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No. 1-ranked Kerber falls in 1st round at French Open

Pascal Rossignol / Reuters

The cruel clay at the French Open tripped up Angelique Kerber, again.

Kerber became the first women's No. 1 seed to be eliminated in the first round at Roland Garros in the Open era, losing in straight sets (6-2, 6-2) to Ekaterina Makarova on Sunday.

It's the second straight year Kerber was dispatched on the first day of play. Last year, as the No. 3 seed, Kerber was upset by Kiki Bertens.

Russia's Makarova built a 3-1 lead in the first set and capitalized on several uncharacteristic errors from Kerber to take it 6-2.

In the second set, Kerber dropped the first three games before battling back to briefly halt Makarova's momentum. However, problems with her serve led to Makarova taking a 4-1 lead, and the underdog rode her forehand to another 6-2 set and the match.

Kerber had been looking to improve on her fourth-round finish at the Australian Open this past January, but instead she'll have the next couple of weeks to look back on what went wrong against Makarova.

The 29-year-old German entered the French Open ranked world No. 1, which she could lose if Karolina Pliksova makes the final or Simona Halep wins the title.

Makarova moves on to face the winner between Lesia Tsurenko and Kateryna Kozlova.

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