PARIS — U.S Open champion Daniil Medvedev acknowledged it’s “very strange” that he could rise to No. 1 in the rankings as a result of not being allowed to play at Wimbledon.

The Russian, ranked second behind Novak Djokovic, began his French Open campaign with a straight-set victory on Tuesday but the All England Club’s decision to ban players from Russia and Belarus from Wimbledon because of the invasion of Ukraine was still the main talking point.

In response to the ban, the ATP and the WTA women’s tour announced they would not award ranking points to any players for results at Wimbledon.

That means all players who earned ranking points at Wimbledon in 2021 – Djokovic earned the maximum 2,000 for taking the championship – will have those erased from their record as part of the usual 52-week system that counts someone’s best 19 tournaments over that span. Djokovic is currently 680 points ahead of Medvedev but the Serb could also lose ranking points if he fails to defend his French Open title.

Wimbledon begins on June 27.

“Very strange,” Medvedev said of the situation, after beating Facundo Bagnis 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. “I need to be honest. But yeah, as I said last time, I’d be really happy to play Wimbledon. But if I cannot, I mean, just going to prepare for next tournaments and … just follow what’s happening there. There are no points, I become No. 1, well great for me. If there are points, I cannot become No. 1, I’m going to be gutted. It is what it is. I cannot change some decisions, both about ATP and Wimbledon.”

Medvedev called the ATP’s response “very logical” compared to Wimbledon’s explanation: “I’m not saying which decision is right, but at least so far in explaining their decisions, I found ATP just more logical.”

Seventh-seeded Andrey Rublev said the ATP’s response shows that tournaments “cannot do whatever they want.” The Russian called on tournaments and players to work together.

“When we have (a) toxic relationship like now, only the bad things can happen,” he said after beating Soonwoo Kwon 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

The 26-year-old Medvedev, playing just his second match after returning from hernia surgery, was a quarterfinalist at Roland Garros last year after four straight losses in the first round. He’s never been a big fan of clay, but he’s warming to Paris.

“I need to be 100% focused and ready for what clay has to give to me. Right now I feel ready,” said Medvedev, who lost to Rafael Nadal in this year’s Australian Open final.

In the women’s draw, third-seeded Paula Badosa needed just 54 minutes to beat wild-card entry Fiona Ferro 6-2, 6-0 at Roland Garros. The 24-year-old Badosa lost only two points in the second set as she looks to build on her run to the quarterfinals at last year’s French Open.

Jessica Pegula also reached the second round with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Qiang Wang of China. The 11th-seeded American led the second set 5-1 before Wang fought back. Pegula finally clinched it on her 10th match point.

Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, defeated Lucia Bronzetti 6-1, 6-4. Eighth-seeded Karolina Pliskova fought back to beat Tessah Andrianjafitrimo 2-6, 6-3, 6-1. Pliskova was the runner-up at Wimbledon last year. Ninth-seeded Danielle Collins eased past Viktoriya Tomova 6-0, 6-4.

In other action Tuesday:

• Jo-Wilfried Tsonga went down fighting, but lost to eighth-seeded Casper Ruud 6-7 (6), 7-6 (4), 6-2, 7-6 (0) in what was likely his final match. The 37-year-old Frenchman has said he will retire after this year’s Roland Garros tournament.

An emotional Tsonga kneeled and put his head down to the clay amid thunderous applause after the defeat. Tsonga won 18 titles over an 18-year career and reached No. 5 in the rankings. He was a finalist at the 2008 Australian Open. Tsonga has the most Grand Slam match wins – 121 – among Frenchmen.

• Hugo Gaston pulled off a five-set victory over 19th-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia. The Frenchman trailed 3-0 in the deciding set after losing nine straight games before battling back to beat De Minaur 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 0-6, 7-6 (4) in a first-round match that lasted nearly four hours.

The 21-year-old left hander rattled off five straight points in the tiebreaker to clinch victory in front of the home fans at Court Suzanne Lenglen. De Minaur was a quarterfinalist at the U.S. Open in 2020.

• Frances Tiafoe finally earned his first victory at the French Open on his seventh attempt. The American beat Benjamin Bonzi 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (5) for his first win at Roland Garros after six first-round defeats.

The 24th-ranked Tiafoe advances to a second-round match against David Goffin of Belgium.

• Sebastian Korda advanced to the second round with a 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (6) victory over Australian veteran John Millman. The 27th-seeded American fended off two set points in the tiebreaker and converted his fourth match point when Millman hit a forehand volley long.

The 21-year-old Korda had 43 unforced errors to Millman’s 25. The Australian is 0-6 at Roland Garros. Korda reached the fourth round at the French Open in 2020 as a qualifier. The 32-year-old Millman was a quarterfinalist at the 2018 U.S. Open.

• Teenager Holger Rune upset 14th-seeded Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-1, 7-6 (4) in the first round of the French Open.

The 19-year-old Rune won the BMW Open this month and was a semifinalist in Lyon last week. Shapovalov fought back in the third set to force a tiebreaker but fell behind 3-1 and couldn’t recover, sending a forehand wide on match point.

Rune won the French Open junior championship in 2019. The Dane defeated Alexander Zverev en route to his first tour title in Munich.

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