Canadian Milos Raonic takes French Open opener in straight sets over Nick Kyrgios

PARIS – Canadian Milos Raonic won his opening match at the French Open on Sunday as he beat Australian wildcard Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 to reach the second round.

The eighth seed from Thornhill, Ont., spent exactly two hours to advance against one of rising young hopes of the Aussie game.

He achieved a personal record as he beat an Australian opponent for the first time at a grand slam after losing to Carsten Ball at the 2010 U.S. Open and Lleyton Hewitt at the 2012 Australian Open.

Raonic won on his third match point, sealing victory with a 27th ace.

The Canadian, who came to Roland Garros from a Rome semi-final last weekend, finished with 50 winners and 30 unforced errors, breaking on four of ten chances.

His next opponent will come from one of two Czechs, Lukasz Rosol or Jiri Vesely.

“I’m very content with this match,” said Raonic, speaking to the stadium crowd in French. “It’s always a pleasure to return to Paris.

“This was a good start to the tournament for me, I’m really hoping to focus on my clay game and make some progress on this surface.”

Canadian qualifier Peter Polansky will make his start against Czech sixth-seed Tomas Berdych.