Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova was made to work hard in her first singles match since she won her second Grand Slam title earlier this month. But in nearly three hours, the ninth seed nonetheless opened her Olympic campaign with a victory.
Krejcikova, playing in her second Olympics, overcame 60 unforced errors to outlast Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo 4-6, 6-0, 7-6(2) in 2 hours and 53 minutes. After losing serve three times in the opening set, Krejcikova regrouped to win the second — where Sorribes Tormo nonetheless saved seven of the 10 break points she faced — before winning a marathon third set that lasted as long as the other two combined.
The win is Krejcikova’s first in singles on the grounds of Roland Garros since she won the French Open title in 2021, and extends her unbeaten run to eight straight singles matches after she won seven in a row in her All England Club triumph. After winning Wimbledon, she and longtime doubles partner Katerina Siniakova — with whom she’s partnered in Paris — reunited to win the doubles title at their home Livesport Prague Open last week.
With play on the outside courts washed out on Saturday’s first day of play, Day 2’s schedule had more than 30 singles and doubles matches for Hologic WTA Tour players scheduled to be played.
Other early highlights included:
- Krejcikova’s fellow Top 10 seeds in action early on Day 2 were easy winners. No.6 seed and Australian Open finalist Zheng Qinwen of China blanked Sara Errani 6-0, 6-0, just 12 days after beating the Italian 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round of her title run in Palermo — extending her winning streak to six matches. No.7 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece surrendered just one game in toppling Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic 6-0, 6-1, while eighth-seeded American Danielle Collins progressed to Round 2 when German Laura Siegemund retired from their match with Collins ahead 6-3, 2-0.
- No.15 seed Diana Shnaider, who like Zheng also won a title last week (Budapest), won her sixth straight match with a 6-2, 7-5 triumph over another Italian, Elisabetta Cocciaretto. Cocciaretto served for the second set. Also through was Ukrainian flag bearer Elina Svitolina, the former Top 10 player, who won 10 straight games in her victory over Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima.
- Another Grand Slam winner, Bianca Andreescu, also eased through in her Olympic debut. The Canadian hit 25 winners in powering past Dane Clara Tauson 6-2, 6-3 and will be the next opponent for No.13 seed Donna Vekic.
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