Sindhu takes the first game, but An Se Young wins the French Open final

PV Sindhu came within a game of the French Open title in Paris on Sunday, 25 October, before world No. 1 An Se Young won the final. The games, from Sindhu’s side, read 21-16, 11-21, 12-21.

Sindhu opened strongly and won the first game 21-16. An Se Young then raised her pace, took the second game 21-11 and closed out the decider 21-12. The match lasted a little over an hour.

It was only the second time Sindhu has taken the South Korean to three games, but the head-to-head now stands at 11 straight defeats for the Indian. An Se Young collects her fourth French Open title.

Sindhu had reached the final by beating Japan’s Hina Akechi in three games in the semi-final on Saturday.

What it means

Our view: losing a final after winning the first game stings, but the result shows that Sindhu can still push the best player in the world. The task now is to turn a strong first game into a full match.