Thursday, May 30, 2024

Already gone

Upsets at majors are common. And upsets in the first round are sometimes not really unexpected, yet those are often part of a bigger, sadder, story. And some "upsets" are really about seeding--they are just results that are somewhat surprising.

Here are the first round upsets at Roland Garros:

Marie Bouzkova d. Veronika Kudermetova (29)--No one runs more hot and cold than Kudermetova, only lately, the cold tap has been dominant. Kudermetova is good on clay; however, when Bouzkova is on, she can be a handful.

Victorija Golubic d. Barbora Krejcikova (24)--The 2021 French Open champion hasn't had a great couple of years. Plagued by both illness and injury (elbow, wrist, ankle, and back), she has also had to deal with the breakup of one of the WTA's longest-running (and highly successful) doubles partnerships. Despite these significant setbacks, the Czech star won both Dubai and San Diego last year. To see her go out in the opening round of the French is worrisome.

Victoriya Tomova d. Ekaterina Alexandrova (16)--Alexandrova has worked hard to join the top 20, but clay courts are not her favorite.

Elisabetta Cocciaretto d. Beatriz Haddad Maia ((13)--Haddad Maia, known for playing three-set matches, likes to say that the clock is her friend, but the French clock let her down. Her opponent defeated her 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Varvara Gracheva d. Maria Sakkari (6)--Gracheva, who now plays for France, is a talented player, and it shouldn't surprise anyone that she would pull a big upset. The story here, however, is about Sakkari. The Greek star went into a slump last year, but then won Guadalajara, which appeared to increase her confidence. She also parted ways with long-time coach Tom Hill, signaling a desire to try something new. But Sakkari's issue is larger than just the disappointment of being in a slump: She has played in ten WTA singles finals, and has won only two of them. It will be interesting to see if her new partnership with David Witt will produce a new mental approach to playing big matches.

There were also a few surprises (for me) among unseeded players. Anhelina Kalinina lost to Camila Osorio. That wasn't a shocking result, but a bit of a surprise, given how ood Kalinina has been on clay lately. Sara Sorribes Tormo lost to Bianca Andreescu, and yes--when she's healthy, Andreescu is fearsome--but she hasn't played much lately, and it's Sorribes Tormo who loves the clay courts. And finally, Angie Kerber lost to Arantxa Rus. The former world number 1 has showed several flashes of her old self lately, and I expected her to win some matches in Paris this year.

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