STRASBOURG, France (AP) Top-seeded Sara Errani received another setback in the French Open preparations when she lost to Monica Puig of Puerto Rico 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the first round at the Strasbourg International on Monday.
It was the third straight tournament Errani has lost in the opening round. The poor run prompted the Italian, who won in Dubai in February, to seek and receive a wild card into Strasbourg to try her confidence for the French Open starting on Sunday.
Since Errani lost the 2012 French Open final to Maria Sharapova, she has reached the semifinals once and quarterfinals twice.
Defending Strasbourg champion Samantha Stosur, seeded third, defeated American qualifier Lauren Davis 6-3, 7-5 to reach the second round, while eighth-seeded Timea Babos of Hungary beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-4, 6-1.
The match between second-seeded Sloane Stephens and Donna Vekic was suspended because of darkness at one set all.
Three French were among the winners, including Caroline Garcia, wild card Pauline Parmentier, and lucky loser Virginie Razzano.