Caroline Wozniacki has completed a hat-trick of first round exits on red clay this season as she became the third former world No.1 to fall in the first round of the French Open.
The 13th-seeded Dane suffered a spectacular collapse in a 0-6 6-3 6-3 defeat to Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Court Philippe Chatrier on Monday, just 24 hours after Angelique Kerber and Venus Williams were also sent packing.
But fancied fourth seed Kiki Bertens beat French Pauline Parmentier 6-3 6-4; with eight-seeded Australian Ashleigh Barty, number 12 Anastasija Sevastova of Belarus and 26th-seeded Rome finalist Johanna Konta also going through.
Wozniacki, who had spells as world No.1 between 2010 and 2012, has failed to win a match on red clay this year as she was forced to retire with back and calf injuries midway through her opening round contests in Madrid and Rome.
Wozniacki, who had reached the Charleston final on green clay before she suffered the injury setbacks, paid for her lack of match practice after a near-perfect start on Monday.
“I think I played really well in the first set. I played aggressive. I played the way I wanted to play. And then I think she got very lucky in the start of the second set and… took advantage of the opportunities she got,” Wozniacki told reporters.
“And then I just lost a little steam in the end and I made some unforced errors that I normally don’t do, so that was very frustrating.”
The 28-year-old Wozniacki has never made it past the quarter-finals in 12 appearances at Roland Garros.
The Dane suffers from arthritis but said her condition had not been bothering her lately.
Bertens broke Parmentier once in each set and wrapped up matters with her 20th winner, a backhand longline passing shot.
The Dutchwoman won the recent Madrid Masters without dropping a set and also has semi-final berths from Stuttgart and Rome, which makes her a top contender for the title on June 8 – a role she is not really enjoying.
“I know it’s going to be a really, really tough way for the title here. I take it match by match. And then we see whatever happens here,” she said.
“I know that I can do it, but I also know that I can lose in the next round.”
Czech contender Petra Kvitova, the two-time Wimbledon champion, meanwhile withdrew ahead of her opening match, stating a tear in her left forearm.
“When I started to practise Roland Garros, I started to feel a little bit my forearm, but yesterday when I hit it was much worse, and suddenly I felt the pain. Immediately I had to stop my practice,” she told a news conference.
