WTA world number three Jessica Pegula has become the highest-ranked women’s singles player to be eliminated from the French Open. The 29-year-old American was defeated 6-1, 6-3 by Belgian Elise Mertens in the third round of the competition on Friday.
Pegula struggled to find form at the start of the match, allowing Mertens to race to a 5-0 lead in the first set after just 26 minutes of play. The American also lost her composure, throwing her racket to the ground in frustration after Mertens broke her service for a second consecutive time.
“I feel like I was still playing good points,” Pegula said after her loss. “Elise was just being really tough, not making a lot of errors and making me play every single ball. And with the windy conditions, I felt like it definitely played into her game.”
Mertens, a former number-one doubles player, will face 2021 French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the fourth round on Sunday. She will hope to make it past the fourth round for the first time in the competition in her career.
