The French Open began Sunday with an upset at Roland Garros with No. 9 seed Venus Williams losing in straight sets to world No. 78 Wang Qiang of China.
French Open 2018 results: Venus Williams upset in opening round at Roland Garros
The first major seed drops.
Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
Williams seemed to be in control in the first set, breaking Wang twice but couldn’t keep up the pace as the went on to lose the first set 6-4, before failing to hang on and dropping the second set 7-5. Clay has never been Venus’ strongest surface, with a career 48-21 record at Roland Garros, but it was still expected that she would make it out of the first round, even at 37-years-old.
It wasn’t all bad news for American women at the French Open, with No. 10 seed Sloane Stephens breezing to an easy 6-2, 6-0 win over Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands. It was a much-needed win for Stephens, who hadn’t won a match in a Grand Slam since claiming the U.S. Open title last September.
Overall it was a difficult day for the top-seeded women. Reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko was stunned by Kateryna Kozlova, while Elina Svitolina survived an early scare against Ajla Tomljanović. Svitolina, the No.4 seed, found herself down 5-1 in the opening set, before mounting a comeback which resulted in a 7-5, 6-3 win.
Complete results
Men’s singles
No. 2 Alexander Zverev def. Ricardas Berankis, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 Grigor Dimitrov def. Mohamed Safwat, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(1)
No. 8 David Goffin def. Robin Haase, 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0
No. 10 Pablo Carreno Busta def. Jozef Kovalik, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5, 7-6(5)
No. 15 Lucas Pouille def. Daniil Medvedev, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
No. 19 Kei Nishikori def. Maxime Janvier, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 26 Damir Dzumhurd def. Denis Kudla, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
No. 30 Fernando Verdasco def. Yoshihito Nishioka, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-5
No. 32 Gael Monfils def. Elliot Benchetrit, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-1
Federico Delbonis def. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-1, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Jared Donaldson def. Nicolas Jarry, 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-1
Matteo Berrettin def. Oscar Otte, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-1
Corentin Moutet def. Ivo Karlovic, 7-6(7), 6-2, 7-6(5)
Martin Klizan def. Laslo Djere, 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-1
Guido Andreozzi def. Taylor Fritz, 6-7(4), 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
Radu Albot def. Gregoire Barrere, 4-6, 0-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-2
Women’s singles
No. 4 Elina Svitolina def. Ajla Tomljanovic, 7-5, 6-3
Kateryna Kozlova def. No. 5 Jelena Ostapenko, 7-5, 6-3
Qiang Wang def. No. 9 Venus Williams, 6-4, 7-5
No. 10 Sloane Stephens def. Arantxa Rus, 6-2, 6-0
Yulia Putintseva def. No. 22 Johanna Konta, 6-4, 6-3
No. 25 Anett Kontaveit def. Madison Brengle, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
No. 26 Barbora Strycova def. Kurumi Nara, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4
No. 32 Alize Cornet def. Sara Errani, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3
Viktoria Kuzmova def. Francesca Schiavone, 7-6(2), 7-6(2)
Ekaterina Makarova def. Saisai Zheng, 6-4, 6-1
Magdalena Frech def. Ekaterina Alexandrova, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Jennifer Brady def. Amandine Hesse, 6-1, 6-1
Zarina Diyas def. Magda Linette, 6-3, 6-1
Petra Martic def. Yafan Wang, 6-2, 6-3
Alexandra Dulgheru vs. Christina McHale (to finish Monday), 5-7, 7-6(5)
Chloe Paquet vs. Pauline Parmentier (to finish Monday), 6-3, 6-7(4), 1-3
See More:
