By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
P.V. Sindhu’s defeat in the French Open final on Sunday was a painful reminder of a recurring pattern in her career: winning the opening game of a major title clash, only to see her opponent fight back and snatch victory.
The Indian shuttler started impressively against world No. 1 An Se-young of South Korea, taking the first game 21-16 and raising hopes of ending her losing run against the reigning Olympic champion. But An bounced back to win the next two games 21-11, 21-12, denying Sindhu the French Open crown. Head-to-Head Record: With this, An now leads 11–0 in singles matches against Sindhu.
For those who have followed Sindhu’s career, the result brought back memories of the 2016 Rio Olympics final, when she came tantalisingly close to winning India’s first Olympic badminton gold.
Facing Spain’s Carolina Marin, Sindhu won the opening game 21-19 after recovering from a substantial deficit. Marin, however, raised her level to take the second game 21-12 and the decider 21-15, leaving the Indian with a historic silver medal.
The Rio final was not an isolated instance.
In December 2017, Sindhu suffered a remarkably similar fate in the season-ending BWF World Super-series Finals in Dubai. She took the opening game against Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi 21-15 but lost the next two 12-21, 19-21 in a gruelling 94-minute contest. Even after leading 11-8 at the interval in the deciding game, Sindhu could not prevent Yamaguchi from fighting back.
These defeats raise an obvious question: why has Sindhu sometimes struggled to close out finals after making such promising starts?
There is no single explanation for every defeat. Opponents of the calibre of Marin, Yamaguchi and An are capable of making tactical adjustments, increasing the pace and turning defensive rallies into opportunities to attack. Maintaining physical intensity and controlling unforced errors become especially important as matches enter their decisive stages.
Sunday’s final offered a fresh example. Sindhu was doing well in the deciding game before An recovered and moved ahead 11-9 at the interval. The South Korean subsequently took control, exposing how quickly a promising position can disappear against an opponent who rarely gives away easy points. Sindhu herself acknowledged after the match that maintaining her lead at that stage could have made a difference.
Yet it would be unfair to define Sindhu’s career by the finals she has lost. She won the world championship in 2019, claimed Olympic silver at Rio and bronze at Tokyo, and has repeatedly demonstrated her ability to compete with the world’s best.
The French Open defeat is therefore less a story of an inability to win finals than a reminder of the fine margins separating victory from defeat at the highest level. For Sindhu, the challenge remains to convert strong starts into sustained pressure—and promising positions into titles.