Champion Ostapenko beaten in French Open first round

Jelena Ostapenko became only the second female French Open champion to lose in the first round of her title defence as she went down in straight sets to Ukraine’s Kateryna Kozlova.

The Latvian fifth seed said afterwards that she had felt “unbelievable pressure” heading into the match on Philippe Chatrier Court.

There was another shock on the opening day as ninth seed Venus Williams lost to China’s Wang Qiang.

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Ostapenko stormed to the 2017 title as an unseeded outsider, blasting 54 winners past Simona Halep in the final, but her all-or-nothing game came up short on Sunday.

A final tally of 48 unforced errors and 13 double faults gifted Kozlova an opportunity that the world No.66 seized upon in a 7-5 6-3 victory.

Ostapenko becomes the first reigning champion to lose in the first round at Roland Garros since Russia’s Anastasia Myskina was beaten by María Sánchez Lorenzo in 2005.

The 20-year-old Latvian hit two double faults to drop serve in game three and was always struggling against a player who had won their two previous encounters.

Kozlova was pegged back to 4-4 in a run of service breaks but got over the line in game 12 to take the first set.

Ostapenko showed signs of a resurgence as she took an early lead in the second but when she double-faulted for a third time in the game to drop serve at 3-3, her challenge was as good as over.

“It was terrible day,” said Ostapenko.

“Honestly today began not in a nice way and I knew something like that could happen, so I tried to stay positive.

“I just woke up here and my mood was not amazing. few things go wrong and you are pissed off but you try to stay positive. Then you lose a match and it is no longer possible to be positive.”

For Kozlova, a first top-30 win set up a second-round meeting with Victoria Azarenka or Katerina Siniakova.

“I didn’t expect anything from the match,” said the 24-year-old, who is on her way back from a knee injury.

“I just went to enjoy every moment on the court because, before, I was not sure if I will be able to play in French Open. So I was just happy to be on court, back on court, and compete.”

Wang upsets ninth seed Williams

Williams, the 2002 runner-up, struggled on second serve and with unforced errors as she went down 6-4 7-5 to Wang.

The world No.85 from China made amends for defeat by Williams at the same stage last year, and then in the second round at Wimbledon.

“I think she just played well,” said Williams. “I mean, all the times we’ve played, she’s played great. I think her game just got better and better during the match.”

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Fourth seed Elena Svitolina was also in early trouble, trailing Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic 5-1, but the Ukrainian powered back to win 7-5 6-3.

There were also wins for 10th seed Sloane Stephens and 25th seed Anett Kontaveit on day one, but Britain’s 22nd seed Johanna Konta lost 6-4 6-3 to Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.