Former World No.1 Karolina Pliskova failed to advance to the French Open 2023 women’s singles. On Monday, May 29, the No.16 seed lost to USA’s Sloane Stephens 0-6, 4-6 in the opening round in only one hour and 24 minutes. The 31-year-old, who advanced to the quarter-final of the Australian Open earlier this year, looked out of sorts.

It also happened to be the second time when Pliskova lost a set 0-6 at Grand Slam level after the 2016 Wimbledon first-round match against Yanina Wickmayer. Pliskova made 11 unforced errors in the first set and it led to her downfall in the opening set.

She fell 3-1 behind in the second set after making a double fault at breakpoint. However, she earned a break of serve to lead 4-3 and seemed to be making a comeback. But Stephens was equal to the task, earning a break back after which she romped to victory.

Pliskova ended up making 31 unforced errors. Stephens, who is third in the list of most wins at Roland Garros this century after Serena and Venus Williams, is next scheduled to lock horns with Russia’s Varvara Gracheva in the second round on Wednesday.

Djokovic eases past Aleksander Kovacevic

World No.3 Novak Djokovic made an impressive start to his campaign after beating USA’s Aleksander Kovacevic 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1). It also happened to be Djokovic’s 19th win in the first round of the clay-court tournament.

Djokovic was on the money in the first two sets before Kovacevic game him a run for money in the third set, taking it into a tie-breaker. But the 22-time Grand Slam singles winner brought forth all his experience to dominate his opponent in the tie-break.

Djokovic was excellent with his first serves, winning 82 percent points from them apart from smashing 10 aces. The veteran will next face Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics in the second round on Wednesday, May 31.