With Serena Williams out, Maria Sharapova banned, many top players struggling in 2017 and other top players battling injuries, this year’s French Open was expected to be one of the wildest Grand Slams in recent memory, a tournament that would see top seeds lose early in the first week, unknowns push deep into the event and, perhaps, any of 40 different women holding up the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen two Sundays from now. The draw was thought to be as wide open as ever. And it took about 83 minutes for that prophecy to become true.
Less than two hours into the year’s second Grand Slam, the women’s draw was thrown into chaos when top seed Angelique Kerber was ousted from the tournament, falling to Russsia’s Ekaterina Makarova in two quick sets, 6-2, 6-2.