Sakkari Sinks, Raducanu Out Of French Open; Swiatek, Badosa Thurs.

After a day of normalcy, more upsets hit the women’s draw Wednesday as Maria Sakkari and Emma Raducanu were shown the exit.

The world No. 3 Sakkari, who was a point from the final a year ago, fell to former Australian Open semifinalist Karolina Muchova 7-6(5), 7-6(4).

The Czech was off the tour with a nagging ab injury from the US Open until returning in Miami, but once again proved that when healthy, she’s among the elite.

“Very special win against a very tough opponent on clay, so I really appreciated that I was able to finish it in two sets, that I had a great finish to both of the sets,” said Muchova.

Sakkari’s loss is the fifth Top 10 seed already out, and it leaves no Top 10 seeds left on the bottom half.

“She played an amazing match,” Sakkari said. “She always plays extremely well in Grand Slams and today she was the better player, so I have to give it to her.

“It’s disappointing for sure because it still, it still is my favorite tournament and I’m sad. But at the same time there were a lot of positives today because I found myself again in the court. I’m feeling good. I’m fighting. I’m enjoying my time on the court so I think that great things are going to happen soon.”

US Open champion Emma Raducanu’s first French Open came to an end losing to Aliaksandra Sasnovich 3-6, 6-1, 6-1. It also concludes the teen’s first clay season as she’ll now focus on Wimbledon.

“I think that I definitely got stronger as the clay season went on,” Raducanu said. “It just takes a lot more to win the point on this surface. You hit a ball flat, doesn’t really do that much.

“I definitely learnt when to use the shape and stuff. I still got quite a long way to go on this surface, but overall, I would say I definitely had a good first experience on the clay. I think that I can definitely improve a lot more than what I am at right now.”

Leylah Fernandez, who lost to Raducanu in New York, moved on as did Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber and Belinda Bencic who ousted Bianca Andreescu 6-2, 6-4 in the marquee match of the day.

Americans had a good day with Coco Gauff, Amanda Anismova and former finalist Sloane Stephens all moving into the third round.

On Thursday, the second round wraps up with former champions Iga Swiatek, Simona Halep and Jelena Ostapenko returning along with Paula Badosa, Caroline Garcia and Karolina Pliskova.

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