Embarrassing first round French Open exit for ‘flat ‘ World No 1

WORLD No 1 Angelique Kerber’s nightmare season hit a new low yesterday when, with expectations weighing heavily after a stellar 2016, she was dumped out of the French Open 6-2, 6-2 by 40th-ranked Ekaterina Makarova.

The German became the first top seeded woman to lose in the opening round of the French Open since the sport turned professional in 1968 – and the disparity between the players in her Russian opponent’s favour was as wide as the scoreline suggests.

Cutting a troubled figure on court a world away from the feisty baseliner who last season battled her way to two Grand Slam titles, Kerber lacked the pace and power to trouble her fellow left-hander.

Kerber, 29, has struggled this year, withdrawing from the Madrid Open with a thigh injury and going down in straight sets to qualifier Anna Kontaveit in Rome.

But yesterday’s setback – albeit on a surface for which she has no great affection, having made an opening-round exit in Paris last year – threatens to leave her season in tatters.

That picture offers the starkest of contrasts with a spectacular 2016 that also brought her major wins in the Australian and US Opens.

“Last year it was a completely different year. I mean, the pressure is always there,” she told a news conference. “This year the expectations are much bigger, especially in the big tournaments … and the expectations are also from me really big, of course, because I know what I can do.”

The German will be happy to leave Roland Garros behind, and hope to rediscover a game in which several cylinders are misfiring in time for Wimbledon, where she finished runner-up last year.

“Right now I think that I have to find to myself again and just trying to forget the claycourt season as soon as possible,” she said.