Roland-Garros: French teen Diane Parry stuns defending champion Krejcikova in round one

All of 19, France’s Diane Parry delighted her home fans with a come-from-behind upset win over defending champion Barbora Krejcikova (1-6, 6-2, 6-3), who was playing her first match since February

Diane Parry at Roland-Garros 2022 Diane Parry at Roland-Garros 2022 Image Credit: AI/ Reuters/ Panoramic

French teen Diane Parry, still only 19, caused the biggest upset of the 2022 Roland-Garros Championships on Monday with a three-set win over defending champion Barbora Krejcikova 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the first round.

Ranked No 97 in the world, Parry looked like she was headed for an early exit as Krejcikova jumped to a 6-1, 2-0 lead. But the Czech world No 2 who was playing her first match since February due to an elbow injury showed signs of her rustiness to let Parry in.

Barbora Krejcikova, Roland-Garros 2022
Barbora Krejcikova, Roland-Garros 2022 © AI / Reuters / Panoramic

Once she got the first break in the second set, Parry used her stylish one-handed backhand that reminded many of her famous countrywoman Amelie Mauresmo, who is now the Tournament Director of Roland-Garros, to great effect and won six games in a row to force a decider.

Krejcikova took a bathroom break at the end of the second set and returned to go ahead 2-0. But her lack of match play showed up in her unforced errors again and this time, the nerves showed up as well. Parry broke back for 2-2 and then took a decisive break in the eight game and held on to complete the 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 win in two hours and eight minutes.

Parry crowned on the second Tour, ready for more

Diane Parry was ranked outside the top 300 in the world just twelve months ago but has been steadily climbing the ranks after claiming a WTA $125K title and 3 ITF Tour titles.

The French girl will next meet Colombian Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, who won her first round match on Sunday, in the second round.

French Open (Grand Slam), other first-round results (Stade Roland-Garros, clay, EUR 43.600.000)

  • Iga Swiatek beat Lesia Tsurenko: 6-2, 6-0
  • Daria Saville beat Valentini Grammatikopoulou: 6-1, 6-2
  • Andrea Petkovic beat Oceane Dodin: 6-4, 6-2
  • Amanda Anisimova beat Naomi Osaka: 7-5, 6-4
  • Bianca Andreescu beat Ysaline Bonaventure: 3-6, 7-5, 6-0
  • Petra Kvitova beat Anna Bondar: 7-6 [7], 6-1
  • Martina Trevisan beat Harriet Dart: 6-0, 6-2
  • Qinwen Zheng beat Maryna Zanevska: 6-3, 6-1

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