French hopes down the drain as Caroline Garcia stumbles out of Roland Garros

PARIS – French hopes of a Roland Garros singles’ champion were all but extinguished, as Russian Anna Blinkova sent fifth seed Caroline Garcia tumbling out with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 second-round victory.

The 24-year-old, who had already knocked Garcia out in Paris in 2019, prevailed on her ninth match point to end a tussle that lasted nearly three hours.

“It was very, very hard. This victory is a very important thing for me,” said Blinkova.

The world No. 56 double faulted twice on match point as nerves got to her, but she eventually ended it with a powerful serve to set up a meeting with Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, who battled back from a set and a break down to beat Storm Hunter 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

It would be a repeat of last weekend’s Strasbourg final won by Svitolina.

“Every match is different. I need to stay concentrated match by match and day by day,” said Blinkova.

With Garcia gone, the French women are without a seed in the singles’ draw while none of the French men were among the top-ranked competitors.

Garcia broke for a 2-1 lead in a strong start to her bid to claim consecutive wins on clay for the first time this season.

She did not face a single break point in the first set and stole Blinkova’s serve in the first game of the next set, only for her Russian opponent to break straight back.

Garcia conceded another break in the fourth game with a double fault and a third one in the fifth as Blinkova blitzed through the set despite facing some late resistance.

Blinkova pounced early in the decider and served for the match at 5-4, only for Garcia to save match points to level for 5-5.

She saved other match points at 6-5 after dropping her serve but Blinkova finally got a first serve in to end Garcia’s campaign.

Other seeds, however, fared better.

Russian ninth seed Daria Kasatkina produced an early candidate for shot of the tournament during a classy 6-3, 6-4 win over former runner-up Marketa Vondrousova to sweep into the third round.

Kasatkina was coming under pressure from the left-handed Czech at 2-3 down in the second set and 30-30 and looked about to go break point down as she chased back to retrieve a superb lob volley by Vondrousova.

But the 26-year-old conjured a magical between-the-legs shot that flashed by a stunned opponent who had advanced to the net.

“When I was a kid I was at home practising... the tweener all the time,” she said. “Maybe two hours a day, so it’s not luck. I practised this shot a lot and finally it paid off.”

Kasatkina will next play 69th-ranked American Peyton Stearns, who knocked out former champion Jelena Ostapenko.

American third seed Jessica Pegula booked her spot in the last 32 when opponent Camila Giorgi retired injured after losing the first set 6-2.

World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka fought off a determined challenge from fellow Belarusian Iryna Shymanovich to move into the third round with a 7-5, 6-2 victory as she eyes the world No. 1 spot.

The 25-year-old, who will take over top spot from Poland’s Iga Swiatek with victory at the Paris Grand Slam, did not have an easy start with qualifier Shymanovich, ranked 214th, matching her power with every groundstroke.

Shymanovich started moving her opponent around, playing the angles and forcing her to the net with audacious drop shots as she tried to stop Sabalenka from imposing her rhythm on the match.

The second seed wasted two set points at 6-5 but bagged the set on her third opportunity, chasing down yet another drop shot from her opponent.

She took a two-game lead at the start of the second set but had to fight tooth and nail for every single point before sealing victory on her second match point. REUTERS, AFP