Parry pounces in Paris

The roof above Court Phillipe-Chatrier was closed on Monday as showers temporarily stopped play on all other courts.

French teenager Diane Parry took it as her cue to raise the roof, the world No.97 constructing a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 upset for the ages to end the title defence of second-seeded Barbora Krejcikova in the opening round.

With the loss, Krejcikova becomes the third women's singles champion in Roland-Garros history to lose in the first round of her title defence, joining Anastasia Myskina (2005) and Jelena Ostapenko (2018).

Parry, who was facing a top-10 player for the first time in her career, becomes the lowest-ranked player to upset the No.2 seed in Paris since Arantxa Rus knocked out Kim Clijsters here in 2011.

The 19-year-old next faces Colombia's Camila Osorio in the second round.

Story of the match

Sporting a brand new kit and a handy bit of kinesio tape to protect her fragile right elbow, Krejcikova quickly eased into the lead against Parry, racing out to a 4-0 advantage. Parry, backed by a nearly full house of fans that were decidedly in her corner, got on the board in the fifth game to ease her nerves. Still, the talented teen could only win three points on serve throughout the entire opening set, which she dropped in 33 minutes.

If there were nerves in set two they belonged to the defending champion. Playing in her first match since February, thanks to a nagging elbow injury, Krejcikova suffered a drop in energy as set two commenced.

A slew of unforced errors – 18 in total – by the world No.2 were her eventual undoing as the stylish Parry raced through 19 of the final 24 points to take the middle set, 6-2.

Back on court after taking a bathroom break that was deemed too long by the French faithful, Krejcikova was quickly reminded of who the crowd's affections rested with by smatterings of boos prior to the start of the final set.

Whether it rattled her or not was hard to say, but it was clear that Krejcikova wasn't able to summon the tennis that took her to the singles and doubles titles in 2021, as Parry took the helm and dictated the terms of the decider. The Czech fought valiantly to hang on early in the decider, winning a five-deuce game to hold for 2-0, but the lead evaporated quickly.

Parry, now more steely than wobbly, reeled off six of the final seven games, each one raising the volume of the din inside Court Philippe-Chatrier. She closed out the match with a composed hold of serve that sent ecstatic roars thundering across the grounds.

Key stats

Errors piled up from Krejcikova's side of the court as the match progressed. She made 37 unforced errors across sets two and three, bringing her total to 45 after a relatively clean opening set that saw her commit only eight.

Parry shored up her serve significantly in sets two and three after starting horribly in that regard. The 19-year-old won just three of 15 service points in a dismal opening set, but rebounded strongly in sets two and three.

Parry won 13 of 20 second-serve points in the second and third sets, and only allowed Krejcikova to break her once in each of the final two sets.

What the players said

Diane Parry: "It's a dream for me. I always wanted to be able to play on this court. Furthermore, it was nearly full with the French public fully behind me and supporting.

"I am overjoyed today. It's clear that it's never easy to start a match on this court, especially against the defending champ. I told myself to be aggressive, to play my game and I'm happy for that.

"You have to try to stay focused until the end, to play point by point."

Barbora Krejcikova: "I expected it's going to be difficult, and it was. I think overall the tennis-wise it wasn't that bad. I think physically was a little worse.

"But I think I have to start somewhere, so it's a pity that it had to be here and I didn't have any other matches, but I think it's good way to move forward.

"I just think I just collapsed physically, and, I mean, it was tough because I didn't play the matches. Usually the matches are different than the practices, and I tried to prepare the best way I could.

"But, yeah, I collapsed."