It wasn’t an open secret–make that a French Open secret–that the women’s tournament at Roland Garros was going to be a free-for-all, an unpredictable event with few clear favorites from round to round and match to match. Day two of women’s singles competition in Paris affirmed the unconventionally conventional wisdom, as two dangerous floaters were ushered out of the year’s second Grand Slam showcase.

Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, a claycourt specialist and the No. 14 seed in the field, tripped on the terre battue in a grisly 6-1, 6-1 loss to American teenager Alexa Glatch. Schnyder, the No. 17 seed in Paris, crashed out of France as well with a disappointing 6-4, 6-3 setback against Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko, sister of fellow pro Alyona Bondarenko (who, incidentally, lost her first-round match on Monday to Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova).

Placed in the fourth quarter of the women’s draw, with second-seeded Serena Williams and No. 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova–a talented but fragile flower in the sport–Pennetta and Schnyder had a golden opportunity to play deep into the 15-day tournament. On grass or hardcourts, having Serena in your neighborhood isn’t a welcome propsect, but the calculus is different on crushed red brick. These two Europeans, with middle-range seeds, were viewed as legitimate contenders for a quarterfinal spot, if not a darkhorse run all the way to the semifinals. Now, those hopes lie in ruins after a pair of first-round flops.

A top 15 player is supposed to own some A-grade weapons and big-point steadiness, but those two qualities entirely eluded Pennetta in a disastrous match against Glatch, a youthful Californian who grew up (as all Californians do) playing hardcourt tennis. Pennetta hit only 11 winners in the entire match, with 0 aces and a horrible 48-percent clip on her first serves. Glatch drilled only 19 winners, but given the feeble form of her opponent, that total became comparatively significant on an upside-down Monday afternoon. The other huge key to this American-engineered upset was Glatch’s superiority on break points for and against. While Pennetta could only convert 1 of 10 break point opportunities against her 19-year-old foe, Glatch went 6-of-11 on break points against the world No. 14. By playing big points better, Glatch acted like the upper-level veteran, while Pennetta regressed and Roland Garros.

Schnyder’s loss–just as hard to fathom as Pennetta’s meltdown–was similarly easy to explain. Schnyder deserved mention as a darkhorse in Paris because the Swiss veteran had reached the fourth round or better in six of her past seven French Open trips. Up against Kateryna Bondarenko, ranked 60th in the world, Schnyder didn’t figure to make such a hasty exit from the red clay of France. But in a turn of events eerily similar to what befell (and felled) Pennetta hours earlier, Schnyder’s missed opportunities led to her demise.

While Bondarenko converted four of seven break points in the match, Schnyder–given 12 separate chances to break–could only cash in two of those points. Moreover, much as Pennetta couldn’t hit through the court against a more active and energized adversary, Schnyder found herself stymied and sluggish on the baseline. The Swiss could only hit 15 winners, a startlingly low total from a lefty whose hitting angles usually manage to throw opponents off balance. A batch of 27 errors, combined with her relatively impotent groundstrokes, led Schnyder to fade away without much of any resistance. So much for the woman who had made Roland Garros her most comfortable and successful domain among the four Grand Slam events on tour.

Think the women’s singles event at the French Open will assume a quieter profile in the coming days? Based on Monday’s action, the surprises are likely to keep on coming as this tournament develops.

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