French Open: defending champion Ostapenko fails in round one

Defending champion Jelena Ostapenko surprisingly dropped out in the first round of the French Open in Paris. The 20-year-old Latvian, who stormed sensationally to the title in Roland Garros last year, lost to Ukrainian Kateryna Kozlova 5:7, 3:6 in her opening match.

This is the first big surprise of the major tournament at the Bois de Boulogne. The last time last winner of last year’s opening match in Roland Garros was in 2005, when Anastasia Myskina of Russia lost to the Spanish underdog Maria Sanchez Lorenzo.

The fifth in the world rankings Ostapenko had not found Kozlova for her game against 61 places lower. In total she took seven breaks and had to admit defeat after 1:34 hours. Venus Williams (USA/No. 9), who lost against the Chinese Wang Qiang 4:6, 5:7, was also unexpectedly eliminated on Sunday.