Big names bite the dust on opening day

PARIS • Having won in Madrid as well as reaching both the finals of Rome and Charleston, Ons Jabeur had been touted as one of the biggest challengers to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek's quest to claim a second French Open title.

But the Tunisian became the first major casualty on the opening day of the second Grand Slam of the year, when the in-form sixth seed crashed out with a 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 loss to Poland's Magda Linette yesterday.

Jabeur had arrived at Roland Garros at a career-high ranking of sixth and with a WTA Tour-leading 17 wins on clay.

It seemed like she would have an easy outing against Linette when she made a strong start on Court Philippe Chatrier under overcast skies and breezing through the opening set in 37 minutes.

But Jabeur's form deserted her as her opponent, ranked 50 places below her, raised her game.

The sixth seed had won three of their past four meetings going into the first round in Paris, with her last defeat coming in 2013.

Yet Linette staged an inspired fightback in the second set that belied her ranking, saving four breakpoints to level the match in the tiebreak. As drops of rain fell on the main show court, Jabeur's level dipped and her unforced errors climbed and she made her frustration evident by kicking balls away after losing points.

Linette sealed the match when the Tunisian wasted a 40-0 lead in the 12th game and found the net on match point to be broken for the second time in the set.

"I had so many tough matches with Ons and last year here, I lost to her in the third round so I knew how difficult it's going to be," she said. "She was playing so well all this time. I knew I've to be focused and play every single point and try to make her uncomfortable."

There were further first-round shocks in both the women's and men's draws, with Spanish 10th seed Garbine Muguruza, the reigning WTA Finals champion, going down 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Kaia Kanepi.

This was the Estonian giant-killer's 10th top-10 scalp at a Slam and her 15th overall, and she has now won 19 matches against seeded players in the first three rounds of a Slam.

Among active players, only Serena Williams (29), her sister Venus (22), and Victoria Azarenka (21) have more than the 36-year-old Kanepi, who is the oldest woman in the draw.

Two-time French Open runner-up Dominic Thiem also crashed out in the first round for the second straight year.

The Austrian fell 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to Bolivia's Hugo Dellien, his 10th ATP Tour loss in a row since returning in March after a long-term injury, and he later admitted it would take "a few more months" before he could regain his past form, which saw him reach a career-high of third in the world.

"It's not the greatest feeling to go in a Grand Slam knowing that all is not perfect in practice. I don't play like I would like to in practice," said Thiem.

"It was not a good match at all, but it is what it is. I knew that it's going to take time, that the level is extremely high from all the players competing here and I'm not there yet."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

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