Day 2 of the French Open started off quite slowly, at least for me. Not a lot of eye popping matches today even though the No. 1 players on both tours took to the courts today.
The day’s events started with Caroline Wozniacki, the newest media darling, vying for a place in the second round against Alla Kudrayetseva (she of the Maria Sharapova upset at Wimbledon because she did not like her outfit). Many thought that she would have hated Wozniacki’s sack dress and sent her packing but alas it was not to be. Alla took a 0 and 3 beating. The Dane moves on to the second round.
Roger Federer made short work of Polish-descended Australian journeyman Peter Luczak. Luczak started off playing well, serving and volleying and drop shotting Federer for all he was worth but the world’s No. 1 kept his head and was able to pull out the win with a 4, 1 and 2 victory.
A match that I saw this morning that made me sit up and take notice was that of the American veteran Taylor Dent who outlasted Nicholas Lapentti in a well played straight set match. Dent served and volleyed, hit some lovely passing shots, and played well off the ground. The tiebreak was classic. The score was 6-3, 6-4 and 7-6.
The women's world No. 1 Serena Williams had her hands full in the first set against a very feisty Stefanie Voegele, a Swiss Miss. Voegele first came to my attention when she played Venus tough at Wimbledon a few years ago. Since then I have seen her name in draws but she is usually out by the time it gets to TV time. She has a very good serve and she used it well today, keeping Serena to no break points for an entire set. Serena faced several break points but she does what she does best and held on for 6-5. Voegela took it to a tie break where Serena went into playing mode and won the tie break decisively. Voegele, as well as the very vocal French crowd that was supporting her whole demeanor, went down not only from the first set tiebreak but in the second set she all but disappeared. Serena took the match 7-6, 6-2. Can I say that if Serena makes it to the quarters where she has a potential matchup with Justine Henin, she will need to do to Justine and the French crowd exactly what she did to Samantha Stosur in Australia. She will have to play fierce tennis. Serve well, play well, no tantrums and take the crowd out of the equation.
Novak Djokovic v. Evgeny Korolev. For a man who was anointed by some as the real King of tennis, Djokovic’s fortunes have been non-existent. He battled himself and his opponent today to squeak out a 4 set win and move on to the next round. I admit I hardly watched any of this match as Novak bores me these days.
Ana Ivanovic v. Kai Chen Yuang. Double faults in the double digits. Caught ball tosses, Unforced error after unforced error. Looks of bewilderment. This match was ugly. The score does not define what happened out there. A disaster. Ivanovic won 3 and 3. It was a lot closer than that.
Thomaz Bellucci absolutely destroyed Michael Llodra. He played fantastic tennis to take out the veteran Frenchman in straight sets with a score of 4, 2 and 2. Keep watching this one folks. He's going far.
Elena Dementieva v. Martic – Saw a little bit of this match to know that I hate Dementieva’s dress. For a woman with such a wonderful figure, her clothing sponsor sure does put her in some very unflattering dresses. The color is fine but the fit makes it look as if she is wearing a potato sack. She won by feeding her opponent 2 bread sticks.
Stosur v. Halep – Stosur had some trouble against the 2008 Junior FO champion who is reported to have had breast reduction surgery. I have seen Halep play during this clay court swing and I like her game. Very focused intense individual. She lost today after coming through qualies but she gave Stosur a run in the first set. Stosur won 5 and 1. Halep needs to learn to hold serve. Her second serve is a disaster waiting to happen.
Jelen Jankovic v. Alicia Molik – Molik should have stayed retired. She is being embarrassed by younger, faster, fitter players. Her game which was good in 2005 is almost obsolete now. She got a bagel and 4 for her troubles.
Philipp Petzschner was beaten into submission today by Carsten Ball. The only thing I have to say about that since I could not find a stream. He kicked me out of the suicide pool. I hope he is happy.
Lucie Safarova v. Jelena Dokic – I think it is time for Dokic to call it a career. She is fat, out of shape, and you can tell that her heart is just not in it. It is hard when you do not know anything else but she was made to look like a junior playing the pro circuit today. There were flashes of brilliance but it is no longer there. Safarova won in straights, 2 and 2.
Match of the Day
What defines a match of the day in a Grand Slam? Is it the effort exerted by both players, the excitement that is generated from the wonderful play of both players, or is it the sheer guts on display? I do not know whether I would classify the Andy Murray- Richard Gasquet match as a classic. There were moments of brilliance by both men but at the end of the day mental instability that has defined Gasquet’s career came into play. At 3-4 facing break point, Gasquet loses his serve and Murray serves for the third set. Gasquet breaks back to get the set back on serve. He has game point at 40-30, muffs an easy volley and it is deuce. After exchanging ads and break points and deuces, Murray finally breaks for the set and the rest is history.
If Gasquet had made that volley and taken the set to 5-5 all I would have loved his chances in the tie break. Murray had not been serving well and Gasquet was. Fatigue set in and Murray, as he is wont to do, ran Gasquet ragged. He took it in 5. I would not say the better man won this match, just the man who held up better in this long, drawn out 5-setter.
That is it for the day folks, but I posted a little rant in today’s post that I am going to expand on. I believe that Rafael Nadal is a champion. I believe that he is great for the game and I do believe that he and Roger Federer have taken tennis to new heights. I just wish that the powers that be in tennis saw that.
On tomorrow’s Roland Garros schedule, we have Rafael Nadal, a 4 time winner of Roland Garros, a 6 time Grand Slam champion, a former World No.1, winner of an Olympic Gold Medal and the current world No. 2 scheduled to play his opening round match on Suzanne Lenglen.
Now with all due respect to the great Suzanne Lenglen, and I am sure that she is worthy of having a court named after her, I just cannot understand why they would do something like this. Word out on twitter is that this was done to facilitate those persons who bought tickets for Lenglen were guaranteed a star player on that court. When I checked to see who the stars were on Chartier, opening proceedings is Justine Henin, a 4-time champion here, and Andy Roddick. I did a double take. Andy Roddick. I checked his opponent to see if it was a Frenchman. Nope, it was a Finn, Jarkko Nieminen. I understand that Roddick was placed on Chartier as a result of his clothing sponsor as well as his media representatives are all French. Really? Really?
This just reminds me of when the Williams Sisters for all their achievements at Wimbledon are relegated to Court 2 because the organizers wanted the pretty girls on Centre Court. Will it never end? I guess from the looks of tomorrow Order of Play, the answer is never
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