Defending women's champion Krejcikova bounced in opener
PARIS A tearful Barbora Krejcikova said she hit a wall physically midway through her match against Diane Parry of France with the defeat ending the Czech second seed's French Open title defence in the opening round.
Krejcikova's last competitive match was in February in Doha before she took a lengthy break to deal with an elbow injury, but she still managed to win the first set in brisk fashion and opened up a 2-0 lead in the second.
But her problems started soon after as errors and double faults began to creep into her game as the match progressed against Parry, 19, who had never before faced a top-10 opponent.
“I think in the second set and 2-0, that was where I hit the wall,” an emotional Krejcikova said, with tears on her cheeks. “I just collapsed physically, and, I mean, it was tough because I didn't play the matches. Usually the matches are different than the practices, and I tried to prepare the best way I could. But, yeah, I collapsed.”
Krejcikova, who left the news conference for a few minutes to compose herself, said she was pain-free but she struggled to keep up with the pace during the rallies against the 97th-ranked Parry under the closed roof of Court Philippe Chatrier.
Meanwhile, former U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu, who returned to action in April following a six-month mental health hiatus, moved into the second round with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 win over Belgian qualifier Ysaline Bonaventure.
The Canadian will face No. 14 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland on Wednesday, the same day that Montreal's Leylah Annie Fernandez, the No. 17 seed, plays Czech Katerina Siniakova.
Fernandez won her opening match on Sunday, downing Kristina Mladenovic 6-0, 7-5.
Iga Swiatek's campaign got off to a smooth start as the world No. 1 needed less than an hour to dispatch Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko 6-2, 6-0 and book her place in the second round. The Pole extended her winning run to 29 matches.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka crashed out at the first hurdle following a 7-5, 6-4 defeat by seeded American Amanda Anisimova, a year after her withdrawal from Roland Garros for mental health reasons.
Twice Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova rallied from 2-5 to take the first set against Hungarian Anna Bondar on the tiebreak before cruising through the second to triumph 7-6 (0), 6-1.
On the men's side, Rafael Nadal showed no signs of pain as the 13-time French Open champion marched into the second round at Roland Garros with a clinical 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 demolition of Australian Jordan Thompson on Monday.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic cruised past Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 to advance to the French Open second round in a successful start to his quest for a record-equalling 21st Grand Slam.
Fresh from his Italian Open victory without dropping a set eight days ago, the defending champ broke his Japanese opponent, who deployed a risky strategy of playing tight angles from the start, to move 4-2 up.
American 13th seed Taylor Fritz, who missed the Madrid and Rome Open with injury, clinched a hardfought 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win over Argentina's Santiago Rodriguez Taverna.
Fritz' compatriot Reilly Opelka, seeded 18th, lost to Filip Krajnovic in straight sets earlier.
As for the Canadian men, Denis Shapovalov hits the court today to battle Switzerland's Holger Rune, while Felix Auger-aliassime plays Camilo Ugo Carabelli on Wednesday. Auger-aliassime won his match on Sunday, storming back from two sets down to beat Juan Pablo Varillas 2-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.