There are no more French players registered in the singles at the US Open tennis tournament after Jessika Ponchet (143rd in the world) was eliminated in the third round by the Danish Caroline Wozniacki (71st) by 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday 31 August in New York.
Ponchet, who had benefited from the withdrawal of world number four Elena Rybakina in the previous round, had somewhat prolonged the French adventure, when all the others had been eliminated by Thursday at the latest in the second round.
This is a new snub during a major tournament for French tennis in decline, after a catastrophic Olympic Games in Paris a month ago: no quarter-finalist, regardless of the event. The absence of a French representative in the round of 16 of the last Grand Slam of the season is repeated, after 2021 and 2023. Among the men, no Frenchwoman has even reached the third round this year, for the first time since 1995. This despite fourteen entering among the men, the second contingent behind the United States (seventeen), and seven among the women, the fifth contingent.
The best tournament of Jessika Ponchet’s career
On Saturday, 27-year-old Jessika Ponchet, who despite everything had the best major tournament of her career, was hampered by 27 unforced errors.
“The experience was crazy, I had never won a match here, now I find myself in the third round having made it through qualification, only having good matches won in two sets, so it is true that the experience, whatever happens, is there, so I am still very happy with the tournament.”he commented.
Ponchet was under pressure from the start from Wozniacki, 34, a former world number one who returned to the circuit a year ago after giving birth for the second time. The Frenchwoman never managed to threaten the Dane on her serve, without a break point, in 1 hour and 15 minutes of play.
“I did very badly, it’s a shame. I lack consistency. The advantage, on the other hand, is that I can improve my game at all levels, whether it’s attacks, volleys, first serve percentage, returns, volley areas I play and physicality.”added the player who has been training for several months with former French number one Nathalie Tauziat.
