Just a little update on the excitement at the Roland Garros.. as of now, all my favorite players are through to the second round! No casualties.. yet.. thank goodness.. :)Amelie had a good game against Meghann Shaughnessy on Sunday, kicking off the championships. Felt a little sorry for Meghann though.. I think it was unlucky for her to have to face Momo in the first round 'cos I felt she was playing well.. if she were playing some other lower-seeded player.. she might have gone through.
ESPN of course showed Maria Sharapova's match as well.. where she was lined up against Mashona Washington. Sharapova was noisy as usual.. and I had to try to mentally block out her shrieks from my head. The first set was typical of a no-brainer as Sharapova sent Washington scrambling left and right with precise heavy-hitting shots down the sidelines. Yawn.. and I kinda dozed off. Felt so sorry for Washington.
Things must have turned around in the second set 'cos when I awoke, Washington had actually managed to carry the match to a third set. Whoa! I immediately sat up, and began watching the game. What a turn-around. Washington was now sending Sharapova left and right.. and even though Sharapova was still hitting balls to the sides, Washington was actually doing a pretty fine job of chasing the balls down and returning them good. She was so good that she was actually up 5-2 at one point. I was actually getting very excited! Twice, Washington had broken Sharapova's serve.. and at 5-2, I was really thinking that Washington's gonna pull off this heavy upset! Now, if only Washington can maintain her level of play and just take down one more game.. and she would have sent the beautiful Maria Sharapova packing...
Sigh, alas.. obviously it didn't happen. Down 2-5, Sharapova started grinding her teeth and armed with super-strong will and determination, she actually staved off 3 match points and went on to win 5 straight games to close out the match at 7-5. I was so disappointed. When Washington didn't carve out her win and the scoreline went on to 5-4 with Sharapova on serve next, I knew Sharapova would prevail. Washington had her chances and didn't make use of them, a player of Sharapova's caliber would never allow her to get away with it.. hell, no. So that was it, Sharapova went through.
Ai Sugiyama is through to the second round as well, disposing off Eleni Daniilidou in a 3-setter. Ai is nice and sweet.. and I hope she goes as far as she can. Her form hasn't been that good in the past 2 years.. and from a top-10 player, her rankings have pretty much slided. I enjoyed the times when Kim and she were partners in doubles.
Kim had an easy first set against Virginie Razzano, capturing the set at love. The second set was much tighter though.. as Virginie started playing better and better, and the winds got more and more gusty.. and Kim lost a bit of concentration (this is according to the commentators). Still Kim managed to close out the set and the match in a tie-breaker, winning 7-6(4). I actually had a whim of hope that it would be fun if it had gone to a third set though I had no doubts that Kim would eventually prevail.. heheh.
I almost always have my heart in my mouth whenever Venus plays 'cos her playing can be so erratic at times. When Venus is good, she can be really good I guess, but when she's not.. she can be so bad that it actually frustrates me to see her play during those times. And for a top player like Venus, she's considered to have a pretty high count for early exits in major tournaments.. so I was really keeping my fingers crossed that things would go smoothly for her and she would have a good game and move into the second round. As luck would have it, ESPN chose to feature Nadal's record-breaking match against Robin Soderling over Venus' match which coincides at the same time, so I was never able to see Venus in action. But won the match she did, and to me, that was most important. One thing bothers me though.. and that is, Venus seems to have a history of not being able to hold serve. I can only be glad she was able to break her opponent's serve as well. High unforced errors count, erratic first serves.. oh dear.. can't help feeling that Venus is playing a dangerous game here.
Martina played earlier.. against Lisa Raymond. No surprises here, she won in straight sets. Just a little incident though, just before the start of the match, Martina had to remove this little patch that says "Sony Ericsson WTA Tour" on the left of her chest from her top.. probably due to some violation of the rules or something. Looks like this little patch isn't that little after all.
Anastasia Myskina had a good game against the "Indian Sharapova" - Sania Mirza. I was able to watch a huge part of the second set on tv after Martina won her match. Anastasia played confidently and her strokes were swift and clean. I was happy for her, 'cos like Venus, she can be pretty inconsistent and I really didn't want her to be ousted in the early rounds. Sania Mirza proved no threat to an in-form Anastasia and Myskina won the match 6-4, 6-1. Good scoreline there! :)
Justine Henin-Hardenne will be playing later.. so will Hewitt and Andy Roddick.. and oh yes, the gorgeous-looking Marat Safin as well. Don't think any of them will lose.. though I certainly wouldn't mind an upset in Henin-Hardenne, heheheh. Oh well, I will hope but I won't pray.. nay, I'm not that evil.. hahah.
Oh, and on a last note, Svetlana Kuznetsova is through too.. gosh, how could I have almost missed her out?? I know, 'cos ESPN didn't show her match on my tv. Sorry, Kuzzie.. ;p
tags : tennis | Roland Garros | French Open | Venus Williams | Amelie Mauresmo | Kim Clijsters | favorite | Maria Sharapova | Martina Hingis | Anastasia Myskina | Svetlana Kuznetsova | Mashona Washington | Sania Mirza | Ai Sugiyama |
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