Emma Navarro’s French Open hopes came to a screeching halt Monday as unseeded Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro dispatched the No. 9 seed 6-0, 6-1 in the first round in Paris.
In a match that took just 57 minutes, the 68th-ranked Bouzas Maneiro dominated throughout, coming close to keeping Navarro completely off the board.
Navarro avoided the “double bagel” thanks to a late double fault by Bouzas Maneiro, who nearly became the first woman to blank a top-10 opponent at a Grand Slam since Martina Navratilova shut out Manuela Maleeva at the 1989 U.S. Open.
“I didn’t expect the result but I always try to play my best, and I think everything is possible,” Bouzas Maneiro said. “I feel good playing on clay, and winning here at Roland Garros is so special to me.”
Navarro reached the fourth round last year and had a strong start to 2025 with an appearance in the Australian Open quarterfinals and a WTA 500 title at the Merida Open, ironically getting a 6-0, 6-0 over Emiliana Arango for that win.
However, the 24-year-old New York native has struggled on clay this year.
In Monday’s match, she never held serve, won just 44 percent of her first-serve points and was broken seven times. Navarro racked up 23 unforced errors compared to just four winners.
Bouzas Maneiro will face another American, Robin Montgomery, in the second round. Montgomery beat France’s Diane Parry 6-2, 6-1 on Monday.
In her 14th consecutive appearance at her home Grand Slam tournament, France’s Caroline Garcia played her last singles match at the French Open in a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Bernarda Pera. The 31-year-old announced Friday she will retire later this season.
“I tried to fight until the end,” Garcia said in an emotional post-match interview on court. “Since the start of the season, I knew this would be my last Roland Garros. I hesitated to say it out loud because I didn’t know how I’d handle the emotions — and this week, the tears have come every single day.”
No. 10 seed Paula Badosa of Spain earned a 6-7 (1), 6-1, 6-4 win over Japan’s Naomi Osaka, with Osaka’s 23 unforced errors making a difference in the hard-fought match.
Later in the day, No. 7 seed and Australian Open champion Madison Keys made quick work of Daria Saville, beating the Australian qualifier 6-2, 6-1 in 58 minutes.
In other matches, three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek of Poland beat Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova in straight sets, former Wimbledon champion No. 12 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan overcame a second-set dip to beat Argentine qualifier Julia Riera 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, and No. 19 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia moved on with a 7-6 (3), 6-2 win over Mayar Sherif of Egypt.
Other seeded players who moved on included No. 15 Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic, No. 17 Daria Kasatkina of Australia, No. 20 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, No. 21 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and No. 22 Clara Tauson of Denmark.
Also advancing Monday included Danielle Collins, Caroline Dolehide, Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter, Ukrainian Yulia Starodubtseva, Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, Russian Veronika Kudermetova, Romanians Jaqueline Cristian and Elena-Gabriela Ruse, Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands.
Leolia Jeanjean of France advanced when her opponent Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania retired down 3-0 in the third set.
–Field Level Media
