PARIS, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Jelena Ostapenko became only the second women's singles defending champion in the Open era to be eliminated in the first round of the French Open.
The Latvian shot to prominence after being crowned in Roland Garros in 2017 as an unseeded player. But Ostapenko was stunned Sunday by Ukraine's Kateryna Kozlova, losing 7-5, 6-3 in the tournament's opening match.
"In general I maybe played to around 20 percent of my capability," said a frustrated Ostapenko afterwards.
The Latvian, who had been the tournament's fifth seed, fared below par throughout the match, making 48 unforced errors to her opponent's 22.
"I made around 50 unforced errors and so many double faults. It felt like I couldn't serve today. Everything together just produced a really bad result," she lamented.
Kozlova managed to convert her second match point as Ostapenko's backhand failed to cross the net.
Elsewhere, it was third time lucky for China's Wang Qiang, after she beat American veteran Venus Williams 6-4, 7-5.
Wang had lost both of her previous Grand Slam matches against 37-year-old Williams in 2017, at the French Open and Wimbledon respectively.
The Chinese, who made it into the main draw at Roland Garros for the fourth time, finished her first break after both players had several deuces in a 12-minute first game, before Williams made a timely response in the following game.
Both sides shared the first eight games of the opening set, before Wang capitalized on Williams' forehand flaw to break her opponent.
Seven-time Grand Slam singles winner Williams hit back in the second set, racing into an early 3-0 lead, but Wang came back into contention with three games of her own in a row.
Wang surrendered a lead in both sets when facing Williams at the same stage last year, but the 91st-ranked Chinese refused to let her chance slip away this time. After the two players shared the next four games for a 5-5 tie, Wang broke Williams' service to recorded a stunning victory over the American.
Despite notching 28 winners, Williams suffered 35 unforced errors, and also gave best to Wang in terms of points on first and second serves.
"I just tried my best to focus on the court, and play without many mistakes. If I got a chance, I just went for it," said Wang, adding that the win was one of her top three career victories.
Wang's next opponent will be Petra Martic. The Croatian eliminated Wang's compatriot Wang Yafan 6-2, 6-3.
Meanwhile, China's Zheng Saisai, who underwent knee surgery after the U.S. Open last year, lost her first Grand Slam match after making her comeback from injury to Russia's doubles specialist Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 6-1.
"I failed to play to my level, and she played well in the match," said Zheng. "But nevertheless, I'm happy to be back playing here."
There were no great surprises in the Men's singles tournament Sunday, as No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev secured his spot in the second round, along with a list of prominent names such as Grigor Dimitrov, Lucas Pouille and Kei Nishikori.
Eighth-seeded David Goffin of Belgium had to bounce back from two sets down to see off the Dutchman Robin Haase.
And in his quest for a record-extending 11th title at Roland Garros, the "King of Clay" Rafael Nadal will meet Italy's Simone Bolelli on Monday.
