Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
PARIS — Still hampered by a right ankle injury, Angelique Kerber lost in the first round of the French Open on Sunday as the clay-court major began with an upset.
The fifth-seeded Kerber fell, 6-4, 6-2, to an 18-year-old Roland Garros beginner, Anastasia Potapova of Russia, on Philippe Chatrier court.
Kerber’s preparations for Roland Garros, where she never advanced past the quarterfinals, were hampered by the injury she sustained at the Madrid Open last month.
“Of course this is not my excuse and everything,” Kerber said. “I tried my best. I know that there is still a little bit of work to do to be really playing matches 100 percent.