2020 Roland Garros: Coco Gauff continues with her upsets, Venus Williams exits

Johanna Konta, Anett Kontaveit and Dayana Yastremska were three of the biggest seeds to fall on the first day of 2020 Roland Garros on Sunday.

Coco Gauff upset the ninth-seeded Konta, who had reached the semi-finals here last year. The American won in straight sets 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and 45 minutes. Gauff finished the match with 14 winners and 26 unforced errors. Konta had 22 winners and 41 unforced errors.

In the second round, Gauff will play Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan. Trevisan came through in the Italian derby against Camila Giorgi after the latter withdrew from the match trailing 7-5, 3-0.

France’s Caroline Garcia ousted Kontaveit in their opening-round match. Garcia won 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and five minutes. This was the second meeting in two weeks between the two players, with the first coming at the Rome Open last-to-last week. The Estonian had won that match with Garcia turning the result around in her favour this time.

In the round-of-64, Garcia will play Belarus’ Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Sasnovich beat Germany’s Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in their round-of-128 clash.

Australian Daria Gavrilova got the better of the 16th seed Dayana Yastremska. Gavrilova won in straight sets against the Ukrainian 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 29 minutes. She will play Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in the second round.

Bouchard who reached the semi-finals in Paris in 2014 and who received a main draw wild card for this year’s edition defeated Anna Kalinskaya of Russia in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. The match between Gavrilova and Bouchard will be momentous given how each has had her struggles in the past handful of years. While Bouchard’s performances have been erratic – this was her first victory in the main draw of a Major since the 2019 Australian Open – Gavrilova’s injuries forced her to stay away from competition for nearly a year-and-a-half.

2020 Roland Garros: Venus Williams suffers another first-round loss

Twenty-third seed Yulia Putintseva advanced to the second-round a with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Belgium’s Kirsten Flipkens. The Kazakh will take on Argentinian qualifier Nadia Podoroska who defeated Flipkens’ compatriot Greet Minnen by the same score: 6-2, 6-1.

Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu set up a round-of-64 showdown with countrywoman and top-seed Simona Halep. Begu needed three sets but got the win against Jil Teichmann of Switzerland. After two hours and 30 minutes of play, Begu won 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic seeded 32nd in the draw, won against American qualifier Varvara Lepchenko 7-5, 6-2 in two hours and four minutes. She will play fellow Czech Barbora Krejcikova in the round-of-64. Krejcikova defeated Serbian Nina Stojanovic 6-3, 7-5 in their opener.

Lastly, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova will play the 10th-seeded Victoria Azarenka in the second round. The Slovakian got the better of former finalist Venus Williams in their opener 6-4, 6-4.

The American pulled ahead in the first set taking an early break but Schmiedlova persisted long enough to get the break back and then claim one of her own to go up on the former world no. 1. Schmiedlova took a double-break lead in the second set but this time it was Williams who re-captured a break back. Towards the end, it wasn’t enough to help Williams see through the match.

Despite this loss at 2020 Roland Garros, there was some positivity for Williams’ fans. Although the seven-time Major champion said she wouldn’t be playing anymore for the rest of this season, she would be back in 2021.

Photo Credit: Roland Garros Twitter

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