paires victory over Radu Albot. The score of the fifth set was 6-4, not 6-5.
Top 5 moments at Roland Garros: Rafael Nadal"s matches
AP 12:36 p.m. EDT May 22, 2016
(Photo: The Associated Press)
PARIS (AP) The Latest on the French Open (all times local):
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6:30 p.m.
Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic has closed out a comfortable 6-0, 6-2 win against Vitalia Diatchenko, getting back to the warmth of the locker room just as rain picked up again at the French Open and forced the cancellation of all remaining matches Sunday.
The runner-up to Serena Williams last year at Roland Garros made light work of the Russian ranked 210 spots below her.
Safarova didn"t let a mid-match rain delay of nearly three hours throw off her rhythm. The 11th seed closed out the first-round match as umpires on other courts were pulling players off court again for more rain.
Organizers announced that because players were sliding on the tramlines, it was too risky for them to continue and that play wouldn"t resume before Monday morning.
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5:50 p.m.
Heavy showers have stopped and play has resumed under still overcast skies at the French Open.
The rain delay of nearly three hours has forced the postponement of matches that were scheduled for later Sunday, the tournament"s opening day.
But fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan is back on Court Philippe Chatrier, resuming his match against Simone Bolelli of Italy, with a 6-1, 5-4 lead.
Other matches that were interrupted mid-flow are also resuming. But all other matches on Sunday"s schedule that had yet to start are postponed.
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3:50 p.m.
With an eye on the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Serena and Venus Williams are entered in women"s doubles at the French Open their first Grand Slam tournament as a team since 2014.
In the doubles draw for Roland Garros, announced Sunday, the sisters will open against Jelena Ostapenko and Yulia Putintseva.
The Williams-Williams pairing has not appeared in a bracket at a major since the U.S. Open two years ago. They hadn"t played together anywhere since then until this month at the Italian Open, where they lost their first match.
The American siblings already have won three gold medals in doubles, at the 2000, 2008 and 2012 Summer Games. They also own 13 Grand Slam titles as a pair, most recently at Wimbledon in 2012.
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3:10 p.m.
Play is being delayed on all courts at the French Open because of rain.
Among the matches in progress, fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan leads Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-1, 5-4 on Court Philippe Chatrier, and No. 23 Jack Sock of the United States leads Robin Haase of the Netherlands 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 2-1.
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1:55 p.m.
Nick Kyrgios was warned by a French Open chair umpire for shouting at a ballkid to retrieve a towel, leading to a prolonged and angry monologue by the 21-year-old Australian.
Otherwise, the 17th-seeded Kyrgios did just fine in his first-round match Sunday.
Kyrgios wound up with a 7-6, (6), 7-6 (6), 6-4 victory over Marco Cecchinato, a 23-year-old Italian ranked 124th who has lost all four Grand Slam matches in his career.
In the first-set tiebreaker, umpire Carlos Ramos gave Kyrgios a code violation warning over the way the player called for a towel between points. That prompted a string of curse-filled arguments from Kyrgios.
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1:40 p.m
Petra Kvitova is through to the second round of the French Open after battling more than 2 hours on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Danka Kovinic came close to creating the first upset of this year"s tournament but failed to build on her momentum when she served for the match in the deciding set.
She broke for a 5-4 lead after Kvitova hit three double faults but the two-time Wimbledon champion won the next three games to seal the match. The 10th-seeded Kvitova won 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.
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12:50 a.m.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is having trouble on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The 10th-seeded Czech looked in control after breaking Danka Kovinic twice to win the first set 6-2 but dropped the second 6-4.
Kovinic has never gone beyond the second round at any Grand Slam tournament while Kvitova"s best result at the French Open is a semifinalist spot back in 2012.
Earlier, 24th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova became the first player to advance to the second round with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Sara Sorribes Tormo.
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11:35 a.m.
Despite rain much of the morning, the French Open has started.
The forecast calls for showers on Sunday, but a break in the weather allowed two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova onto Court Philippe Chatrier to face 59th-ranked Danka Kovinic of Montenegro in a first-round match.
Other players scheduled to play on Day 1 of the clay-court tournament include 2014 U.S. Open runner-up Kei Nishikori, eighth-seeded Milos Raonic, and 2015 Wimbledon finalist Garbine Muguruza.
The French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that begins on a Sunday.
About six months after the deadly attacks in Paris, heightened security at Roland Garros was noticeable, including extra bag checks and patdowns that led to longer-than-usual waits at the entrance gates.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
