French Open: Favourite Petra Kvitova fails in third round

Petra Kvitova failed prematurely in the third round of the French Open. The sixth seeded Czech lost after 13 consecutive victories against Anett Kontaveit from Estonia 6:7 (6:8), 6:7 (4:7).

After 2:04 hours Kontaveit benefited from a return mistake by left-hander Kvitova, who had reached the semi-finals of Roland Garros in 2012. The two-time Wimbledon winner was considered one of the hottest title contenders at the Bois de Boulogne after winning the tournaments in Madrid and Prague in a row on clay.

But the world rankings-24th Kontaveit underlined her strong form on Court 1, most recently the 22-year-old from Tallinn failed at the Premier Mandatory Tournament in Rome only in the semi-final against the later winner Elina Svitolina (Ukraine).

For Kontaveit, who will now meet US Open winner Sloane Stephens (USA/No. 10) on Monday, it is her third round of 16 at a Grand Slam event after the US Open 2015 and the Australian Open 2018. 4:6, 6:1, 8:6 against the lively Italian Camilla Giorgi already had her back against the wall – but kept her cool head.

Kontaveit missed two match points in the second set with a 5:4 lead and her own serve when she made simple forehand mistakes. Kvitova fought her way back again and again, but in the tiebreak the Estonian rewarded herself for another formidable performance.