Reigning Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber stumbled to a stunning first-round defeat to Dutch Kiki Berterns at the Roland Garros on Tuesday.

Kerber, the No. 3 seed, was subdued in such a way that she could manage to hit just 9 winners against 33 by her opponent en route a 2-6 6-3 6-3 loss.

This was Kerber’s third consecutive opening-round exit in as many tournaments, having been ousted from Madrid, Rome and Paris all this month.

5th seed Victoria Azarenka also bowed out of the tournament as a knee injury compelled her withdrawal midway in the third set of her match against Italian Karin Knapp.

The Belarusian star struggled continuously with her knee before giving up on 3-6 7-6 0-4.  This comes on the back of her first-round exit from the Italian Open last week.

Venus Williams, the No. 9 seed, kept the upset bug at bay as she moved past Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in two tie-breakers.

14^th seed Ana Ivanovic also made it to the second round following a 6-0 5-7 6-2 conquest of local hope Oceane Dodin.

Top-seeded Serena Williams also got her campaign off in style as she made short work of Slovak Magdalena Rybarikova, winning 6-2 6-0.