French Open 2022: Reigning champion Krejcikova knocked out in opening round

Barbora Krejcikova's French Open title defence ended in the opening round on Monday as local hope Diane Parry was roared to a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory against the second-seeded Czech.

Published : May 23, 2022 19:57 IST , PARIS

Reigning French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova of Czech Republic lost to Frenchwoman Diane Parry in the opening round on Monday.
Reigning French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova of Czech Republic lost to Frenchwoman Diane Parry in the opening round on Monday.
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Reigning French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova of Czech Republic lost to Frenchwoman Diane Parry in the opening round on Monday.

Barbora Krejcikova's French Open title defence ended in the opening round on Monday as local hope Diane Parry was roared to a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory against the second-seeded Czech.

Krejcikova, who defeated Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the 2021 final to win her maiden Grand Slam title, arrived at Roland Garros without any competitive matches under her belt since February due to an elbow injury.

But she breezed through the opening set against the 97th-ranked Parry, who was facing a top-10 opponent for the first time in her career, in 34 minutes before her rustiness showed.

The 19-year-old Parry turned the match on its head by winning the second set as errors and double faults began to creep into Krejcikova's game.

 

Krejcikova took a lengthy break after losing the second set and was booed by the partisan French crowd at the Court Philippe Chatrier on her return.

The 26-year-old Czech got an early break in the deciding set but Parry, urged on by the crowd, levelled things at 2-2 and then got the decisive break in the eighth game.

Krejcikova found the net on match point for her 45th unforced error as Parry completed a remarkable victory with the crowd chanting 'Parry, Parry' throughout the contest.

"It's a dream for me. It was always a dream to play on this court with the French crowd to support me," Parry said during an interview on court.

"They clearly pushed me to victory today. I'm the happiest person right now. It's never easy to start on this kind of court against the defending champion, you can get a bit tight, which happened in the first set but then I managed to relax."

She will play Colombian Camila Osorio for a place in the third round.

Krejcikova left in tears after loss

A tearful Barbora Krejcikova said she hit a wall physically midway through her match against Diane Parry 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 against the local hope.

But her problems started soon after as errors and double faults began to creep into her game as the match progressed against her 19-year-old opponent, who had never faced a top-10 opponent before in her career.

"I think set and 2-0, that was where I hit the wall," an emotional Krejcikova told reporters, with tears trickling down 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."

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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.

"There was option of a surgery, as well, which I denied," she said, adding that she was unsure of how to deal with her elbow problem for a long time.

"I didn't want to do that one. I was just looking for a different option. I was actually lucky that I found a different option, and with the doctors, they were very nice and they tried to help me the best way they could.

"Then we finally found out how to treat it, I thought maybe I will not make it to Roland Garros. So I'm still very happy to be here."

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