Former prodigy beats No.8
With Pliskova’s defeat, only three top-10 seeds remain
Grand Slam losses by highranked, well-known and accomplished players to, well, lower-ranked, lesser-known and less-accomplished opponents offer a rare opportunity for those unheralded winners to enjoy the spotlight.
And for the first time in nearly a half-century, just three of the top 10 seeds in the French Open women’s draw made it to the round of 32.
So meet Leolia Jeanjean: age 26; from Montpellier, France; ranked 227th; a wildcard entry after never before being a Slam participant; seemingly destined as a kid for great things in tennis, so much so that there were sponsorship deals before she was old enough to attend high school, until, that is, an injured knee derailed things. She left the sport for a couple of years and wound up moving to the U.S., where she played college tennis at Baylor, then Arkansas, then Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., while pursuing her studies in finance. At Lynn, she went unbeaten in singles and doubles, so it occurred to her maybe a professional career was worth a try.
Good choice for Jeanjean. Bad one for her foes so far at Roland Garros, including Karolina Pliskova, a two-time major finalist and the No. 8 seed, who was unable to offer much resistance and was beaten 6-2, 6-2 by Jeanjean in the second round Thursday.
“Even me, I don’t have an explanation. I don’t even realize what’s happening,” Jeanjean said. “It’s my first Grand Slam. I thought I would have lost in the first round in two sets — and I found myself beating a top-10 player. So, honestly, I have nothing else to say. I don’t really know how it’s possible.”
The remaining trio, all in the top half of the bracket, won second-round matches Thursday: No. 1 Iga Swiatek ran her winning streak to 30 matches by overwhelming Alison Riske 6-0, 6-2; No. 3 Paula Badosa recovered from a mid-match lapse to get past Kaja Juvan 7-5, 3-6, 6-2; No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka defeated Madison Brengle 6-1, 6-3.