Big names fall at French Open

Barbora Krejcikova’s French Open title defence ended in the opening round as local hope Diane Parry was roared to a 1-6 6-2 6-3 victory against the second-seeded Czech.

Barbora Krejcikova
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Krejcikova, who defeated Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the 2021 final to win her maiden Grand Slam title, arrived at Roland Garros without any competitive matches under her belt since February due to an elbow injury.

But she breezed through the opening set against the 97th-ranked Parry, who was facing a top-10 opponent for the first time in her career, in 34 minutes before her rustiness showed.

The 19-year-old Parry turned the match on its head by winning the second set as errors and double faults began to creep into Krejcikova’s game.

Krejcikova took a lengthy break after losing the second set and was booed by the partisan French crowd at the Court Philippe Chatrier on her return.

The 26-year-old Czech then went on to win.

“It’s a dream for me. It was always a dream to play on this court with the French crowd to support me,” Parry said.

Japan’s Naomi Osaka also crashed out in a 7-5 6-4 first-round loss to American Amanda Anisimova, a year after her dramatic withdrawal from the claycourt Grand Slam tournament amid mental health issues.

Up against 27th seed Anisimova, four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka never looked comfortable on her least favourite surface as she struggled to control her powerful game.

In the build-up to last year’s French Open, Osaka said she would not attend the obligatory news conferences for players after matches as they impacted her mental wellbeing.

Naomi Osaka
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

World number one Iga Swiatek put on a commanding display against Ukrainian qualifier Lesia Tsurenko with a 6-2 6-0 opening victory to kickstart her bid for a second Roland Garros title and extend her winning run to 29 matches.

Swiatek, who won the 2020 Roland Garros title without dropping a set, arrived in Paris having won her last five tournaments, including four WTA 1000 events, and is the overwhelming favourite to lift the Suzanne Lenglen Cup again.

“I just want to keep going. I am aware that someday my streak may stop,” Swiatek said on court. “Basically I am just working every day to be 100% focused on my tennis, not on stats or not on some numbers.

Rafael Nadal showed no signs of pain as the 13-time men’s champion marched into the second round with clinical 6-2 6-2 6-2 demolition of Australian Jordan Thompson.

The Spaniard, who had never arrived in Paris as unprepared as this year after a rib injury and a chronic foot problem hampered the build-up to his beloved Grand Slam tournament, was never bothered on a chilly court Philippe Chatrier.

The 35-year-old, who has a record 21 men’s Grand Slam titles to his name, played down the chances of adding to his tally but his display was reminiscent of those of previous years.

-Reuters