Reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova maneuvered through a topsy-turvy two-day journey to reach the Roland Garros third round, but former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko was knocked out on Thursday.
No.5 seed Vondrousova of the Czech Republic outlasted American qualifier Katie Volynets 0-6, 6-1, 6-4 in a match that started on Wednesday and concluded on Thursday.
Vondrousova, who made the 2019 Roland Garros singles final as a teenager, received an opening-set bagel from Volynets on Wednesday, but the Czech moved to a commanding 4-1 lead in the second set before rain washed out the rest of outer-court play.
Upon their Thursday resumption, Vondrousova won one game before another rain delay again halted outer-court play for hours. When they returned, Vondrousova had all the momentum, at one juncture winning 10 straight points as she eased to a 4-1 lead in the third set.
But World No.108 Volynets used outstanding speed and defense to pull her way back into the set, grinding to a break for 4-2 on her fifth break point of that game.
At 5-4, Vondrousova missed out on two match points, then fired her ninth double fault to put Volynets one point away from leveling the match at 5-5. But the Czech slammed a winner to get back to Deuce, and she held on from there to squeak out the circuitous victory.
In the third round, Vondrousova will face another player ranked outside the Top 100: French wild card Chloe Paquet, who upset No.32 seed Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 3-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(6).
Paquet, a 29-year-old who holds a career-high ranking of World No.101, excited her home crowd by reaching the third round of a Grand Slam event for the first time in her career.
Vondrousova defeated Paquet 6-1, 6-4 in their only previous meeting, at an ITF Challenger event in Florida in 2016, when the Czech was just 16 years old.
Tauson ousts Ostapenko: Another Grand Slam champion, No.9 seed Ostapenko, could not capture a three-set win on Thursday. World No.72 Clara Tauson of Denmark pulled off a 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3 upset of Latvia’s Ostapenko, the 2017 Roland Garros titlist.
Tauson, a former World No.1 in the juniors, collected her third career Top 20 win and moved into the Roland Garros third round for the second straight year.
The 21-year-old Dane, who has had her rise curtailed by various injuries, took charge at the end of the third set with masterful drop shots. She used one to reach break point at 4-3 in the third set, which she converted with a forehand winner down the line.
Serving for the match at 5-3, Tauson started that game with two consecutive drop shot winners, en route to a love hold for the victory.
Tauson will now take on another Grand Slam champion in the third round: 2020 Australian Open titlist Sofia Kenin, who toppled No.21 seed Caroline Garcia on Wednesday. It will be their first meeting.
More to come…