Simona Halep made a surprising exit from the French Open on Wednesday, hastened by a hand injury.
There will be no repeat of last year's run at Roland Garros for Halep, who was 2015's third seed. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia eliminated Halep 7-5, 6-1 in the second round.
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Also on Wednesday, 2014 champion Maria Sharapova defeated fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko 6-3, 6-1. Next for Sharapova: 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur.
In men's competition, Roger Federer, Kei Nishikori and Stan Warwrinka advanced.
Lucic-Baroni, at 33 the world's 70th-rated player, had not made it beyond the second round since 2001. Now she has a third-round match with Alize Cornet of France.
It's not the first time Lucic-Baroni has upset Halep, who lost to her in the third round of last year's U.S. Open.
Halep matched Lucic-Baroni blow for blow — hitting back twice after being broken. However, when Lucic-Baroni scored her third service break, there was no time for Halep to recover.
Having received treatment for a hand injury toward the end of the opening set, Halep lost the first five games of the second.
Halep brought the score to 5-1, but Lucic-Baroni won on her serve.
Halep appeared to injure her right ring finger, but she struggled throughout the match. She hit five winning shots in the match; Lucic-Baroni had 29 and closed with an ace.
Contributing: Jack Davies
