French Open Day 1 - Defending Champion Ostapenko Out; Konta's Woes Continue; Does a Sunday Start Work?

As The Tennis Podcast turned six-years-old, Catherine & David celebrated by discussing the opening day of action at Roland Garros. But there was no cause for Johanna Konta to celebrate. The British No.1 lost in the first round at the French Open for the fourth consecutive year, beaten by Yulia Putintseva. Catherine gives us the lowdown on the talking points from Konta’s post-match press conference, which at one stage turned a little more feisty than usual. With these disappointing losses beginning to stack up for Konta, how concerned should we all be about her form? Elsewhere, there was a big shock as defending champion Jelena Ostapenko lost in straight sets to Kateryna Kozlova. Those upsets brought some much-needed drama to an opening day which felt underwhelming at times, and left Catherine & David debating the pros and cons of a Sunday start. There’s also a brief chat about Monday’s play, when a number of the big names will get their campaigns underway. Plus, David reveals how lucky loser Marco Trungelliti is making a 9-hour car journey to Paris from Barcelona in order to take up his place in the draw. There will be daily editions of The Tennis Podcast throughout the French Open, in association with Telegraph Sport. It is presented by Catherine Whitaker (Eurosport) and David Law (BBC 5 Live, BT Sport). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.