Second-seeded Karolina Pliskova was eliminated from the French Open, ensuring that Naomi Osaka will hold onto the No. 1 ranking after the tournament.
Pliskova lost to No. 31 Petra Martic 6-3, 6-3 in the third round.
Pliskova entered the tournament with a seven-match winning streak, which included the Italian Open title, but she couldn’t keep up with Martic on the long rallies on Court Philippe Chatrier, often bending over in exhaustion after extended points.
It was Martic’s tour-best 14th win on clay this season. The Croatian has not dropped a set in her opening three matches.
Martic says “I’m shaking right now, so many emotions in me. … I can’t think about numbers. It’s time to play and I hope I’m going to continue this way.”
Also, last year’s semifinalist Madison Keys beat Priscilla Hon of Australia 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in a second-round match carried over from Thursday, and 19-year-old Marketa Vondrousova eliminated 28th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4, 6-4 to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the second time after last year’s U.S. Open.