Jelena Ostapenko made 48 unforced errors as she lost in the first round in Paris
French Open 2018 Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 27 May-10 June Coverage: Daily live radio and text commentaries on BBC Radio 5 live, the BBC Sport website and app.
Defending champion Jelena Ostapenko and seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams went out of the French Open in the first round on Sunday.
Latvian fifth seed Ostapenko was stunned by Ukrainian Kateryna Kozlova, who came through 7-5 6-3.
American ninth seed Williams, a finalist at Roland Garros in 2002, was beaten 6-4 7-5 by world number 91 Wang Qiang of China.
Meanwhile, fourth seed Elina Svitolina beat Ajla Tomljanovic 7-5 6-3.
It is the first time in 78 Grand Slam appearances stretching back to 1997 that Williams has lost successive first-round matches at a major.
"Nobody plans on this," said the 37-year-old, who also went out in the first round at the Australian Open in January. "There are no perfect days in tennis."
Last year, at the age of 19, the then unseeded Ostapenko pulled off a massive coup by beating current world number one Simona Halep to take the title in Paris.
But this time around, she was beaten in 95 minutes on Philippe Chatrier by world number 66 Kozlova, who had never triumphed over a top-30 player and needed a medical timeout to treat blisters.
"I really didn't expect anything from the match," Kozlova said. "Basically, I have hardly played for two and a half months but I wanted to show what I can do."
Ostapenko becomes only the second women's defending champion to lose in the first round of the French Open in the Open era after Anastasia Myskina in 2005.
Britain's Johanna Konta was also a first-round casualty, going down in straight sets against world number 93 Yulia Putintseva, who won 6-4 6-3 in an hour and 24 minutes.
World number 10 Sloane Stephens, who won the US Open last year, breezed into the second round by beating Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 6-2 6-0.
©Christophe Guibbaud/FFT.
The New Roland-Garros has got the look
Venus Williams is out of the French Open on the opening day of the tournament. The 2002 runner-up lost 6-4, 7-5 to Wang Qiang of China in the first round on Court Suzanne Lenglen on Sunday.
Wang avenged her loss to No9 seed Williams in the first round at Roland Garros last year. The world No85 was also beaten by Williams at Wimbledon a few weeks later and had never beaten her American opponent before Sunday.
Serena Williams spells danger on eve of inspirational French Open return Read more
Williams has a mixed record in Paris. Sunday’s defeat was the fourth time Williams has lost in the first round of the French Open in 21 appearances, and she has not progressed beyond the fourth-round since 2006. More concerning for Williams is the fact that she also lost in the first round at the Australian Open in January. The 37-year-old did, however, reach the final of Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 2017.
Of the other US players in action on Sunday, Madison Brengle also lost in the first round but there were wins for Jennifer Brady and US Open champion Sloane Stephens. In the men’s draw, Jared Donaldson won in five sets while Denis Kudla made an early exit in straight sets.
PARIS -- So here's how the story goes.
Early Sunday, Nick Kyrgios announced he was withdrawing from the French Open because of an ongoing elbow injury that has sidelined him for the better part of two months.
Too bad, because he had a compelling first-round match against fellow Aussie Bernard Tomic.
With Kyrgios out, the tournament awarded lucky loser Prajnesh Gunneswaran of India -- the 183rd-ranked player in the world -- Kyrgios' position in the bracket.
But ... not so fast. After losing in qualifying here in Paris, Gunneswaran committed to playing in a challenger event in Vicenza, Italy, according to Ben Rothenberg of The New York Times. And the rules, crazy enough, say one cannot play in two tournaments at the same time -- especially when they're in different countries and all.
So out with Gunneswaran and in with his replacement, Marco Trungelliti of Argentina. Good for him -- except that he is currently in Barcelona, and the French Tennis Federation scheduled his match for 11 a.m. Monday.
Gulp.
But Trungelliti was not going to let a nine-hour car ride to Paris -- with his younger brother, mother and grandmother -- come in between him and a possible shot at Roland Garros glory. (You may also be wondering, "Why doesn't he just fly to Paris?" Good question.)
Sigue en viaje Trunge. Con una sonrisa acorde a la situación. pic.twitter.com/4vm8aWZ5U8 — FueBuena (@FueBuena) May 27, 2018
After all that drama, Tomic finally got his opponent -- or did he?
Turns out Gunneswaran might be the guy after all. Rule 7.06 in the ATP handbook states a tournament supervisor, if he or she is cool enough, has the authority to release a player from one draw to allow the competitor to play in another tournament.
Oh, boy.
Was the tourney supervisor willing to give Gunneswaran a hall pass to play at Roland Garros? Is Trungelliti going to have to turn around and head back to Barcelona? Does Tomic know what's going on? Does Tomic care? Does Tomic like tennis? Why is bread square and sandwich meat round?!?!
Bueller!
Tune in at 11 a.m. local time Monday to see how this drama unfolds.
It's OK to be the loser, as long as you are a lucky loser. Including Gunneswaran or Trungelliti, eight lucky losers have made the main draw at this year's French Open because of injuries to other players. To put that in context, that's the most lucky losers to play in Paris since the start of the Open era in 1968. Kind of crazy, no?
Mohamed Safwat was one of them. On Sunday, he became the first Egyptian man to compete in a Grand Slam singles match since Tamer El Sawy way back at the 1996 US Open.
Not surprisingly, Safwat didn't last long. He had the unfortunate task of playing Grigor Dimitrov, the world No. 4, who won in straight sets.
Ouch! That blister on Kateryna Kozlova looks painful, but it didn't stop her from knocking off defending champion Jelena Ostapenko in the first round. French Open
Check out this blister on Kateryna Kozlova's left heel. Straight-up nasty, right?
But that did not stop Kozlova from producing a major upset in the opening round of the French Open, as she beat defending champ Jelena Ostapenko. This coming only months after Kozlova tore cartilage in her knee at Indian Wells.
What does it mean? Here's what ESPN Stats & Info had to say:
ESPN Stats & Info
Good to see Ana Ivanovic working hard. Perhaps not on the tennis court anymore, but in the fitness room. Hard to believe, but this marks the 10-year anniversary since she won her only major title, the 2008 French Open, a win that simultaneously catapulted her to world No. 1. Ivanovic spent 12 weeks in the top position but never again reached a major final.
Sneaking in a little work out on a Sunday #newmomslife pic.twitter.com/XNPUQz5xWg — Ana Ivanovic (@AnaIvanovic) May 27, 2018
World No. 1 Simona Halep has a couple of more days until she has to get down to business, but for now, it's all about having fun. Halep is a two-time Grand Slam runner-up but has yet to hold the big trophy.
A big thank you to these three great players for being so nice to me yesterday. It was a big thrill for me to be on court with Rafa, Nole & Sascha, and to be involved in Kids Day @rolandgarros 😊 pic.twitter.com/2kFqUQD4xb — Simona Halep (@Simona_Halep) May 27, 2018
Ah, look. It's the Big Four when they were the little four.
