Maria Sakkari became the latest high-profile name to exit the French Open as she lost to Karolina Muchova in the second round.
The Greek was beaten 7-6(5), 7-6(4) in straight sets.
Her ouster is another win for the top seed Iga Swiatek as her path to a second French Open title gets easier with the top seeds Ons Jabeur (6) and defending champion Barbora Krejcikova (2) already knocked out from the tournament.
Sakkari, a semi-finalist in Paris last year, never found her groove as her opponent, an Australian Open semifinalist herself last year, set up a meeting with American Amanda Anisimova.
Sakkari who started slowly in the first round against Clara Burel as well was outplayed initially and fell into a 5-2 hole.
Facing two set points at 40-15, she briefly found her range and her opponent felt the pressure allowing the Greek to reduce the deficit.
Serving for the set, Muchova double-faulted twice as things went back on serve.
The Czech went on to waste two more set points at 6-5 but managed to bag the opener with a backhand winner in a close tiebreak.
A similar story transpired in the second as Sakkari dug deep in to recover a break of serve for 4-4 and then saved break points with some powerful groundstrokes as the match headed into a second tiebreak.
Muchova opened a 3-0 lead in the tiebreak but allowed her opponent to level for 4-4 before regaining her wits and wrapping up the win with a forehand winner.
With Maria Sakkari now gone from the French Open, Iga Swiatek and third seed Paula Badosa are the only two players from the top six left in the women’s draw.
