French Open 2018: Johanna Konta knocked out in first round for fourth straight year with defeat against Yulia Putintseva as Venus Williams also falls at first hurdle
The Brit star lost 6-4 6-3 against her Kazakh opponent, while Venus Williams also suffered a shock defeat at Roland Garros
JO KONTA flopped out of the French Open as her wretched Roland Garros run continued.
The British No 1 had an absolute stinker, making error after error in a 6-4 6-3 defeat by world No 93 Yulia Putintseva which means she has still never gone past the first round in Paris.
The Russian-born Kazakh was the better player throughout and when she was broken serving for the first set, she simply took the Konta serve again to clinch it.
The Brit seemed on the verge of turning the tide when she started the second set with a break.
But Putintseva responded immediately and then moved decisively ahead as Konta continued to rack up the unforced errors.
Konta was not the only one to suffer a shock defeat, though.
Venus Williams was beaten in the first round for the second Grand Slam in a row, going down 6-4 7-5 to China's Qiang Wang.
The 37-year-old has never won a major in France - with her best performance coming in 2002 where she finished as a runner-up.
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She hasn't reached the last eight since 2006, and will go into Wimbledon looking to avoid a third consecutive first round exit in a major tournament.
Defending French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko will have to get past Kateryna Kozlova if she wished to advance into the next round.
