World champion P.V. Sindhu began her French Open campaign with an easy win over Michelle Li of Canada in a women’s singles first round on Tuesday. The World No. 6, who has been struggling of late, beat Li 21-15, 21-13 in 44 minutes.
The Indian, who had a 5-2 record against the World No. 8 before Tuesday’s match, had last beaten Li at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Since claiming the Worlds, Sindhu has looked awfully out of form and failed to cross the second round in three tournaments (China Open, Korea Open and Denmark Open).
In men’s singles, Subhankar Dey upset Tommy Sugiarto of Indonesia to advance to the second round. The World No. 42 rallied to beat his World No. 17 opponent 15-21, 21-14, 21-17 in 78 minutes.
This was Subhankar’s second win over the former World No. 3 this year following the success at the India Open in March.
The results (first round): Women: P.V. Sindhu bt Michelle Li (Can) 21-15, 21-13. Men: Subhankar Dey bt Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) 15-21, 21-14, 21-17 .
