French Open: Axelsen Searches for Answers After Early Loss
Viktor Axelsen struggled to explain what exactly had gone wrong after an uneven performance saw him crash out of the YONEX French Open 2024.
· DEV SUKUMAR
His conqueror was Wang Tzu Wei, who had lost to him in all six of their previous encounters.
It was apparent that something was off with Axelsen’s game from the early spell of play, with the Dane falling behind 10-1. The sharpness and accuracy were missing, and there were several errors. Yet, it was to Wang’s credit that he never let his foot off the pedal, and even after Axelsen had levelled out a big deficit in the second game, Wang created and converted his opportunities.
“He’s world no.1, he’s really strong and I’ve never beaten him before,” said Wang. “So I was relaxed and tried to do my best on court, and I’m glad I did well today. He made some mistakes and I seized my chance. I didn’t let him feel comfortable at all.