5/29/2023 11:39:01 AM EST
Sloane Stephens recorded a first-round upset of 16th-seeded Karolina Pliskova on Monday in the French Open at Roland Garros in Paris. Stephens upended Pliskova 6-0, 6-4 in 1 hour and 24 minutes. Stephens improves to 5-1 lifetime against Pliskova, having last defeated her in the second round of the 2021 French Open. Stephens committed just 10 unforced errors compared to 31 for the Czech. "I think this court is a bit tricky," Stephens said. "You have to play on it a lot to understand when the wind is blowing and where it's coming. ... The more you play on it, the more you understand it but it is very complicated -- that's what makes it so amazing."Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who made it to the finals of the 2021 French Open, opened her tourney with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Linda Fruhvirtova in 70 minutes. Pavlyuchenkova, making her return from a knee injury this time last year that sidelined her for the rest of 2022, had 25 winners against 14 unforced errors. Fruhvirtova suffered 11 double faults. "My goal is not only to come back to tennis and just participate," Pavlyuchenkova said. "I obviously want to be a better version of myself than even when I was two years ago in the peak of my career."In other seeded action, fifth-seeded Caroline Garcia of France was a 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4 winner over Xiyu Wang of China. No. 14 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil cruised in 64 minutes, and No. 20 Madison Keys was a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 winner over Estonian Kaia Kanepi. No. 22 Donna Vekic recorded a 6-2, 7-5 win over qualifier Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine. Also, No. 17 Jelena Ostapenko was a straight-sets winner and No. 23 Ekaterina Alexandrova won in three sets. No. 12 Belinda Bencic, however, was upset by World No. 134 Elina Avanesyan 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. Likewise, 10th-seeded Petra Kvitova was knocked off by Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy 6-3, 6-4 and No. 11 Veronika Kudermetova was ousted by Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. Other winners in Monday's action included Yulia Putintseva, Peyton Stearns, qualifier Kayla Day, Camila Osorio, Marketa Vondrousova, Diana Shnaider, Bernarda Pera, Elina Svitolina, Anna-Lena Friedsam, Aliona Bolsova, qualifier Simona Waltert, Anna Blinkova and Varvara Gracheva.--Field Level Media
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