Bulgarian tennis professional Tsvetana Pironkova, who reached a career-high ranking of 31 in the world in 2010, has been struggling to get back to top form over the past few years.

A semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 2010, the Bulgarian also made the quarter-finals of the French Open in 2016. But, repeated injuries made her form decline as she soon fell out of top-50 in women’s singles rankings.

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Tsvetana Pironkova loses to Susan Bendecchi in the French Open 2021 qualifiers

Playing the qualifiers at Roland Garros this year, Pironkova lost in a three-set battle against the Swiss youngster Susan Bandecchi. The Bulgarian was expected to sail past the Swiss but the relentless push from Bandecchi troubled Pironkova on numerous occasions.

Also, the Bulgarian is a known grass-court specialist, and clay courts were never her forte. Even though she has an all-round game, her intentions to always look for winners from both the wings didn’t usually work on the red-dirt.

But, Pironkova managed to defeat some top-tier players like Venus Williams, Angelique Kerber, Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova, etc. In a decade long career, the Bulgarian won a WTA title at Sydney in 2014.

On the other hand, Susan Bandecchi has managed to produce one of the best wins of her career. In her first grand slam qualifiers draw, the Swiss player is able to produce top-quality tennis from the baseline.

Previously, Bandecchi was a known player in the ITF circuit. With this astonishing victory over Pironkova, the young Swiss might create an opportunity to qualify for her first grand slam main draw.

Bandecchi will play against the Australian Storm Sanders for a place in Roland Garros main draw.

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