First chased
No. 1 Kerber upset in French opener
PARIS — A French Open already missing Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova is now without No. 1-ranked Angelique Kerber, too, lending even more of a feeling that the women’s championship is anyone’s to win.
Kerber has not been playing at all like one of the best at what she does, and on Sunday she became the first woman seeded No. 1 to lose in the French Open’s first round in the professional era.
Kerber, who replaced Williams atop the WTA rankings this month, was gone from Roland Garros by lunchtime on Day 1, putting up little resistance while being beaten 6-2, 6-2 by 40thranked Ekaterina Makarova of Russia. It’s the latest in a string of early exits for Ker- ber, who reached her first three major finals in 2016.
“This year, I mean, the expectations are much bigger, especially in the big tournaments and the Grand Slams. And the expectations are also, from me, really big, of course, because I know what I can do, what I did last year,” Kerber said. “But right now, I think that I have to find myself again.”
Other significant results as the year’s second Grand Slam tournament began: Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova played — and won — her first match since being stabbed by an intruder at her home in December; Venus Williams began her 20th appearance at Roland Garros with a victory; and Rio Olympics gold medalist Monica Puig eliminated 2015 U.S. Open runner-up Roberta Vinci 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Makarova’s take when informed of the history made by her victory?
“Well,” she said, “that’s unbelievable.”
Although maybe not, considering how Kerber has fared lately.
Her Australian Open and U.S. Open titles, plus Wimbledon runner-up finish, seem a bit in the distance now: The German has a 19-13 record this season, losing four of her past six matches.
“If you are losing, it’s always tough to [enjoy] the game,” Kerber said. “I mean, I know in the last years I had always up and downs and right now, of course, I’m ... down.”
In the court’s preceding match, Kvitova’s eyes welled with tears at the end of her 6-3, 6-2 win against 86th-ranked Julia Boserup of the United States.
“I think it doesn’t really matter how I played,” but I won, Kvitova said.
She had surgery on her left hand — the one she plays tennis with — after the knife attack in the Czech Republic.
Only in recent days did Kvitova decide to enter the French Open.