Kerber Out – Day 1 Recap
In what seems like a washout, No. 1 seed Angelique Kerber is out of the French Open after becoming the first No 1. seeded women to lose in the first round in the Open era. Russian Ekaterina Makarova caused the upset and seemed to have blown through Kerber, 6-2, 6-2. It seems as if Kerber was having a bad day, with 4 double faults, 0 aces, and a lower first serve percentage than Makarova. Makarova was dominating throughout the match, taking charge and striking first.
It seems as if Kerber was experiencing lack of confidence, which made her unable to take charge of the match. This is clearly visible by her break point conversion percentage. While Makarova was able to convert 6 out 14 break points, Kerber was only able to convert 2 out of 16. Makarova was able to keep herself calm and do what she needed to do to win the match.
“Of course I’m disappointed that the clay court season was not so good. At the end maybe it’s good that it’s over for me,” says Kerber.
Dominic Thiem
Dominic Thiem is keeping the pressure and the heat on as one of the favorites of the tournament. He clinically made it through his 1st round against Bernard Tomic, winning 6-4, 6-0, 6-2. Throughout the match, Thiem was in control. He managed to convert 6 out of 9 of his own break points, and didn’t give Tomic a single chance to break. Thiem had 11 aces to Tomic’s 3. “The Dominator” Thiem lived up to his nickname during many instances of the match with his strong point construction and impeccable winners, 32 in total.
Petra Kvitova
Petra Kvitova was a striking image of her 2014 Wimbledon self, as she beat Boserup 6-3, 6-2 on her return after the stabbing incident in December 2016. Starting off the match with 3 winners in the first game and 31 in total, Petra shed tears once the match was over. Kvitova had been told that she may never play again after all five fingers of her left hand were injured in the attack. However, it seems as if Kvitova has surrounded herself with courage and belief, not only evident from the cheer leading squad in her box, but from her attitude on court.
“I’m happy with the game, of course, but it wasn’t really about the game today,” says Petra. “I wanted to come back not just to play, but of course I still do have my goals. So I want to improve my game to play the best and to have some great results.”
Lucas Pouille
Pouille survives his first round match with Benneteau, pulling through in five sets 7-6 (8/6), 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Pouille seemed to be on edge for the first 3 sets, playing unsteadily and making quite a few errors. Luckily, Pouille was able to pull himself together in the last two sets.
Pouille only won 3 points more than Benneteau’s 147 points, and even had a worse first serve percentage than Benneteau. Pouille was able to make up for these shortcomings with his high win percentage and winner count.