Upsets Continue at 2015 French Open

French Open 2014 Finalist Simona Halep, seeded third, lost to Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in straight sets in the second round.

Halep did not inspire much confidence in her play in the first round. Analysts believed she needed to play better if she wanted to advance. Unfortunately she faced Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who upset Halep in the 2014 US Open.

Lucic-Baroni played Halep hard from the beginning. The first set was incredibly close, but the 33-year-old Croat came out on top. The excitement and hard work of the first set just wore out Halep. The second set completely belonged to Lucic-Baroni. She broke Halep twice while securing her own serve in all the games. Halep was a complete mess and could not concentrate.

Next up for Lucic-Baroni is France’s Alize Cornet. During her on court interview she asked “at least three people” to cheer for her instead of for the Frenchwoman.

Ernests Gulbis, seeded 24, and Fabio Fognini, seeded 28, join Halep as the many favorites who lost in the first couple of rounds. Frenchman Benoit Paire easily beat Fognini, who committed five double faults and broken seven times. Gulbis won his second set, but committed nine double faults and 52 unforced errors to allow Frenchman Nicola Mahut to advance.

On Tuesday, Jack Sock brought delight to American tennis fans who are aching for the dominant days of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. He easily defeated tenth seed Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets. The first set went to a tie-break, but Sock rolled all over him in the second and third sets. Top ranked American John Isner continued his strong 2015 year with a straight set defeat over Andreas Seppi, the man who defeated roger Federer at the Australian Open.

The women lost sixth seed Eugenie Bouchard, who reached the semifinals in 2014. Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic beat her in straight sets. She was up 5-0 in the second set before Bouchard finally scored some points. This is her seventh loss in the last eight matches mainly to women below her in rankings.