High-profile women’s seeds continue to fall at the French Open.
Former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki joined Simona Halep and Eugenie Bouchard in making a quick exit at Roland Garros, ousted in the second round Thursday by Julia Goerges 6-4 7-6 (4).
Even though clay isn’t the fifth seed’s preferred surface, Wozniacki must have had high hopes of reaching the second week — at least — after making the final of a prestigious clay-court tournament in Stuttgart in April.
The Dane had even beefed up her clay-court game, by briefly working with three-time French Open champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario.
“Obviously I prefer hard courts, and my game against her matches better on hard courts or on grass,” Wozniacki told reporters. “But today she played well. She played the way she had to and I didn’t.
“I had like a million chances, especially in the first set,” added Wozniacki, who went 3-for-13 on break points. “I didn’t take them. In the second set I managed to come back again, and again, I didn’t take my chances. When you don’t, you get punished.”
Wozniacki enjoyed a rebirth in tennis last year, landing in a first grand slam final in five years before losing to her good friend, Serena Williams, at the U.S. Open.
But Thursday’s exit means she has failed to advance past the second round in both majors in 2015.
Goerges, meanwhile, enjoys playing on clay and made her breakthrough in 2011 by defeating Wozniacki in the Stuttgart finale.
Once considered a rising star, a serious wrist injury contributed to Goerges’ slide in the rankings.
Goerges, now ranked 72nd, moved Wozniacki around the court with her imposing ground strokes. A fine doubles player, the German proved a ruthless finisher, winning 14 of 20 net points.
Goerges will be expected to progress further, given her third-round foe is unseeded American Irina Falconi.
For a while it appeared as if another elite women’s seed, Petra Kvitova, would depart.
The two-time Wimbledon champion, however, rallied to beat clay-court specialist Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-7 (4) 6-4 6-2 in a second consecutive three-setter for the Czech.
Halep, last year’s finalist, lost to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni on Wednesday, a day after 2014 semifinalist Bouchard was ousted by Kristina Mladenovic.