Elina Avanesyan suddenly rose from obscurity here in the 2023 French Open after becoming the first lucky loser to make the second week in Paris in 35 years.
The world No. 134 is the fifth lucky loser to make the last 16 of a Grand Slam in the Open Era, following Hana Strachonova (Roland Garros 1980), Dana Gilbert (Roland Garros 1982), Nicole Muns-Jagerman (Roland Garros 1988), and Maria Jose Gaidano (US Open 1993).
Elsewhere, Jessica Pegula will have to wait even longer for her to hoist a Grand Slam as she became the highest-ranked WTA player to fall, while Iga Swiatek, the top-seeded player in this tournament, is doing well so far in her title defence.
Learn more about the latest French Open 2023 updates here at SBOTOP.
Avanesyan makes history as “lucky loser”
Elina Avanesyan’s run to the fourth round of Roland Garros was anything but smooth.
Because she’s outside of the Top 100, Avanesyan had to go through the qualifiers, and she even lost 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(7) to Kayla Day in a three-hour heartbreaker. However, she made the most of her second chance by stunning No. 12 seed Belinda Bencic 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 for her first career victory against a Top 20 player.
It can be argued that luck was on Avanesyan’s side because she caught Bencic out of form. The Swiss international skipped the clay-court tournaments in Madrid and Rome, and she was coming off a defeat to Ons Jabeur in the Charleston Open final nearly two months ago.
After knocking out Bencic, Avanesyan notched a couple more wins over hometown favourite Leolia Jeanjean (6-0, 7-5) and Clara Tauson (3-6, 6-1, 7-5). Up next for Avanesyan is Karolina Muchova.
The French Open 2023 odds are against Avanesyan because Muchova has more experience at Grand Slams. The Czech international has reached the semi-finals of the 2021 Australian Open and two Wimbledon quarter-finals, although this is her first time in the Round of 16 at Roland Garros.
En route to the fourth round, Muchova ousted Maria Sakkari, Nadia Podoroska, and Irina-Camelia Begu. Muchova hadn’t beaten Begu before Friday night.
However, this isn’t the first time that Avanesyan has been helped by a lucky loser placement, as she won the Versmold ITF W60 tournament back in 2021, her first title above the W15 level.
Pegula knocked out early again
World No. 2 Jessica Pegula became the fourth WTA top seed to be eliminated at Roland Garros, joining Caroline Garcia (No. 5), Maria Sakkari (No. 8), and Petra Kvitova (No. 10). She recently lost 6-1, 6-3 to Elise Mertens, who is currently ranked No. 28.
Mertens, a former world No. 1 in doubles, dominated Pegula with her versatile game. She overwhelmed her American opponent with all kinds of shots, including several drop shots, forehands, lobs, and deep groundstrokes.
In the match that lasted one hour and 22 minutes, Pegula recorded 28 unforced errors compared to 19 winners. In contrast, Mertens had 20 winners to only 13 unforced errors.
Mertens has now won all three of her matches against Pegula, including a 15-game streak. This is the seventh Top 5 win of the Belgian’s career and her first since beating Simona Halep in the third round of the 2021 Madrid Open.
With the victory, Mertens advances to the Roland Garros Round of 16 for the third time. She will face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who defeated Anastasia Potapova most recently.
As for Pegula, she’ll now attempt to chase a title in the doubles competition alongside compatriot Coco Gauff. Gauff and Pegula lost to Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic in the women’s doubles final at Roland Garros last year.
Swiatek’s unconventional approach
Iga Swiatek recently celebrated her 22nd birthday, and she revealed that she is drawing inspiration from her music idol, Taylor Swift, after writing “I’m feeling 22! #Swiftie” on the camera following her second round victory against Claire Liu.
Swiatek’s fandom for Swift is much deeper than it seems, as she said that her songs helped her get to where she is today.
“When I was younger and kind of confused about life, I listened to her, and I didn’t feel alone,” said Swiatek. “Also, I learned English by listening to her songs, so she was always kind of close to me.”
The Polish international will need all the motivation she can get because she may lose her No. 1 spot to 2023 Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka if she doesn’t reach the quarter-finals. Swiatek will look to shake off Wang Xinyu later in the third round.
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