Mona Barthel crashes out of the tournament at the hands of Lauren Davis – French Open 2012
World number 32, Mona Barthel of Germany, had a terrible start to her Grand Slam campaign at the French Open and was ousted in the very first round on Monday. She was hunted down by the 162nd ranked American qualifier, Lauren Davis, in thumping straight set, 1-6, 1-6, to fall out of the star-studded event in Paris, France.
The 18-year-old underdog spared just two games in the entire matchup for Barthel before dumping her in a dominating fashion. The 30th seed German appeared completely out of form in the contest and couldn’t deliver even her average game to finish on the losing side in the end. She utterly failed to register a single break point in the contest, frittering away three priceless opportunities to remain at a disadvantage throughout.
Barthel’s unforced-error count reached 44 in the matchup, whereas the American spilled just 11. The American teenager clinched 27 out of 37 first serve points and nailed five out of 10 break points en route to victory. She exhibited flawless game play to overwhelm the 30th seed German and registered one of the early upsets of the tournament with authority.
The superior-ranked German appeared rusty right from the beginning and most of her strokes landed long and wide of the clay court. Her typical forehand didn’t work well for her in the contest and most of her cracking attempts to fire a winner ended being thumped into the net. Barthel has been among the fastest rising tennis prospects of the running season and a way better performance was anticipated from her at the Roland Garros. The German exited the Grand Slam event in a dismal manner but is still hopeful to make an impactful comeback at the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Tour.
"I don't know what happened today. It's difficult for me," Barthel said after losing her opening battle to Davis. "I've had a great year, playing really well on a high level, but I can't expect for it to go on forever like that - there will be some ups and downs for me, for sure. Of course I'm a little bit sad about it, but these things happen in life. That's the way tennis goes. You win; you lose. Yeah, that's it."
Davis will next face her unseeded fellow compatriot, Christina McHale, in the second round draw at the Roland Garros. McHale was successful against the Dutch qualifier, Kiki Bertens, in the opening round.
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