Germany’s Angelique Kerber returns the ball to Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina during their women’s singles first round tennis match on Day 1 of The Roland Garros 2021 French Open tennis tournament in Paris on May 30, 2021. (Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP)
PARIS – Former world number one Angelique Kerber’s poor record at the French Open got no help on Sunday when the German was knocked out in the first round by Ukrainian qualifier Anhelina Kalinina.
In an indication that the 26th seed, who has never made it past the quarterfinals here despite winning the other three Grand Slams once each, is not a top name on clay, Kerber was scheduled to play on the outside court 14.
She bowed out with a 6-2 6-4 defeat for her third first-round loss in a row on the Paris dirt.
Qualify ☑️
Main Draw Debut ☑️
Upset ☑️🇺🇦 Anhelina Kalinina’s run continues with a 6-2, 6-4 win over [26] Angelique Kerber. #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/P7rrm3mUQE
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2021
“She started well and had nothing to lose, while it took me too long to get into the contest,” Kerber said afterward.
In her last six tries, she has failed to make it past the opening round on five occasions.
Kerber is now eager to play on a surface on which she fares better.
“I will try to learn from the match now because I played good the last few weeks and I had good matches,” she said.
“I did the best preparation I could do in the last few weeks on clay, but yeah, it’s fine, and now I’m looking forward to Wimbledon for the grass court season, and it sounds much better for me, so I’m happy that the next Grand Slam is on grass.”