Reigning Australian Open champion and the 2011 Roland Garros champion Li Na suffered an upset in the first round of this year’s edition of the French Open, losing to world No.103 Kristina Mladenovic of France. Since men’s reigning Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka also lost in the first round of the ongoing claycourt Grand Slam, we’re having a historic moment, the first of the kind, that both the reigning AO champions are out after their opening matches.
The second-seeded Li’s serve was broken three times in the first set and twice in the decider, in which she didn’t earn a single break point and hit five winners to 15 unforced errors, while Mladenovic’s stats in that department were 5/5 in the third set. Finishing the match with a -4 winners-to-unforced-errors differential to Li’s -10, Mladenovic recorded a 7-5 3-6 6-1 triumph in the wonderful Adidas Women’s Roland Garros On-Court Dress.
Last year Mladenovic managed to reach No. 36 in the WTA rankings, but so far this season she hasn’t been further than the second round of a WTA event. Moreover, she had just once in her career reached the second round of the French Open, although she did win the junior title at tournament in 2009.
I knew this match would be tough but I figure Li Na would pull it toward end but I was shocked like many she wouldn’t win.