Third seed Jessica Pegula (USA, World No. 3) breezed through the first round of the French Open 2023 (Roland Garros) Women’s Singles.
Pegula cruised past Danielle Collins (USA), ranked 46th in the world, 6-4 6-2 in one hour and 22 minutes in the first round of the women’s singles at Roland Garros Stadium, Paris, France, on Monday (28 August).
A chaotic first set proved to be the decider. In the early stages of the first set, both players struggled to hold on to the lead, breaking their opponent’s service games in quick succession. It was Pegula’s own service game that proved decisive, as he broke for a 4-3 lead. Pegula stretched the point to 40-15, but Collins was relentless and allowed a deuce. However, three deuces later, Pegula held to go up 5-3 and then closed out the first set (6-4) on his own service game.안전놀이터
The second set started much like the first, with both players breaking each other’s service games (1-1). However, Pegula capitalised on the momentum of the first set and won four games in a row to extend his lead to 5-1. It was practically the end of the match.
In the end, it was a mistake that made the difference. In Unforced Errors, a measure of missed forehand strokes, Pegula had just 12, while Collins had more than double that with 25.
Collins outperformed Pegula in serve-related statistics, including three service aces and a 63 per cent success rate on first serves, but was outclassed in the rest of the rally and stroke accuracy categories.
Pegula’s best result at Roland Garros last year was a quarter-final.
The tournament’s second seed and defending Australian Open champion, the first Grand Slam of the year, Arina Savalenka (Belarus, world No. 2) also reached the second round after defeating Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine, world No. 39) 6-3 6-2.
The biggest upset of the day in the women’s singles competition was the exit of eighth seed Maria Sakkiri (Greece, World No. 8). Sakkiri ended her Roland Garros 2023 campaign in the first round with a 6(5)-7 5-7 loss to world number 43 Karolina Muchova (CZE). Sakiri reached the quarter-finals of this event in 2021 and two years ago, but has struggled recently, falling in the second round last year and the first round this year.
Chinese players were also mixed.
Veteran Zhang Shuai (world No. 31), seeded 21st, looked lethargic in her 1-6 1-6 defeat to Magdelena Preci (Poland, world No. 88). The match lasted just 47 minutes, the shortest of all the matches played on the 28th.
Meanwhile, 19th seeded newcomer Zeng Qinwen (China, World No. 19) defeated Tamara Zidaneček (Slovakia, World No. 112) 6-3 6-1.
The first round of women’s singles action at Roland Garros continues on the 29th. Elena Ostapenko (Latvia), Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic), Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) and Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) are scheduled to compete.