2021 champion Barbora Krejcikova out of Rolland Garros in 1st round
WTA
After not playing since February this year, the second-seeded Barbora Krejcikova lost in the first round of the 2022 Roland Garros.
Last year, Krejcikova had a stunning season. She started the year as World No. 65 in the WTA Rankings and ended it as World No. 5 with three titles, including one Grand Slam from Roland Garros.
She had a sensational run at the only clay-court Grand Slam in the calendar, beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a three-set final to lift her maiden singles major title.
This year, she moved to second place in the WTA Rankings but will drop out of the Top 10 after the second Grand Slam of the year as she lost in the opening match.
And it all started very well for the Czech player against the home-crowd favorite, Diane Parry. She won 15 points in a row to get a quick 4-0 lead in the first set, which she eventually won 6-1 after just 33 minutes of play.
It was a start of the match worthy of a defending champion, but Krejcikova's dominance didn't last long. However, early in the second set, she continued in a similar style when she broke her opponent's serve and quickly led 2-0.
Then, Parry, who was massively supported by the home fans, started playing much better and managed to win the second set as she won all six remaining games.
While Krejcikova hit 18 unforced errors, her opponent hit only three, which was one of the main reasons for her dominant 6-2 win in the second set.
It appeared that World No. 2 would be able to finish the match successfully as she gained a 2-0 lead also in the third set. But once again, she failed to maintain it and eventually lost the match 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.
It was a shocking loss, especially since Krejcikova dominated at the start of the match and led by at least one break in every set. As a result of her loss, she will drop to at least the World No. 12 position.
