Lulu Sun, a last-minute entry into the Olympic singles, lost her first-round match to Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 6-4 6-3.
Sun was a sensation at Wimbledon earlier this month, reaching the quarter-finals by upsetting several big-name players, including British favourite Emma Raducanu.
She received a belated call-up into the Olympic singles as an alternate when there was a late withdrawal and was somewhat unfortunate to strike a top 20 player who is a clay court expert.
“It wasn’t the normal preparation for a big match,” Sun said. “But it was an amazing experience to play a top player at Roland Garros during the Olympics.”
The left-handed Sun began well and led 4-2 in the first set. But Kostyuk buckled down and reeled off the next eight games. Though Sun made a late run it wasn’t enough and she went down in 1h 23 min.
Sun, 23, has reached a world singles ranking of 53 after her Wimbledon heroics. But that was on a grass court. It was a different matter playing Kostyuk on clay.
“I had some opportunities, especially in the first set, but she converted better. She played better and deserved to win.”
Sun, who represented Switzerland until she switched her allegiance to New Zealand early this year, is in the Olympic doubles with Erin Routliffe, the world’s No 1-ranked doubles player.
They have an extremely difficult first-round draw against the third-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini (this year’s singles finalist).