Harrison was disgusted with himself for not winning his spot in the French Open with qualifiers however he was given his chance on Tuesday as a lucky loser.
World No. 5 and two-time Roland Garros runner-up Robin Soderling was tested as he opened his campaign on Tuesday, overcoming American lucky loser Ryan Harrison 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5 on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Harrison had stepped in as a replacement for German Benjamin Becker, who was forced to withdraw with a left elbow injury.
The Swede was hindered by committing 45 unforced errors, but struck 56 winners to Harrison’s 30 as he worked hard to claim victory in two hours and 48 minutes. He came into Roland Garros on the back of three wins for Sweden at the Power Horse World Team Cup in Dusseldorf and improved to a 29-7 match record on the season.
“Today I started off the match really well; I played some really good tennis,” assessed Soderling. “But then I relaxed a little bit and he started to play better. Overall, I think this was a match I should have won a bit easier, but for now it’s OK, I won the match.
“I feel pretty good coming into this year’s tournament. I played some good matches in the past couple of weeks and I really feel my clay game is getting better and better. So I have high hopes for this tournament.”
The 26-year-old Soderling has reached the Roland Garros final the past two years, defeating Rafael Nadal in 2009 before finishing runner-up to Roger Federer, and beating the Swiss last year before losing out to Nadal in the final.
World No. 122 and Polish qualifier Lukasz Kubot rallied from a two-sets-to-love deficit to beat No. 11 seed Nicolas Almagro of Spain 3-6, 2-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(5), 6-4.
Almagro, the 2011 clay-court leader with a 24-6 record, had previously beaten Kubot on three occasions last year. It was Almagro's first opening round loss at Roland Garros since his debut in 2004 (l. to Kuerten).
Kubot hit 72 winners and won 63 of 102 net approaches for victory in three hours and 49 minutes on Court 6. Almagro converted nine of 19 break point opportunities and lost to a qualifier for the first time in 11 matches.
Eighth seed Jurgen Melzer committed just 15 unforced errors to beat German lucky loser Andreas Becker 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Melzer, who reached the semi-finals last year (l. to Nadal), hit 34 winners including six aces.
Spain’s No. 16 seed Fernando Verdasco came through a tricky opener against Juan Monaco, dropping the third set against the Argentine before prevailing 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in three hours and 27 minutes. Verdasco hit 60 winners to just 20 from Monaco and broke serve six times as he claimed his 14th victory of the season.
The 27-year-old Verdasco has struggled for consistency in 2011, but is a proven threat on clay, reaching the Estoril Open final four weeks ago (l. to del Potro) and featuring in the Roland Garros fourth round on his previous four appearances.
Gilles Simon rounded out the day's action as he finished strongly to defeat American Michael Russell 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-0. The No. 18 seed from France struck 36 winners and benefitted from 47 unforced errors from Russell to triumph in two hours and 18 minutes. The 26-year-old Nice native’s best result at Roland Garros came two years ago, when he reached the third round (l. to Hanescu).
