French Open: Magda Linette stuns Ons Jabeur

Ons Jabeur of Tunisia was the first major casualty on the first day of the French Open, losing to Magda Linette of Poland 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5.

Jabeur, seen as one of the major threats to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the clay-court Grand Slam, arrived in Paris with a career-high ranking and a tour-leading 17 clay-court victories.

When Jabeur made a solid start on Court Philippe Chatrier under murky skies, it appeared that she would have an easy outing against Linette after her win in Madrid and runner-up results in Rome and Charleston.

Linette, who was ranked 56th before the start of the second major of the year, suffered an early break of serve before cruising through the first set in 37 minutes.

Linette, 30, had only beaten Jabeur once before in their four encounters in 2013, but she rallied in the second set, saving four break points to square the match in the tiebreak.

Jabeur’s performance dropped as rain fell on the main show court, and as her unforced errors increased, she expressed her frustration by kicking balls away after losing points.

Linette, who lost in the third round to Jabeur last year, led 4-2 in the third set but saw her lead slip away when Jabeur broke her serve back to stay alive.

However, the Pole sealed the victory after the Tunisian blew a 40-0 advantage in the 12th game, finding the net on match point to lose the set for the second time.

“I’ve played so many tough matches with Ons, and I lost to her in the third round last year here, so I know how difficult it’ll be,” Linette said.

“She had been playing so beautifully all along. I knew I needed to concentrate and play every single point to make her uncomfortable. I’m pleased that I was able to earn every single point.”