Former world number one Naomi Osaka cannot seem to catch a break at the French Open after her first-round loss to Paula Badosa, with the Japanese battling blisters, tears and mercurial form and walking out of the press conference before returning.
Osaka, a four-times Grand Slam champion, who in May won her first title in almost two years following a maternity break, has never gone past the third round at Roland Garros.
In 2021 she stunned the tennis world by withdrawing from the tournament in Paris after deciding to boycott post-match media duties, explaining she had been suffering from depression for almost three years.
Although she pushed 10th seed Badosa to three sets, Osaka also made 54 unforced errors, double the number of her opponent, in her 7-6(1) 1-6 4-6 loss.
"As time goes on, I feel like I should be doing better," Osaka, close to tears, told a press conference. "I hate disappointing people."
The 27-year-old was also suffering from blisters on her fingers throughout the match, calling a medical time-out to have them bandaged.
"Since Rome (earlier in May) I have had blisters on my hands. I think it's from the friction of clay, because I don't have blisters on any other surface," she said.
Osaka, visibly upset, briefly left the room before returning for two final questions.
Defending champion Iga Swiatek cruised past Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia 6-3 6-3 and into the second round as she launched her quest for a record fourth straight women's title at Roland Garros.
The Pole, a four-time champion who is now on a 22-match winning run in Paris, arrived in the city more than 10 days before the tournament to get sufficient training on the clay courts and she said it has so far paid off.
"It was the first time we had this situation," Swiatek said in a post-match interview. "But I liked it. I knew I am going to have the best courts to practice on.
"It was not an easy match. She played with a lot of freedom. So I knew I need to stay proactive and try to create and use my weapons."
Swiatek, unusually without a title on the tour so far this season, needed some time to find her footing, with the Slovak initially offering greater resistance than in her 6-0 6-2 loss to Swiatek at the Australian Open in January.
Sramkova held serve until Swiatek broke her to go 4-3 up and bag the first set a little later.
The 28-year-old world number 42 broke Swiatek at the start of the second set to open up a 2-0 lead but her opponent quickly reined her in with two breaks of her own, winning six of the next seven games to wrap up her win after an hour and 24 minutes.
She next faces Britain's Emma Raducanu (above), who needed a lengthy medical timeout as she came through a three-set marathon.
The 22-year-old was leading China's Wang Xinyu 6-5 in the first set when she called for the doctor, rubbing ice on her cheeks and round her eyes as she had her blood pressure checked.
There were fears that Raducanu, who has had a history of injury and illness issues throughout her career, would have to retire from the match.
But after three minutes of treatment she came back on to the court and confidently served out the set to love.
Wang rallied to take the second set but, in front of a big crowd on a cramped Court Eight, Raducanu hit back to complete a gutsy 7-5 4-6 6-3 victory in two hours and 44 minutes – the joint-longest match of her career on clay.
"I was really just flat and struggling at the start but I’m happy to have got through," she said.
"I can take positives in the fact a lot of top players, in the first round, have struggled but got through and given themselves another opportunity. My heart and fight came through today and I’m very proud of that."
