PARIS — So much for John Isner vs. Nicolas Mahut redux.
Those two men met in the longest match in tennis history — more than 11 hours spread over three days in the first round at Wimbledon in 2010, with Isner winning 70-68 in the fifth set — and then, incredibly, were forced to play each other in the same round at the same tournament a year later.
They were drawn last week to have a possible third career Grand Slam meeting in the second round of the French Open. But it won’t happen, because France’s Mahut lost his opener Monday, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4 to Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin. Isner, an American seeded 10th, won his first-round match Sunday.
Mahut said the thought of facing the 6-foot-10 Isner once more did cross his mind, "because everybody talked about it."
"Obviously," Mahut added, "would’ve been very nice to have played Isner."
Said Isner: "We always seem to get near each other when it comes around this time of year. … He’s such a good guy, so I’m always rooting for him to win."
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STAYING IN SHAPE: Samantha Stosur sewed up her first match at the French Open in straight sets Monday, five days after getting her leg sewn up.
The 19th-seeded Stosur said she had an accident at the gym last week and needed five stitches in her left leg, causing her to play her opening match at Roland Garros with a shin pad inside a huge bandage.
"Cut my leg pretty bad," said Stosur, who beat Monica Puig 6-1, 6-1. "I’ve got a guard on there so that if I hit myself it’s not going to hurt so bad."
Stosur said she fell while doing box jumps.
"I actually don’t know how I managed to do it, but I missed it and landed straight on my leg," Stosur said.
