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The French Open is regarded by many as the hardest Slam to win given the challenges that red clay presents. The dominance of Rafael Nadal on the men's circuit and the intense competition on the women's side that has led to eight different champions since 2014, added to the intrigue ahead of the 2022 edition of the Parisian Major.
In the build-up to the claycourt Slam, players participate in various Challenger and tour-level events. Often, the way they perform in these tournaments indicates how they will fare at Roland Garros.
Rafael Nadal did not win a single claycourt title this season ahead of the French Open. However, with 13 previous Roland Garros titles to his name, the Spaniard's 14th win this year was deemed unsurprising by many.
Iga Swiatek, meanwhile, entered the 2022 French Open with title wins in Stuttgart and Rome. The World No. 1 was the favorite to win the title in Paris. The Pole did not disappoint, lifting her second Roland Garros title after losing only one set in the entire tournament.
But there were plenty of other players who failed to make a mark in the claycourt Major. Here's a look at five players who were expected to go deep in the draw but lost unexpectedly in the initial rounds. This list does not include players who had to pull out of the competition due to physical ailments.
#5 Maria Sakkari
Maria Sakkari was seeded fourth at the 2022 French Open. The Greek's preparations for the claycourt season included a quarterfinal finish in Rome. She was a semifinalist at Roland Garros last year, losing to eventual champion Barbora Krejcikova. The Greek won her first match at Roland Garros this year against home favorite Clara Burel 6-2 6-3.
In the second round, she drew Karolina Muchova, who had beaten the fourth seed in Madrid last year. However, Muchova was in poor touch heading into the French Open after suffering early losses in Madrid and Rome.
Yet, it was the Czech who came out on top, 7-6(5) 7-6(4), in two tight sets. Sakkari thus ended her European claycourt swing with a win-loss record of 4-4.
#4 Garbine Muguruza
Garbine Muguruza has previously stated that clay is her "home surface." The former World No. 1 was seeded 10th at the 2022 French Open. She drew Kaia Kanepi in the first round, a player known for upsetting seeded opponents in the Majors. They had only met once previously, at the 2014 Australian Open, where the Spaniard won 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
In their first meeting on clay, Muguruza appeared comfortable in the first set, winning it 6-2. But the Estonian came from behind to oust the 2016 Roland Garros champion 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. This marked the second consecutive year that Muguruza lost in the first round of the French Open.
#3 Stefanos Tsitsipas
Last year's runner-up, Stefanos Tsitsipas, is the second Greek to make this list. The World No. 5 couldn't have asked for better preparation en route to Roland Garros. He won the Masters 1000 title at Monte-Carlo, finished runner-up in Rome, had a semifinal run in Madrid and was a quarterfinalist at the ATP 500 event in Barcelona.
Tsitsipas played a three-hour-36-minute first-round match against Lorenzo Musetti, coming through 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. After the first-round scare, Tsitsipas survived yet another tough match, this time against World No. 134 Zdenek Kolar in the second round. In a little over four hours, the Greek won the match in four sets, three of which were decided by tie-breaks.
Tsitsipas finally had a straight-sets win in the third round against Mikael Ymer, dropping only five games in the entire match. The Greek then faced 19-year-old Holger Rune in the round of 16.
The 2019 Roland Garros junior champion stunned Tsitsipas 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to become the first Dane to make a Major singles quarterfinal.
#2 Ons Jabeur
Sixth seed Ons Jabeur was one of the contenders for the Roland Garros crown. She won the title at the WTA 1000 event in Madrid and finished as a runner-up in Rome in the lead-up to the French Open. Additionally, she was a runner-up at the WTA 500 event in Charleston held on green clay. Jabeur thus entered the 2022 French Open with a whopping win-rate of 85% on clay this season.
The Tunisian had never made it past the round of 16 at Roland Garros and that streak continued this year.
She was up against Poland's Magda Linette in the first round. Jabeur led Linette 3-1 in their head-to-head. This included two previous wins on clay, one of which was at the 2021 Roland Garros.
Jabeur won the first set 6-3. However, Linette upset the sixth seed by taking the next two sets 7-6(4), 7-5. This marked the second time in five main-draw appearances at Roland Garros that Jabeur lost in the first round.
#1 Barbora Krejcikova
Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova was the second seed at the 2022 French Open. The Czech suffered an elbow injury in February, as a result of which she did not play any claycourt tournaments in the lead-up to Roland Garros.
Nevertheless, Krejcikova was confident of her chances at the French Open.
"I think that I can be a good opponent. I think I can play well. And even after being injured, I think I had some time to recover and to practice, so I have been preparing for this. So I believe when I start playing matches, I can be really dangerous again and I can do well here as well," she said ahead of her first-round match.
Krejcikova faced home favorite Diane Parry, who was ranked No. 1 on the junior circuit in 2019, in the first round.
After two hours and 10 minutes, the 19-year-old won the match 1-6, 6-2, 6-3. Krejcikova's first-round exit resulted in her dropping out of the top 10 in the rankings; she currently sits at No. 14 in the world.
