Stephens, Donaldson open with wins at French Open

Americans Sloane Stephens, Jennifer Brady and Jared Donaldson were among the Day 1 winners at Roland Garros Sunday, as the 2018 French Open got underway in Paris.

Stephens, the reigning US Open champion, needed just 49 minutes to defeat Dutch lucky loser Arantxa Rus, 6-2, 6-0. She will face 20-year-old left-hander Magdalena Frech of Poland in the second round.

Brady was also an easy winner Sunday, dropping just two games in her 6-1, 6-1 win over France's Amandine Hesse. Her opponent in Round 2 will be Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan, who knocked out No. 22 seed Johanna Konta of Great Britain in her opening-round match.

Donaldson had a harder time punching his ticket into the second round, needing five sets and almost three hours to secure his first-round win over Nicolas Jarry of Chile, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The 21-year-old California native will meet No. 4 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria next.

Other Americans didn't fare as well in their opening matches, including No. 9 seed Venus Williams, who was stunned by Wang Qiang of China in the first major upset of the tournament. Denis Kudla also lost to No. 26 Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia; Madison Brengle fell to No. 25 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia; and Taylor Fritz lost in five sets to Guido Andreozzi of Argentina.

Day 2 action will see 15 Americans taking to the clay, highlighted by three all-American matchups – 2017 US Open finalist and No. 13 seed Madison Keys will take on world No. 76 Sachia Vickery; No. 9 John Isner will battle French Open Wild Card Challenge winner Noah Rubin; and No. 12 Sam Querrey will face world No. 61 Frances Tiafoe.

Other U.S. players in action Monday include:

No. 15 Coco Vandeweghe vs. Laura Siegemund (GER)
Varvara Lepchenko vs. No. 16 Elise Mertens (BEL)
Sofia Kenin vs. No. 21 Naomi Osaka (JPN)
Caroline Dolehide (Q) vs. Viktorija Golubic (SUI)
Grace Min (Q) vs. Camila Giorgi (ITA)
Danielle Collins vs. No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)
Bernarda Pera vs. Elena Vesnina (RUS)
Vania King vs. No. 31 Mihaela Buzarnescu (ROU)
Christina McHale vs. Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU), 7-5, 6-7, to finish