French Open 2021: 9th seed Karolina Pliskova crashes out, Sofia Kenin advances to 3rd round

9th seed Karolina Pliskova crashed in women’s singles second round after 5-7, 1-6 defeat to Sloane Stephens while Sofia Kenin eased into the third round with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over fellow American Hailey Baptiste on Thursday.

Kenin, who has been struggling this season, notably losing all of her three matches on clay before Roland Garros, will next face another American, 28th seed Jessica Pegula. Kenin made 18 unforced errors in an unconvincing first-set display but broke decisively in the 11th game with her sixth consecutive point as she bagged seven games in a row to open up a 4-0 lead in the second.

Fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina also progressed by defeating French Open debutant Ann Li of the United States 6-0, 6-4.

Svitolina, seeking her maiden Grand Slam title, revealed she has signed up for online psychology courses in a bid to cope with the drastic changes in the professional athlete’s lifestyle in a post-COVID world.

Svitolina played brilliantly in the opening set by combining deep shots from the baseline with clever play at the net and dropping only five points on her service games. She recovered from a blip early in the second set to win the last five games.