French Open: Garbine Muguruza talks of 'erratic' tournament as top seeds fall

Three of the top seven women’s seeds have gone out at Roland Garros this week

Garbine Muguruza plays a return against Myrtille Georges (Getty)

Three of the top seven women’s seeds have gone out of the French Open. “I don’t think it’s like the men where when you play [Novak] Djokovic you know you’re going to lose,” Garbine Muguruza said after her 6-2, 6-0 victory here in the second round over Myrtille Georges. “It’s not the same thing in women’s singles at all.”

With Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber and Roberta Vinci all falling at the first hurdle, Muguruza was happy to have earned a third-round meeting with Yanina Wickmayer, who put out another seed in Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova.

“I think the first rounds are the toughest ones,” Muguruza said. “You have to be very motivated. You really have to play at your very best.”

The world No 4 added: “When you look at the recent tournaments, things have been very erratic and unpredictable. The players have had some tough matches.”

Muguruza’s form has ebbed and flowed since she finished runner-up at Wimbledon last year, but she reached the semi-finals in her most recent tournament in Rome and has looked in good form here. In beating Georges she dropped only five points in the second set.

Roland Garros has good memories for Muguruza, who produced one of the shocks of the year when she beat Serena Williams in the second round in 2014. She went on to reach the quarter-finals – in which she lost to the eventual champion, Maria Sharapova – and repeated the feat last year before going out to Lucie Safarova. She is aiming to become the first Spanish woman to claim the title since Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario 18 years ago.

When Simona Halep reached the final here two years ago, having won seven titles in the preceding 12 months, a bright future beckoned for her. The 24-year-old Romanian has remained among the top group of players ever since, but she has not appeared in another Grand Slam final and her success rate in terms of titles has slowed markedly. In the two years since her appearance in the final here she has won five titles, just one of which was in the last 14 months.

The world No 6’s career might have stalled temporarily, but there are signs that she might be on an upward curve again. Having won one of her biggest titles when she triumphed in Madrid earlier this month, Halep is through to the third round here after beating Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas 7-6, 6-2. She now faces Japan’s Naomi Osaka, who put out Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, the player who shocked Halep in the second round here last year.

Halep, who is now coached by Darren Cahill, said she had arrived at Roland Garros this year in better spirits than she had 12 months ago. “I feel more confident, more relaxed,” she said. “I have already played a few good matches on clay in Madrid. I just want to do my job here.”

Agnieszka Radwanska, the No 2 seed, is not always at her best on clay, but is another player who could do well here. The Pole is through to a third-round meeting with Barbora Strycova after beating France’s Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-4.

Stan Wawrinka, the defending men’s champion, reached the third round by beating Japan’s Taro Daniel 7-6, 6-3, 6-4. It was the world No 4’s sixth successive victory on clay after he won the title in Geneva last week. He was pleased to win in straight sets, having been taken the distance by Lukas Rosol in the first round. He now meets Jeremy Chardy.

“If you look at the first two matches, for sure I’m not playing my best tennis, but I know I have my best tennis in me,” Wawrinka said afterwards. “I'm happy to get through in three sets. For sure there were some ups and downs. It could have been better, but in general I think it’s been a good day.”

He added: “Mentally I’m right there. I always try to win in three sets, but at the end of the day I do whatever I can to move on to the next round.”

Kei Nishikori has been in excellent form during the clay-court season, having lost only to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. The Japanese secured a third-round meeting with Fernando Verdasco after recording his second successive straight-sets victory when he beat Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.