Defending Champ & Osaka Out! Nadal Advances in French Open
Year after Osaka decides to leave Paris, loss forces her to
PARIS (AP) — Naomi Osaka’s return to the French Open ended in the first round with a straight-set loss to 20-year-old American Amanda Anisimova. Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam champion who took two mental health breaks last season. That included one that began when she withdrew before her second-round match at the French Open. Anisimova reached the French Open semifinals in 2019 and beat Osaka in the third round at the Australian Open in January. Osaka played with tape on her left Achilles tendon and she tried stretching her leg late in the second set.
French Open updates | Rafael Nadal reaches 2nd round
PARIS (AP) — Rafael Nadal and all of his aches and pains reached the second round of the French Open. The 13-time champion at Roland Garros beat Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round on Court Philippe Chatrier. Nadal won his men’s-record 21st Grand Slam title at the Australian Open but he has only recently returned from a rib injury that has bothered him since March. He has also been dealing with chronic pain in his left foot. That kept him out of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year and bothered him again during a loss on clay in Rome this month.
Defending champ Krejcikova loses to French foe in 1st round
PARIS (AP) — Barbora Krejcikova has become only the third defending women’s champion to lose in the first round of the French Open. Krejcikova is a Czech player who was seeded second at Roland Garros. She lost to 97th-ranked Diane Parry 1-6, 6-2, 6-3. It was Krejcikova’s first match since February because of an injured right elbow. The only other two women in the professional era to lose in the first round a year after winning the title at Roland Garros were Anastasia Myskina in 2005 and Jelena Ostapenko in 2018. Krejcikova is also only the seventh reigning champion at any Grand Slam tournament in the Open era to lose in the first round the following year.