FRENCH OPEN: May 2009

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Dementieva honest after defeat

Fourth seed Elena Dementieva admitted she was not ready physically for the French Open after being bundled out of the tournament.

The Russian, 27, won the first two titles of the season - in Auckland and Sydney - before making the semi-finals at the Australian Open, but her form has dipped since then.

She has been far from her best at Roland Garros and was lucky to get through the second round, when opponent Jelena Dokic was forced to retire through injury when a set and a break up.

Dementieva failed to make the most of that reprieve as she was beaten 6-3 4-6 6-1 on Philippe Chatrier court by another Australian, Samantha Stosur, who is a doubles specialist.

Dementieva said: "I just feel I'm far away from being in the right shape. I don't feel I could perform any better.

"I was not ready to play at the level I want to play. I was trying to be positive and fight for every match, but it's a very physical game when it comes to clay so it's not good for me.

"I'm just getting older, I guess. I have to work on my physical condition to get in better shape."

Stosur, the 30th seed, makes the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time in singles. She won the women's doubles here in 2006 with Lisa Raymond.

"If I can keep playing the way I have been, anything is possible," said Stosur, who will next play France's Virginie Razzano.

"I felt good out there. I wasn't too nervous or anything."

Razzano is the second Frenchwoman to make the fourth round, along with Aravane Rezai, thanks to her 7-5 7-5 victory over Tathiana Garbin.

Dementieva's compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova had no such problems on Suzanne Lenglen court.

The seventh seed demolished Hungarian Melinda Czink 6-1 6-3 and has only dropped 11 games all tournament.

She is the only player to have defeated Dinara Safina, the favourite for the title here, on clay this season - in the final in Stuttgart at the start of May - and she is delighted with her current form.

"I don't know why it's just all happened," the runner-up at the French Open in 2006.

"I have been working hard and I love to play on clay. My game is very effective playing on clay.

"I'm not thinking about my (title) chances but I know I can play great. The main thing is to keep focused."

Kuznetsova next plays 12th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, the Pole who beat Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2 6-4 today.

Elsewhere, 24th seed Aleksandra Wozniak was a 6-2 3-6 6-3 winner over Lourdes Dominguez Lino and will now play either Serena Williams or Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

In the other half of the draw, ninth seed Victoria Azarenka set up a last-16 meeting with reigning champion Ana Ivanovic after beating 22nd seed Carla Suarez Navarro 5-7 7-5 6-2.

The pair resumed this afternoon after finishing at one set all last night.

Battling Serena into last 16

Serena Williams claimed her place in the last 16 of the French Open but was pushed all the way by Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

The 10-time grand slam winner fought back from a set down against the Spaniard to clinch a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory in a gruelling two hour clash on Suzanne Lenglen court.

Martinez Sanchez, ranked 43rd in the world, had never reached the third round at the French Open before having failed to clear the first hurdle in her two previous appearances at Roland Garros.

But the Spaniard looked confident against the second seed and opened up the advantage with a break of serve in game five.

Williams battled hard to get back on level terms, but was unable to capitalise on the chances which came her way while at the same time making too many unforced errors, allowing Martinez Sanchez to take the opening set after 40 minutes.

American Williams, whose sister Venus crashed out in her third-round match yesterday, continued to struggle at the start of the second set with too many mistakes littering her game.

However, she found her range in game six to go a break up and it proved decisive, with Martinez Sanchez unable to claw the break back.

The third set was a nervy affair and both players struggled with their serve throughout.

Williams drew first blood in game three, Martina Sanchez claimed it back in the very next game but the American snatched another break in the fifth to once more edge ahead.

That proved crucial and, after further breaks for both players, Williams eventually found herself serving for the match, wrapping up the victory on the first of two match points.

She will now face Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak, the 24th seed, in the last 16.

Djokovic downed by German

Fourth seed Novak Djokovic crashed out of the French Open at the third-round stage, losing in straight sets to Philipp Kohlschreiber.

The German 29th seed was a 6-4 6-4 6-4 winner over Djokovic, who has reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros for the past two years.

The result is even more of a surprise given the Croatian's great clay-court campaign, which has seen him win a title in Belgrade, make two finals - in Monte Carlo and Rome - and reach a semi-final in Madrid.

Kohlschreiber, who had previously never gone further than the second round here, will play Tommy Robredo next.

Kohlschreiber was a deserved winner, and he sealed victory with a fine cross-court backhand.

Djokovic, who made far too many unforced errors throughout the match, will lose ground on the top three in the rankings now.

He was clearly second best in the first set, which Kohlschreiber secured in 40 minutes.

If things were not bad enough for the 22-year-old, he then fell 5-2, 40-0 behind in the second set.

He saved all three set points, the third with an exquisite drop shot from behind the baseline, and ended up breaking to pull it back to 5-4.

Kohlschreiber earned himself another set point in the 10th game and that was not squandered, Djokovic going long to put the German two sets up.

Djokovic saved a break point in the first game of the third set to hold, and the following seven games also went with serve.

But he found himself 15-40 down when serving at 4-4 and although he saved the first break point, Kohlschreiber brought the house down with a thunderous backhand down the line from way behind the baseline.

The German, who defeated 2003 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero in round two, completed a famous victory, allowing him to equal his best performance at a grand slam. He has reached the last 16 twice at the Australian Open, in 2005 and 2008.

Robredo, the 16th seed, is next up for Kohlschreiber after the Spaniard defeated Argentina's Maximo Gonzalez in four sets earlier today.

Djokovic stunned by Kohlschreiber

Novak Djokovic’s dreams of capturing the 2009 French Open title evaporated this afternoon, as German 29th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber swept the fourth seed aside in straight sets, 6-4 6-4 6-4 in 2 hours 21 minutes.

Fourth seed Djokovic was strangely out of sorts. He struggled to find his timing all match long, hitting 38 unforced errors and a whole bunch more that were forced upon him by Kohlschreiber’s incessant long hitting, both down the line and cross court.

Djokovic was understandably dejected after the match. "What is disappointing was that I couldn't find the rhythm throughout the whole match. This is what I was always managing to do. You know, that's why I'm in the top of the men's game for a while now.Physically I felt good, but it's just a bad day at the office. What can you do? This is sport. "

This is not the first time the German has caused an upset. He knocked Andy Roddick out of the Australian Open last year, but no-one really expected him to trouble the Serb, who some had tipped to overthrow the great Rafael Nadal this year.

Djokovic recently pushed the world number one all the way, after all, in Madrid, only losing after letting three match points slip away. Novak was unrecognisable today though and wilted in the sun as Kohlschreiber made hay on Court 1, particularly on the backhand, which he used to great effect.

Novak will now need to recover in time for Wimbledon. He looked tired today, understandably after a long clay court season that he may look to shorten next year. Looking forward, he said "I cannot allow myself to have such a bad performance as I had today. I cannot allow myself to be that defensive. This is not me. This is not my game."

Kohlschreiber, in contrast, can now revise his ambitions upwards. On this form the German could find a way past Tommy Robredo and into the quarter-finals, where he would face the winner of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga – Juan Martin del Potro, both of whom will have taken note of today’s result…

A scowling Serena Williams on Saturday afternoon

Roddick cruises into fourth, then keeps it humble

American Andy Roddick may not win his first Roland Garros title, but he
accomplished a huge goal on Saturday by reaching the fourth round for
the first time with an impressive 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 victory over France’s
Mark Gicquel.

Serving smart, volleying like a demon and playing consistent from the
backcourt, Roddick was never threatened in the match. The American
finished the contest with 27 winners and only 11 unforced errors, while
winning 17 of his 24 net approaches.

Under his new coach, Larry Stefanki, Roddick has gotten himself in
better shape, is quicker and has developed a more powerful backhand and
dependable net game.

Low profile

While the 26-year-old won’t put himself in the list of top favorites,
he’s knows he’s better than his previous results.

He’ll face the winner of the match between Gael Monfils and Juergen
Melzer.

“I think I have improved physically from the past times I've been here, and I think that lends itself to having some more options out there,” he said. If you're asking me if I've come here thinking I can win this tournament, the honest answer would be no. Do I feel like I can make a run and then see where that takes me? Yes. I think it would be extremely presumptuous of me with my record here to come in and say I think I'm going to win this tournament. Right now I'm going to go match by match, and I think I have a shot to win my next match. We'll go from there. But the reason that Roger and Rafa have been talked about as the favorites is because they've proven themselves time after time. Not only at this event, but at other ones. So I'm going to have to earn it."

One-on-one with Marin Cilic

Without Goran Ivanisevic, Marin Cilic may have not made it to where he his today, through to the last sixteen at the French Open where he goes up against Andy Murray on Sunday.

When Ivanisevic beat Patrick Rafter at Wimbledon 2001, the whole of Croatia cried with joy. Cilic was only 13 at the time but he will never forget that day.

“It was during our summer holidays. I was with some friends. We were all following the match on television. We were going crazy with excitement. That was the most inspiring match I’ve ever seen,” he reminisces.

Four years later, Cilic was just an aspiring tennis hopeful when Ivanisevic spotted him and introduced him to Bob Brett, his old mentor. Cilic was soon off to San Remo, where he learnt his trade under the man who also trained Boris Becker.

As the chapters of his success story came together, the Zagreb resident progressed nicely, well-liked by his compatriots on circuit. The first sign of his enormous potential came with a French Open juniors title in 2005.

Cilic made his ATP debut that year too, and has been on a prestigious rise though the rankings ever since, from 173 at year end 2006 to 22 at the end of last year.

The Croatian has been in fine form this year too, ranking up 24 wins for only 8 losses. Champion at the Chennai Open and Zagreb Indoors in January and February this year, the six-footer has also made it through to the quarter-finals at Dubai and Munich.

From his current position of No13 seed, Cilic sees himself moving further forward. “I feel really fit and I’m hitting the ball well. I just have to keep improving and wait to see my dream fulfilled: winning a Grand Slam!”

Better focus

Marin’s 14 year-old brother Mile enjoys teasing his tennis champion brother, but he might have a hard time continuing if Marin continues his brilliant performance at the French. “He likes to give me tips, but I don’t think he’d find anything to say this time!” the No13 seed joked after he defeated Radek Stepanek in three straight sets on Friday (6-1 7-6 6-2).

With his slicing returns, excellent serves and backcourt skills, the 20 year old displayed intense focus on court. “I really liked the fact that I stayed focused on my shots and stuck to my game plan till the end. That’s sort of new for me. I had to with an opponent like Stepanek. I used to have lapses in concentration. Now I’m managing to keep my focus.”

Marin’s story is still being written though, and he is well aware that he will have to pull out all the stops next match at Roland Garros against world No3 Andy Murray…

Up close and personal with Elena Dementieva

Here at Rolandgarros.com we know you love to get an insight into the real person behind the tennis star facade. Here, in the fourth of a series of quick-fire lifestyle interviews, Elena Dementieva reveals her love of reading and beach volleyball.

When was the last time you cracked up laughing?

Oh I’m always laughing at something.

What gets you annoyed?

When I have to train in the rain or in the cold. I hate that.

Which actress would you choose to play you on screen?

Gwyneth Paltrow. I think she looks a little like me, don’t you think?

What’s the best film you’ve seen recently?

“Meet the Parents” with Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro.

What’s the best concert you’ve seen?

Recently I attended the Eurovision song contest in Moscow. I was cheering on French singer Patricia Kaas! She’s really popular in Russia.

Who’s your sporting idol?

Roger Federer.

Who’s your best friend on the tennis circuit?

My mother.

What’s your favourite sport outside tennis?

Beach volleyball. I got the chance to play in an exhibition game in Russia. I love that sport.

Which part of your game would you like to improve?

My serve perhaps. Even though I’ve made a lot of progress these last few years, I’d really like to improve even more.

What’s your favourite website?

The WTA tour website

What’s the last thing you do before you go to sleep?

I read a book. Right now I’m reading one by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt.

Who would be your ideal partner for mixed doubles?

Roger Federer. I’ve played against him before in an exhibition match in Hong Kong.

What’s the worst thing that could happen to you before a match?

Forgetting my racquets. Once I couldn’t find them and I got so stressed out.

Have your say! Which rule would you change?

If you were in charge of tennis for the day and could make one radical change to the laws of the game, what would it be? Lengthen the games and shorten the sets (or the number of sets)? Make a let a second, not a first serve – or even outlaw second serves altogether? The “No advantage” rule or the match tie-break like in doubles?

You can change one thing and one thing alone, so use your change wisely… And remember, it’s a change to the rules, so let’s leave the calendar debate for another day. Have your say!

In answer to many of the comments below, Hawkeye technology is not necessary here at the French since the ball leaves a mark in the clay dust which the umpire can check afterwards.

Stosur stuns Dementieva, Kuznetsova strolls

Showing she’s not just a fast court player with a big serve and
forehand, Australian Samantha Stosur stunned fourth seed Elena
Dementieva 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 and entered the second week at the French for the first time.

Coolly recovering from an up-and-down second set, the 30th seeded
belted the Russian in the final set, dictating with her serve, taking
risks during her return games and playing consistent, lethal tennis
from the back court.

The Olympic gold medalist, who benefited from Australian Jelena Dokic's
retirement in the previous round, was beside herself after the defeat,
saying she’s had so many disappointments in Paris.

“I just feel I'm far away from being in the good shape,” Dementieva
said. “I feel like I couldn't perform any better. She was playing very
solid, very good first serve. I was not able to just to stand there.
Just too many unforced errors and not enough power from me. I did what
I could.”

Stosur avenged her 2009 Australian Open loss to the Russian.

“That was a match where I was up, I think, 5 2 in the first
set,” she said. “Probably the main reason why I didn't win that set
was lack of belief. So I knew that if I could try and turn that around
today, I definitely had the game to trouble her. It was just the
situation, if I could handle that. Today I did, and I felt great. I
just think it's a big step for me.”

Stosur will face either Italian Tathiana Garbin or France's
Virginie Razzano in the fourth round.

Dementieva’s fellow Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova, fared much better,
smoking Hungary’s Melinda Czink 6-1, 6-3. The 2006 finalist has been on
a roll during the past six weeks, winning Stuttgart, reaching the Rome
final and only dropping 11 games in her first three matches here.

“I saw the court pretty well,” she said. “I see the empty spots on the
court, and I played there. I think I controlled all of the match.”

While Kuznetsova has had some harrowing moments in Paris before, she’s
dictating beautifully with her inside out forehand, moving quickly and
to date, hasn’t felt her hands shake to the point where she couldn’t
stroke the ball.

“You have nerves because you care about this,” she said. “It's your
job, but at the same time I care about it and I want to win.
Definitely I have nerves and it's fine. The important thing is accept
it and control it. I feel good with myself, because I just go out there and it doesn't
matter what happens. I’m gonna be there and I’m gonna be playing. This is
my main thing. I just keep things simple.”

She face Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska in the next round, who took a
6-2, 6-4 win over Kateryna Bondarenko.

Dementieva packs her bags

Fourth seed Elena Dementieva ran out of luck at the French Open after she was sent packing by Australian doubles specialist Samantha Stosur.

The Russian, 27, was a set and a break down to another Australian, Jelena Dokic, in round two when the former world number four was forced to quit because of injury.

Dementieva failed to make the most of that reprieve as she was beaten 6-3 4-6 6-1 on Philippe Chatrier court by Stosur, the 30th seed who makes the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time in singles.

Dementieva, the 2004 runner-up, was facing a straight-sets defeat when she was broken twice in a row at the start of the second, but she recovered to take the match to a decider.

However, she started the third set in exactly the same manner and this time Stosur, who won the women's doubles at the French Open in 2006 with Lisa Raymond, made her pay.

She took a 4-0 then 5-1 lead, and clinched victory on her second match point when she nailed a cross-court forehand.

Dementieva's compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova had no such problems on Suzanne Lenglen court.

The seventh seed demolished Hungarian Melinda Czink 6-1 6-3 and has only dropped 11 games all tournament.

Grunting returns to French Open

16-year-old Michelle Larcher De Brito grunted her way into the limelight on a day Venus Williams made her now customary early exit.

While Williams, the third seed, was slipping to a fourth third-round defeat in five years, Portuguese Larcher De Brito was in front of the press defending the shrieks and squeals that made her public enemy number one during her defeat to France's Aravane Rezai.

Rezai, who won 7-6 (7/3) 6-2 on Philippe Chatrier court, complained several times to the umpire about the often inappropriate noises coming from the other side of the net, which came not just as she struck the ball but also when her opponent made a mistake.

At 4-3 in the first set, the umpire summoned the grand-slam supervisor, who suggested he have a word with Larcher De Brito at the next changeover.

The highly-rated teenager, who attended the famous Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida from the age of nine, clearly has a great future ahead of her but she is in danger of becoming known more for her grunts than her groundstrokes.

She was bombarded with questions after the match about her groans, but she maintained it was simply part of her game.

"It's something natural," said Larcher De Brito, who was jeered off the court after offering the weakest of congratulatory handshakes to Rezai.

"I've been doing it ever since I started playing tennis. I'm not trying to copy anybody.

"I can't all of a sudden stop grunting. It feels like something's missing in my game if I stop."

With Bollettieri having also coached Monica Seles and Maria Sharapova, two other grunters of the women's game down the years, a pattern seems to be emerging.

But Larcher De Brito insisted: "It's really myself out there - it's got nothing to do with Bollettieri."

When Larcher De Brito met Rezai in qualifying in a tournament in Miami this year, the Frenchwoman also complained about the teenager's grunting.

Larcher De Brito claimed no other opponent had done so before or since.

"She's actually the first one - I guess that was a bit of a tactic to throw me off a little bit," she said.

"The crowd was against me. I guess she has to find a way to win. It got a little bit under my skin. It shouldn't have, but I'm young and I'm still learning."

Rezai, who makes the fourth round here for the first time, said: "It really did upset me because it was really unpleasant. There's a limit, you can't really shout that way."

The incident rather overshadowed the early exit of the elder Williams, who became the highest-ranked casualty of the tournament.

The American, who has never won the title at Roland Garros, was beaten 6-0 6-4 by 29th seed Agnes Szavay, of Hungary.

"I had a tough day. I didn't get the ball in court so that didn't help," said Williams, the 2002 runner-up here.

"I'm used to beating people 6-0. I'm not used to my shot not going in and losing a set 6-0. It just didn't come together for me."

Szavay next plays Dominika Cibulkova, the 20th seed.

Elsewhere, reigning champion Ana Ivanovic and title favourite Dinara Safina continued their ruthless streaks at Roland Garros, both winning their third-round matches in little over an hour.

Eighth seed Ivanovic thrashed Iveta Benesova, ranked 35th in the world, 6-0 6-2.

"The score doesn't indicate how hard I had to work for some points," said Ivanovic.

Top seed Safina raced to a 6-2 6-0 victory over fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Court One to set up a meeting with Rezai.

Neither Ivanovic nor Safina, who lost just three points in the opening five games of the second set, have dropped a set this week. They should meet in the quarter-finals.

Former world number one Maria Sharapova recovered from a dreadful start to advance into round four.

The Russian, who is ranked 102 in the world after having shoulder problems for the past year, beat Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova 1-6 6-3 6-4.

Sharapova will next play 25th seed Na Li, who defeated Olga Govortsova 7-5 6-1.