No. 3 seed Aryna Sabalenka was upset in the French Open third round, leaving seventh seed Serena Williams as the only top-14 seed left in the bottom half of the draw.
Sabalenka, the power player from Belarus, was bounced by Russian veteran Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 2-6, 6-0 at Roland Garros on Friday.
Now, the top four women in the world are out of the tournament before its second week.
FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Men | Women | TV Schedule
No. 1 Ash Barty retired from her second-round match Thursday with a hip injury.
No. 2 Naomi Osaka withdrew after her first-round win, citing mental heatlh.
No. 3 Simona Halep withdrew before the tournament with a left calf tear.
And now No. 4 Sabalenka.
Williams, who hasn’t made it past the fourth round in Paris in three previous tries post-chidlbirth, gets 50th-ranked American Danielle Collins in the third round.
The top half has fire power in defending champion and favorite Iga Swiatek of Poland as well as her 2020 final opponent, American Sofia Kenin.
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French Open: Top three women’s seeds out, opening door for Serena Williams originally appeared on NBCSports.com