5 players who underperformed at French Open 2023 ft. Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner
The French Open 2023 came to an end this past Sunday, with Iga Swiatek and Novak Djokovic being crowned the singles champions.
Swiatek successfully defended her title at the claycourt Major by defeating Karolina Muchova 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4 in what was an interesting women's singles final.
In the men's singles event, Novak Djokovic created history as he won his third French Open crown with a 7-6(0), 6-3, 7-5 win over Casper Ruud in the title clash. The Serb thus became the first man in tennis history to win each of the four Grand Slams at least three times in his career.
The French Open 2023 produced some splendid matches in its course and while a number of top players fared well, there were some who were underwhelming.
On that note, let's take a look at five underperformers from this year's edition of the claycourt Major.
#1 Daniil Medvedev
Daniil Medvedev was never known to be the best clay-court player but his performance in the Italian Open in Rome showed that he was more than capable of competing on the surface.
The Russian won the tournament, which took him to second in the ATP rankings. He entered the French Open with high expectations but suffered a shock 7-6(5), 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat to Brazilian qualifier and World No. 172 Thiago Seyboth Wild in the very first round.
The defeat means that Medvedev has not reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal since his loss to Rafael Nadal in the 2022 Australian Open final.
#2 Jannik Sinner
Jannik Sinner did well to reach the semifinals of the Monte-Carlo Masters during the clay-court season. The Italian was seeded eighth at the French Open and started the tournament with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 win over Alexandre Muller.
Sinner faced Daniel Altmaier in the second round and won the opening set 7-6(0). The German bounced back to win the second set 7-6(7) before the 21-year-old restored his lead by taking the third 6-1.
Sinner had two match points in the fourth set, but Altmaier managed to save both and eventually went on to win the match to book his place in the third round.
#3 Jessica Pegula
Jessica Pegula hadn't been particularly impressive during the clay-court season but was expected to have a longer run than she ended up having at the French Open. This was due to her performances in 2022.
The American entered the clay-court Major seeded third and reached the third round following wins over Danielle Collins and Camila Giorgi. Here, she was up against 28th seed Elise Mertens, who made easy work of her to win 6-1, 6-3.
Pegula's premature exit saw her drop two places down to fifth in the WTA rankings.
#4. Andrey Rublev
Andrey Rublev had a terrific start to the clay-court season as he won his maiden Masters 1000 title in Monte-Carlo. The Russian entered the French Open seeded seventh and booked his place in the third round with four-set wins over Laslo Djere and Corentin Moutet.
Here, he was up against Lorenzo Sonego and did very well to take the first two sets 7-5, 6-0. However, the Italian scripted a sensational comeback to win the next three sets 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 to seal his place in the fourth round of the French Open.
This is the first time in his career that Rublev lost a Grand Slam match after winning the first two sets.
#5. Veronika Kudermetova
Veronika Kudermetova produced some impressive performances during the clay-court season by reaching the semifinals of the Madrid Open and the Italian Open.
The Russian was expected to have a good run at the French Open, where she was the 11th seed. She was drawn against Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova in the first round and was beaten 6-3, 6-1. This was the very first time that Kudermetova lost in the opening round of the clay-court Major since she first made the main draw of the tournament in 2019.
As a result, she dropped three spots down to 14th in the WTA rankings.