Upstarts crash women's draw for the round of 32
PARIS >> 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.
Among those unexpected party crashers is Leolia Jeanjean, 26, from Montpellier, France; ranked 227th and a wildcard entry who never had even been a Grand Slam participant.
Jeanjean was 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, wound up moving to the U.S. where she played college tennis at Baylor, then Arkansas, then Lynn University, 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 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.”
No. 9 Danielle Collins, the Australian Open runner-up, 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 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, because she tested 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 winning streak to 30 matches, 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; No. 7 Aryna Sabalenka defeated Madison Brengle 6-1, 6-3.
The men's draw certainly has seen some excitement — including fiveset victories after being match point down for both No. 3 Alexander Zverev and No. 6 Carlos Alcaraz on Wednesday — but all 12 of the highest seeds advanced to the third round, the first time that's happened at the French Open since 2009, according to the ATP.
No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas, the runner-up to Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros last year, saved four set points after falling behind 6-2 in the last tiebreaker before putting away 134thranked qualifier Zdenek Kolar 6-3, 7-6 (8), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6) in a 4-hour, 6-minute tussle Thursday night.