Garbine Muguruza and Ons Jabeur suffered shock defeats on Day 1 of French Open 2022 on Sunday.
Muguruza lost 6-2, 3-6, 4-6 to Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi, the oldest woman in the tournament while the in-form Jabeur was bundled out 6-3, 6-7 (4), 5-7 by Poland’s Magda Linette.
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The victory is Kanepi’s 19th career win over a seeded player in the first three rounds of a Grand Slam, and she rallied from 6-2, 2-0 down to do so in 2 hours, 6 minutes.
Ten of Kanepi’s now-15 career Top 10 wins have come at majors.
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She also defeated then-World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open en route to her seventh career Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Set to turn 37 on June 10, Kanepi is the oldest player in the women’s main draw in Paris, and moves through to face Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia in Round 2.
In-form Jabeur ‘disappointed’
An impeccable performance from the Pole 🇵🇱
The BEST moments from @MagdaLinette's win over this year's clay-court match-win leader, Ons Jabeur ⬇️
🎥: @rolandgarros pic.twitter.com/oRVTsBbgpX
— wta (@WTA) May 22, 2022
Jabeur, seen as one of the big threats to World No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the claycourt Grand Slam, came to Paris at a career-high ranking and with a tour-leading 17 wins on the surface.
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“I wanted to go as far as I could in the tournament because I played well on clay in Madrid and in Rome, and it’s difficult to take that one in,” the Tunisian said on Sunday.
“But that’s what sport is like and you need to be smart enough to move forward and get back on court.”
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The 27-year-old suffered an early break of serve before breezing through the opening set in 37 minutes before Linette, who was ranked 56th before the start of the second major of the year, raised her game.
Dominic Thiem ousted
Former World No. 3 Dominic Thiem was beaten 6-3 6-2 6-4 by Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien in Paris on Sunday.
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The 28-year-old has lost his past seven matches since returning from a wrist injury which kept him out for nine months.
“There are painful defeats week after week and though not unexpected I am very disappointed,” said Thiem.
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Thiem said dropping down to the ATP Challenger Tour – the tier of tournaments below the main tour – could be an option to try and revive his confidence.
