PARIS, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Wang Qiang was eliminated by 10th-seeded Venus Williams 6-4, 7-6 (3) in the first round of 2017 French Open, while world No. 1 Angelique Kerber of Germany continued her lackluster performance on clay, losing to Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-2.
The 25-year-old Wang built a 4-2 lead in the first set, before the seven-time Grand Slam singles winner used her experience to seal the set at 6-4.
Trailing 3-5 and 15-40 in the ninth game, Williams put on another comeback to turn around at 6-5.
Wang forced a tiebreak, but still could not get the upper hand. Her poor backhand attack earned Williams a 7-3 victory in the tiebreak.
Williams showed her dominance with 37 winners against Wang's 15.
"She (Williams) is much more experienced than me, and she knows how to handle some crucial points well," said Wang, adding she would play better on clay next year.
Kerber, who only had a personal best record of a last 16 in this clay season, failed to withstand the strong forehand and backhand attacks from her opponent as she lost the first set 6-2 in 38 minutes.
Makarova nailed three games in a row in the second set, before Kerber broke in the fourth game in an unfamiliar manner. Leading 5-2 into her service, Makarova sealed the victory with a powerful forehand to deny Kerber's quest for the Suzanne Lenglen trophy.
Kerber blamed her bad movement on clay to her early exit in the tournament.
"On clay I'm not feeling so good especially on my movement. Normally I can move well, but on clay, it's always different and difficult for me. I think that's the most important (for my loss)," she said.
Petra Kvitova celebrated her comeback from being sidelined for five months with a hand injury, beating Julia Boserup of the United States 6-3, 6-2.
"I feel great about the win. This match is special to me," said Kvitova.
Elsewhere, men's seeded players Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov swept their opponents, while local favorite Lucas Pouille had to come back from 2-1 down to edge compatriot Julien Benneteau in full sets.
In women's singles, sixth-seeded Dominika Cibulkova and eighth-seded Svetlana Kuznetsova also eased into the second round.
Title favorites Garbine Muguruza, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will kick off their campaign at Roland Garros on Monday. China's top-ranked woman Zhang Shuai is set to meet Donna Vekic of Croatia.
