First round end station Kiki Bertens at Roland Garros | Tennis

sport">Bertens started her beloved tournament in Paris without high expectations. De Wateringse has had a difficult 2021 so far and the last few weeks have been downright tough. The recovery from her Achilles tendon surgery took much longer than she hoped and her return to the track was disappointing. At the end of last month, Bertens only booked her first win of this season on the WTA tour.

sport">As a precaution, Bertens, who has now dropped to seventeenth position in the world ranking, skipped the tournament in Rome and Belgrade to give her Achilles tendon some extra rest. On Monday morning, however, it turned out to make little difference.

sport">The Dutch started her match against Hercog very poorly and immediately handed in her first three service games. The Slovenian kept her serve herself, which meant that Bertens was 0-5 behind in no time. She took another break back, but in the game after that, the Dutch handed in her service for the fourth time, as a result of which she lost the first set without a chance: 1-6. Meanwhile, Bertens’ frustrations ran high.

sport">In the second act, things started to go a lot better at Bertens. It was now not the Dutch, but the Slovenian who had difficulty maintaining its service games. Bertens played well, took the initiative much more and took a 4-1 lead. Hercog came back to 3-4, but Bertens didn’t let her opponent get any further. She eventually won the second set 6-3.

sport">In the deciding set Bertens took a 2-0 lead. Hercog showed character, broke right back and with an easy service game she made it 2-2. Still, things seemed to work out for the Dutch who not much later faced a 4-2 lead. However, Hercog took four games in a row and sent home a frustrated Bertens.

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