John McEnroe has been eagerly watching the opening couple of days of the French Open this year.
McEnroe never won the French Open, and has admitted that the most disappointing defeat of his career came on the clay courts of Paris.
Despite never lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires himself, McEnroe has predicted the French Open finalists in the men’s singles draw this year.
The former world number one has been particularly focused on American players, with McEnroe even offering to coach one of them.
However, McEnroe was left surprised when two of his compatriots exited the French Open in the first round.
Photo by Franco Arland/Getty ImagesJohn McEnroe shocked by Taylor Fritz and Emma Navarro’s first round French Open defeats
After the opening couple of days of play, the highest ranked players in both the men’s and women’s singles draws to have been knocked out are both American.
World number four Taylor Fritz has been struggling recently, and those woes continued after he was beaten by Daniel Altmaier in the first round.
While in the women’s singles field, Emma Navarro made unwanted history after winning just one game in her match against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
When speaking on TNT Sports, McEnroe admitted that those two results have stood out to him the most, particularly highlighting the manner of Navarro’s defeat.
“Those were the two most shocking results to me,” said McEnroe. “I know Fritz has been battling this stomach thing for a while and it’s pretty clear that clay is his worst surface.
“I can’t say that I am totally shocked. Altmaier beat [Jannik] Sinner here a couple of years ago, if I’m not mistaken, so this guy knows he has credentials on the clay.
“Navarro losing – when I saw the score. I turned the TV on at my hotel before I came over here and I saw the score 6-0, 5-1 and thought Navarro is cruising and then I’m like wait a minute. Is she down 6-0, 5-1?
“What the hell just happened. It is very surprising. Normally she is very consistent. She is a good mover and she is fit, so that really was a surprising result for me. I really do not know much about her opponent, I know she has made some inroads recently, but that really was a surprising result.”
Seeded players already out of the French Open
Fritz and Navarro are not the only seeded players to have already exited the French Open in the first round.
One of the other notable names to have already been knocked out of the men’s singles draw is Francisco Cerundolo, who was beaten in straight sets by the big-serving Canadian Gabriel Diallo.
This result could be particularly significant for Alexander Zverev, who has never beaten Cerundolo before and could have faced the Argentine in the fourth round.
While in the women’s singles draw, Navarro is by far the highest seed to have fallen so far.
The 26th seed Marta Kostyuk was coming into the French Open this year in some form, and could have been a potential obstacle for defending champion Iga Swiatek.
However, the Ukrainian was stunned by qualifier Sara Bejlek, winning just four games in her emphatic first round exit.
The seeds will continue to fall in Paris, as the first round wraps up ahead of the next set of matches for these top players remaining.
Some of the notable second round matches already confirmed include Swiatek playing Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz against Fabian Marozsan, who has previously beaten the Spaniard on clay.