PV Sindhu's Winless Run Against An Se Young Continues As She Loses French Open Final

Indian shuttler PV Sindhu endured another heartbreak against South Korea's An Se Young as she lost the French Open final on Sunday, October 25. World No. 11 Sindhu won the first game and took an early lead, but An Se Young bounced back to claim the match 16-21, 21-11, 21-12.

Sindhu has now lost 11 straight matches against An Se Young, having never won a single match against the Korean shuttler. With this victory, Olympic champion An Se Young collected her fourth French Open crown and her 11th title of the season.

Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist, opened brightly and her reach and attacking play helped her take the first game in 20 minutes. That was just the second time in her career that she had won a game against the Korean.

Sindhu Takes Early Lead

The opening game featured several tight net exchanges and lively rallies, with the score locked at 4-4 and 7-7. In one of those exchanges, an lunged at a shuttle, cleared it and clipped Sindhu on the face.

Sindhu then moved two points clear at the interval with an overhead cross-court smash, and her advantage grew to 15-11 after An made errors at the back line. A long lift and a smash into the net from Sindhu brought An back to 13-15, before another netted shot from the Indian and a sideline error from the Korean kept the pressure on.

Sindhu pushed on to 19-14 when An sent one wide, and a disguised slice gave her six game points. An saved two with a deceptive drop and an angled cross-court reply, but another long shot from the Korean let Sindhu close out the opener in 20 minutes.

An Se Young Fightbacks

An answered after the changeover and raced to 3-0 in the second game. Sindhu replied with a cross-court smash to trim the gap to 2-4, though An then found the tape. A body smash kept Sindhu at 4-5, but a sharp net touch took An to 7-5 before she pushed one wide, affected by the sideways drift.

A neat net shot at 7-6 and a 30-shot rally kept An two points ahead, and two powerful smashes stretched that cushion to four at the break. She then moved to 13-7, and when Sindhu's errors mounted, nine of the next 10 points went to the top seed for a 17-8 lead. An earned 12 game points, Sindhu saved three, and the Korean converted to square the match.

The decider stayed competitive for a while, with the pair producing several long rallies. Sindhu had to deal with both An's shot-making and the side drift, yet she recovered from a 36-shot exchange that ended wide to go up 8-5. An hit back to 8-8 with a smash and then nudged ahead 9-8 after a net pounce that echoed one from the first game.

A body smash and another shot to Sindhu's backhand gave An a two-point edge at the interval. She had taken six of the previous seven points and carried that momentum to 13-9. When Sindhu sent one long, the lead grew to 14-9 and then 15-9, before An stretched it to 18-10. Another wide shot gave the Korean eight match points, and she finished it at the first chance.