There were mixed fortunes for former winners at the Internationaux de Strasbourg on Monday. No.5 seed Liudmila Samsonova took out 2021 titlist Barbora Krejcikova 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4 in exactly 3 hours, but defending champion and No.7 seed Elina Svitolina came through 6-3, 6-4 over Diane Parry.
Samsonova now holds a 3-1 head-to-head lead over Krejcikova, though she had to survive plenty of twists and turns before coming out on top of their first three-set encounter. She dominated the first half of the match, advancing to a quick 6-2, 5-2 lead. At this juncture, the 25-year-old had faced -- and saved -- just one break point in the match, while Krejcikova had tallied just two winners to 16 unforced errors in the first set.
Mistakes began to creep into Samsonova's game as she failed to serve out the match twice, though. Having kept a tidy ratio of 10 winners to 12 unforced errors in the first set, the second saw her commit 29 unforced errors to 13 winners. Krejcikova saved a match point serving at 3-5, and took a 3-1 lead in the third set.
But this time it was Krejcikova who could not hold on to the lead, and Samsonova reeled off five of the last six games of the match. Samsonova committed 51 unforced errors in total, but also 33 winners; Krejcikova's 59 unforced errors, including 16 double faults, were barely counterbalanced by her 10 winners.
Krejcikova, who has struggled with illness and injury throughout 2024, is on a four-match losing streak, and has not won a completed match since defeating Mirra Andreeva in the fourth round of the Australian Open. Samsonova will face Leylah Fernandez in the second round.
Svitolina delivered a clinical finish to her contest against home favorite Parry, which had been suspended overnight due to darkness with the Ukrainian leading 4-2 in the second set. In the second round, she will face a rematch of her 2023 semifinal barnburner against another French player, Clara Burel.
Two more French women took the court in Monday's evening matches, with differing results. Wild card Fiona Ferro, a Strasbourg quarterfinalist in 2019, dismissed qualifier Erika Andreeva 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour and 28 minutes. France's Ferro will play Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine in the second round.
But World No.24 Emma Navarro of the United States ousted another French wild card, Alizé Cornet, 6-4, 6-1. Navarro, who cracked the Top 20 earlier this season, went 5-for-5 on break points.
Cornet was playing the penultimate tournament of her career. The 34-year-old intends to retire from professional tennis after Roland Garros.
