Kim Birrell's French Open campaign is over after a tough three-set loss to Oleksandra Oliynykova, with the Ukranian finishing the match with a rally started by an underarm serve.
Just days after the best win of her career over American No.5 Jessica Pegula, the Queenslander went down 6-3, 0-6, 7-6(10-5) in a match that lasted more than two hours.
Birrell was aiming to equal her best result at a grand slam since she reached the third round at the Australian Open in 2019 and turned the match on its head after losing the first set.
READ MORE: Sinner stunned as French Open favourite knocked out
READ MORE: Blues record Origin first with historic clean sweep
READ MORE: Watson hunting short-term deal as rival team swoops for 2028
Oliynykova is known for her deft skills on court, using guile more than power to unsettle her opponents.
But the Aussie appeared to work out her style after the first set and was able to turn the match as she took control from the net.
However, the Ukrainian regained her composure in the third and ended the run of six straight games against her by gaining an early break to lead 2-0.
Birrell was able to break back, with games then going on serve until the match tiebreaker.
A number of errors saw her fall behind 5-1, only for her to tie it up at 5-5.
Yet her 11th double fault put her under pressure with the Ukrainian taking con and eventually securing the victory when Birrell dumped a forehand into the net during a rally that was started by an audacious underarm serve.
"Obviously (I'm) very disappointed. Tennis is quite a roller coaster sometimes … you can have one of the best days of your life, followed by all the tougher, tougher days," she said.
"That's the situation here, but although today was tough, I'm still really proud of myself and the way that I fought.
"I think she did play really well and (raised) her game to win in the third. Sometimes that's life and I've got to keep my head up and keep moving forward and remember all the good parts of this week."
She added: "I think something that surprised me was her ability to change the pace, but also on the next ball, be a lot more aggressive.
Watch all the action from Roland-Garros 2026 live and on demand on Stan Sport, with centre court in 4K UHD. World class coverage also on 9Gem and streaming on 9Now
"I watched a lot of footage of her and I know lots of people have been finding her tricky. She's been winning quite a lot of matches, on especially this clay season.
"It's funny. I think it's kind of cool to watch players like her who play a little bit differently to the norm, but it is tricky when you're facing them down the other end."
Speaking to Stan Sport, Oliynykova said the underarm serve she used on match point is nothing new for her, even though others in the sport may see it as a big deal.
"I'm practising underarms, so yeah, for me it's like nothing too special," she said. " I was asked before in the press conference about an underarm because it's something unconventional in tennis.
"But actually for me it's one of the options to serve like I'm practising like flat serve, kick serve, slide serve and underarm serve. I'm doing it with a basket."
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.