‘Maybe, it was good to lose’

Stunned by Magda Linette in Round One, destiny-believer Ons Jabeur says...

Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur suffered a shock French Open first round exit on Sunday but admitted: “Maybe, it was good to lose.” The sixth-seeded Tunisian crashed out to Poland’s 56th-ranked Magda Linette 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5.

Jabeur came into the event with a season-leading 17 wins on clay in 2022 and with the prestigious Madrid title under her belt. 

Magda Linette

However, she was undone Sunday by 24 unforced errors in the two hour 28-minute match. Linette had lost to Jabeur in the third round in 2021 having stunned an injury-hit top seed Ashleigh Barty in her previous match.

Time to reflect for Jabeur

“Obviously, I was expecting better but we say maybe something happens bad because there is something good happening in the future,” said Jabeur. “Hopefully the grass season, hopefully Wimbledon, I don’t know, but it’s definitely a great time to reflect and to see what’s going to happen next.”

Dominic Thiem during his match against Hugo Dellien

“I just tried to stay focused after the first set and tried to make her uncomfortable. I was happy to fight for every single point,” said Linette who needed treatment on a leg injury after dropping the first set. “I wanted to put her in the situation where she 
couldn’t move me around as much.” 

Thiem crashes out

Meanwhile, two-time French Open runner-up Dominic Thiem, whose ranking has slipped to 194 after a lengthy battle with a wrist injury, crashed out in the first round Sunday, losing 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to Hugo Dellien of Bolivia as Spanish teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz prepared to give Roland Garros a glimpse of the future of Grand Slam tennis. 

Thiem, the 2020 US Open champion, has yet to win a match in six attempts since his return in March. He has now lost 10 tour-level matches in a row. His last victory came in Rome just over a year ago. 

The 28-year-old Austrian, a former World No.3, reached at least the quarter-finals at Roland Garros five years running from 2016 to 2020. He finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal in 2018 and 2019. “It’s not the greatest feeling to go in a Grand Slam knowing that all is not perfect in practice. I don’t play like I would like to in practice,” said the Austrian. 

Muguruza bows out

Former French Open champion Garbine Muguruza was knocked out in the first round on Sunday, losing 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi, the oldest woman in the tournament.

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