TENNIS FRENCH OPEN:IT WAS a day to be safely tucked up inside a stadium with a roof. Grey skies, strong winds and intermittent rain, some of it heavy, interrupted play on the third day of the French Open with the tournament director, Gilbert Ysern, promising a new centre court with a retractable roof in five years' time. The Australian Open and Wimbledon can afford to be smug, having left Roland Garros and the US Open out in the cold and wet.
Upsets occur in such blustery conditions with Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, the men’s number four, and Serena Williams, the women’s number two, the most likely contenders for “Shock of the Day”.
Both survived, though Williams came close at times to losing in the opening round of a grand slam for the first time.
Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic, ranked 98 places lower, fought tooth and nail before losing 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 in two hour and 24 minutes.
There were moments when Williams appeared close to tears at the frustration of it all.
She missed five match points in the second set and a further three in the third before the Czech drifted a forehand long to the relief of the American who, since winning the French Open against her sister, Venus, in 2002 has rarely played well on clay and often appeared unbalanced and awkward.
Zakopalova had the added confidence of having beaten Williams in Marbella on the surface earlier this year, together with a further seven wins on clay since.
The 27-year-old from Prague struck the ball beautifully off both sides, time and again emphasising the American’s suspect movement. But there was no doubting Williams’s fighting spirit.
In Madrid Williams questioned the fact that Russia’s Dinara Safina was the world number one, pointing out that the Russian had never won a major while she had won 10, including the last two in New York and Melbourne.
If this was a touch of pre-French Open gamesmanship, then judging by this performance it will be Safina who has the last laugh here.
The chances of Williams repeating her 2002 win appear non-existent, though it is foolhardy to predict anything in the women’s game, given the lack of consistency at the top.
Andy Murray today plays Italy’s Potito Starace for a place in the last 32.
“I’ve never practised or played against him but I know he uses a lot of spin, though I think he struggles when he’s rushed on it.
“He likes to have time and, like most of the guys who play better on clay, if you play them on a fast court they struggle a bit when the ball’s low and when it comes hard at them. So I’ll try and keep the ball away from the middle of the court.”
Murray, mindful that three British women made it into the main draw, has urged the men to work harder.
“The guys need to step up because they’re struggling. James Ward won a Challenger while Dan Evans also won a Challenger but since then has not done anything.”
In total the top 10 British male players, excluding Murray, had won a mere 38 matches between them this year at the start of this week.
“It’s about sustaining it, not about playing well for one week,” said Murray. “It’s about doing it 30-40 weeks a year. So if someone does well at Wimbledon and makes the third round, for me it’s like, let’s go and play straightaway and keep everything rolling, let’s not just sit back and think it’s great, because it’s not.
“That would be my only advice to those guys. You can’t just win a tournament and expect everything to be given you.”
That said Josh Goodall, the British number three, and Ward have been given wild cards into the Queen’s tournament. The British grass court season is a law unto itself. Guardian Service.
MENS SINGLES: first round (prefix denotes seeding):Leonardo Mayer (Argentina) bt 15-James Blake (US) 7-6(6) 7-5 6-2; Tommy Haas (Germany) bt Andrei Pavel (Romania) 6-1 6-4 6-4; Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spain) bt Ivan Ljubicic (Croatia) 2-6 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-3; 9-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) bt Julien Benneteau (France) 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4; Juan Monaco (Argentina) bt Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) 6-3 6-2 6-4; Andreas Seppi (Italy) bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Spain) 6-3 6-3 6-1; Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukraine) bt Brian Dabul (Argentina) 4-6 7-5 7-6(2) 6-3; Maximo Gonzalez (Argentina) bt 22-Mardy Fish (US) 6-3 1-6 6-4 7-6(4); Viktor Troicki (Serbia) beat Lukasz Kubot (Poland) 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-7(4) 6-3; 16-Tommy Robredo (Spain) bt Adrian Mannarino (France) 6-2 6-1 6-2; 29-Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) bt Bernard Tomic (Australia) 6-1 6-2 6-2; 4-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) bt Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuador) 6-3 3-1 (N. Lapentti retired); 11-Gael Monfils (France) beat Bobby Reynolds (US) 6-2 6-3 6-1; Andreas Beck (Germany) bt Ivan Navarro (Spain) 7-6(9) 6-4 6-1; Daniel Gimeno-Traver (Spain) bt Evgeny Korolev (Russia) 6-4 (Korolev retired) Victor Crivoi (Romania) bt Simon Greul (Germany) 6-1 7-6(1) 6-2; 5-Juan Martin del Potro (Argentina) bt Michael Llodra (France) 6-3 6-3 6-1; Marc Gicquel (France) bt 27-Rainer Schuettler (Germany) 6-0 6-0 6-4; Leonardo Mayer (Argentina) bt 15-James Blake (US) 7-6(6) 7-5 6-2 Tommy Haas (Germany) bt Andrei Pavel (Romania) 6-1 6-4 6-4.
WOMENS SINGLES: first round:18-Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spain) bt Ekaterina Makarova (Russia) 6-2 5-7 6-0; Viktoriya Kutuzova (Ukraine) bt Zuzana Ondraskova (Czech Republic) 6-2 6-4; 30-Samantha Stosur (Australia) bt Francesca Schiavone (Italy) 6-4 6-2; Sorana Cirstea (Romania) bt Carly Gullickson (US) 6-4 6-2; Jelena Dokic (Australia) bt Karolina Sprem (Croatia) 3-6 6-1 6-2; 4-Elena Dementieva (Russia) bt Chanelle Scheepers (South Africa) 6-4 6-3; Yanina Wickmayer (Belgium) bt Urszula Radwanska (Poland) 4-6 6-3 6-0; 2-Serena Williams (US) bt Klara Zakopalova (Czech Republic) 6-3 6-7(5) 6-4; Virginie Razzano (France) bt Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) 6-3 6-3; Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spain) bt Nicole Vaidisova (Czech Republic) 6-4 6-3; 10-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) bt Vera Dushevina (Russia) 4-6 7-5 6-1; Magdalena Rybarikova (Slovakia) bt Kristina Mladenovic (France) 6-1 2-6 8-6; 24-Aleksandra Wozniak (Canada) bt Monica Niculescu (Romania) 6-4 4-6 6-3; 28-Sybille Bammer (Austria) bt Nathalie Dechy (France) 6-3 7-6(1); Galina Voskoboeva (Kazakhstan) bt Sania Mirza (India) 6-4 7-6(3); Melinda Czink (Hungary) bt Anastasija Sevastova (Latvia) 3-6 6-4 6-1; Petra Martic (Croatia) bt Mara Santangelo (Italy) 6-4 6-2; 5-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) bt Petra Cetkovska (Czech Republic) 6-2 6-3; 7-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) bt Claire Feuerstein (France) 6-1 6-4; Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Spain) bt 31-Peng Shuai (China) 1-6 6-2 6-4; Sorana Cirstea (Romania) bt Carly Gullickson (US) 6-4 6-2.
