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Germany’s Angelique Kerber has become the first women’s world number one since Martina Hingis at Wimbledon in 2001 to crash out of a Grand Slam tournament in the first round.
Kerber, who has battled poor form since ascending to the top of the world rankings last September, went down 6-2, 6-2 to Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova in one hour and 22 minutes.
It is the biggest first round shock at Roland Garros since Serena Williams lost to Virginie Razzano in a thrilling three-setter five years ago. To date, it remains the first and only time the American, missing this year after announcing her pregnancy last month, has lost in the first round of a major.
It is the second consecutive year in which Kerber has lost in the opening round at Roland Garros, having also lost at this stage last year to Kiki Bertens, who went on to reach her first Grand Slam semi-final.
It also completes a dismal clay court swing for the German, in which she won just two matches and had to retire hurt in her third round match against Eugenie Bouchard in Madrid, and marks the first time in the Open era that a women’s top seed has failed to win a match at the French Open.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
And as if things aren’t already tough enough for the 29-year-old, things are just about to get even tougher from Wimbledon until the end of the season, where she will have to defend a huge mountain of points.
In January she had her Australian Open title defence ended when she lost to Coco Vandeweghe in the fourth round. She has not yet defeated a top 20 opponent this year, and while she has reached one final so far this season, she lost that one to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Monterrey.
While Kerber remains world number one for now, her defeat leaves the door open for Karolina Pliskova or Simona Halep to overtake her in the rankings, and blows the draw wide open in the top quarter of the draw.
The player who stands to benefit most from Kerber’s shock exit is 15th seed Petra Kvitova, who defeated Julia Boserup in straight sets in the first match on Court Philippe Chatrier for the 2017 tournament.
It was her first match for the season after she had suffered a career-threatening left hand injury during a robbery in her apartment prior to Christmas last year.
She missed the Australian Open in January as a result and was initially expected to miss up to six months. However, her recovery took quicker than anticipated and last Friday the 27-year-old confirmed that she would contest the French Open.
The two-time Wimbledon champion hit 31 winners and nine aces as she became the first woman through to the second round.
(Kyodo)
After the match, she said that she was glad to have made the decision to play in Paris and that she was happy with the way she played, considering it was her first competitive match in over six months.
She will now face either Bethanie Mattek-Sands or Evgeniya Rodina in the second round, and will fancy her chances of reaching the quarter-finals for the first time since 2012.
The only seed she may have to face is recent Strasbourg champion Samantha Stosur, who will face Kristina Kucova in her first match tonight. Kvitova and Stosur are projected to face each other in the third round.
2015 semi-finalist Timea Bacsinszky also progressed, courtesy of a straight-forward victory over Sara Sorribes Tormo, but Italian veteran Roberta Vinci joined Angelique Kerber at the departure gates after losing a three-setter against reigning Olympic gold medallist Monica Puig.
American Madison Brengle won the first marathon match of the tournament, requiring 24 games to defeat Germany’s Julia Goerges in the final set.
Kerber’s opening round exit may have some ramifications as far as the world number one ranking is concerned, with Karolina Pliskova and Simona Halep both a good chance of claiming top spot at the conclusion of the tournament.
Pliskova, who faces Zheng Saisai in her first match, needs to reach the final, while third seed Halep, who is defending fourth round points from last year, needs to win the title.
Because they are both on the same side of the draw, a potential semi-final between the pair could decide who replaces Kerber at the top of the rankings in the week starting Monday June 12 (though Halep will have to win one more match than required of Pliskova).
In the men’s draw, Horacio Zeballos, who gained fame for defeating Rafael Nadal in a clay court final in Chile four years ago, became the first man into the second round with a straight-sets win over Adrian Mannarino.
He was joined shortly afterwards by last year’s surprise quarter-finalist, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, who defeated Marius Copil in four sets.
At the time of this article going to print, matches involving Svetlana Kuznetsova and Grigor Dimitrov were still in progress, while Dominic Thiem, Venus Williams and Dominika Cibulkova, among others, were in action overnight.
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