Former prodigy Jeanjean surprises at French Open
PARIS — Grand Slam losses by high-ranked, 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 singles draw made it to the round of 32.
So meet Leolia Jeanjean: age 26; from Montpellier, France; ranked 227th; a wild-card entry in her first appearance at any major tournament; 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 a knee injury derailed things.
She left the sport for a couple of years, then wound up moving to the United States, where she played college tennis at Baylor, then Arkansas, then Lynn while pursuing her studies in finance. At the latter university in Boca Raton, Florida, 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 Thursday and was beaten 6-2, 6-2 by Jeanjean in the second round.
“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.”
A year ago at this time, she was ranked outside the top 800 and winning hundreds of dollars at low-level International Tennis Federation events. No matter what happens in her next match, she’ll leave Paris with at least 125,000 euros ($135,000).
“When I stopped playing when I was young, I just wanted to give myself another chance,” Jeanjean said. “because in my head, since I was good when I was like 14, 15, I’m like, ‘Why can’t I be good 10 years later?’ So that’s why, yeah, I (took a) chance. And so far it’s working.”
Asked whether he also was stunned by it all, Jeanjean’s coach of three months, Thomas Delgado, quickly replied, straight faced: “No.” And then he chuckled, before continuing: “Well, yes, I am. … On one side, I’m surprised she did it. But on the other, I knew she could.”
No. 9 Danielle Collins, the Australian Open runner-up in January, departed, too, eliminated by 50th-ranked Shelby Rogers 6-4, 6-3 in a matchup between Americans.
According to the WTA, the previous time three or fewer top-10 women’s singles seeds got to the French Open’s round of 32 was in 1976. In those days, only eight players were seeded to begin with in a field of 64, half of the current tournament size.
Pliskova and Collins joined No. 2 Barbora Krejcikova — the 2021 champion who was beaten in the first round Monday, then pulled out of doubles competition after testing positive for COVID-19 — No. 4 Maria Sakkari, No. 5 Anett Kontaveit, No. 6 Ons Jabeur and No. 10 Garbiñe Muguruza, who all were gone by Wednesday.
The remaining trio, all in the top half of the bracket, won second-round matches Thursday: No. 1 Iga Swiatek ran her streak of wins to 30 — the longest in women’s tennis since Serena Williams had a 34-match run in 2013 — 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; and No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka defeated Madison Brengle 6-1, 6-3.
“I could feel like, ‘Wow, this is good, because they are losing.’ But in this case, I’m more like, ‘OK, pay attention, because anything can happen,’” said Badosa, a quarterfinalist in Paris a year ago. “You saw it today.”