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Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova reflects on shock first round defeat at RG

By TieBreakNewsPosted on
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2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova admitted she didn’t expect it to be easy in her first match in three months but still she was disappointed after exiting the French Open in the first round.

On Monday, second-seeded Krejcikova kicked off her title defence at Roland Garros.

Krejcikova got off to a strong start to her first round match versus Diane Parry but still ended up losing in three sets.

Parry, ranked at No. 97 in the world, was down by a set and a break before storming back to win 1-6 6-2 6-3.

“I expected it’s going to be difficult, and it was. Overall, tennis-wise it wasn’t that bad. Physically was a little worse,” Krejcikova told WTA insider.

“I have to start somewhere, so it’s a pity that it had to be here and I didn’t have any other matches. But it’s a good way to move forward.”

Krejcikova blew a big lead versus Parry

Krejcikova got off to a fast start to the match as she claimed two early breaks and led 4-0 after the opening four games.

Parry finally got on the board in the fifth game, when she got one break back to cut the deficit to 4-1.

Losing one of her breaks didn’t impact Krejcikova, who earned her third break in the sixth game to take a 5-1 lead before serving out for the first set in the following game.

Krejcikova pretty easily won the first set and then started the second set with a 2-0 lead.

Just when it seemed Krejcikova would probably clinch an easy straight-set win, she suffered a stunning collapse.

Krejcikova lost six games in a row after taking a 2-0 lead in the second set as Parry sent the match into a decider.

After losing six consecutive games, Krejcikova won the first two games of the third set.

Unfortunately for Krejcikova, she failed to held on to her lead as she dropped her serve in the fourth and eighth games.

Parry ended up upsetting Krejcikova and clinching by far the biggest victory of her career.