By Erik Gudris | Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Reigning Australian Open champion Li Na found herself exiting Paris at the hands of a French favorite in round one.
Photo Credit : Peter Staples
Another day, another surprise result as yet again a Grand Slam champion left this year's French Open in the opening round.
French Open - Wawrinka Crashes Out in Opening Round
After Stan Wawrinka suffered a surprise loss on Monday, it was Li Na's turn to hit the exits after her opening round despite being a former champion in Paris.
The No. 2 seed Li faced off against France's own Kristina Mladenovic in what would turn out to be a roller coaster match. Mladenovic, who often attacked the net, pressured Li often through a close first set. The Frenchwoman would soon take it 7-5.
Li rebounded thanks to a dip in play from her opponent. Taking hold of an early break allowed China's No. 1 player to claim the second set. Despite appearing to have things under control, Li soon relinquished her grip on the match.
Encouraged by the local fans, Mladenovic raced out to a 4-1 lead in the final set. Not looking back, Mladenovic soon served out the match in style, clinching it 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.
Check out the video highlights.
Li's loss marked the first time in history that both men's and women's Grand Slam singles champions lost in the opening round of the subsequent major.
Li afterwards admitted she did not feel mentally prepared to win the match despite being the obvious favorite.
"The problem is myself," Li said. I don't think I'm doing well on the court. And also, even during the match, I don't think totally what I should do, like especially I didn't follow the game plan, and even I was standing up the court, in my mind I didn't have any idea how to play the match."
For Mladenovic, having the home crowd support was a big plus.
"Well, you know, for us French players it can be really tough sometimes to play in front of our crowd. But, you know, once you get at that stage, when it's really close result against a really good player and if you have great attitude, good game and they enjoy it, it can be really good for us to have the crowd with us," Mladenovic said. "So, yeah, it was such a nice feeling to have such a big win here in front of my crowd."