Saturday, May 30, 2009

Venus Williams crashes out


2009 French Open - Day Six


Venus Williams became the biggest casualty at the French Open as she was beaten in straight sets by Agnes Szavay in the third round.

The third seed, who has never won the title at Roland Garros, failed to land a game in the first set.

Although she fared better in the second, the inspired Hungarian 29th seed Szavay ended up a 6-0 6-4 winner on Suzanne Lenglen court.

It is the first time Szavay has reached the fourth round here, while Williams has lost at the round-three stage in four of the last five years.

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Portuguese Michelle Larcher de Brito was forced to defend her loud shrieking and grunting after she fell to a 7-6 (7/3) 6-2 loss to France's Aravane Rezai in the third round today.

Rezai 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.

The highly-rated teenager, who attended the famous Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy from the age of nine, was bombarded with questions after the match about her squealing, but she maintained it was simply part of her game.

"It's something natural," said Larcher De Brito, who was jeered off court after offering the weakest of 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 won't feel natural because it feels like something's missing in my game if I stop."

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

Larcher De Brito claimed no other opponent has done so.

"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, is one of two Frenchwomen left in the draw, along with Virginie Razzano. Nineteen home-based players started out.

Reigning champion Ana Ivanovic continued her ruthless streak at Roland Garros with a straight-sets thrashing of Iveta Benesova.

The Serbian's 6-0 6-2 win over the Czech, ranked 35 in the world, means she has yet to drop a set at this week.

Indeed since her hard-fought triumph against Sara Errani in the first round, the eighth seed has conceded only five games.

Her first set today lasted a mere 23 minutes, Ivanovic, who continues to wear protective strapping on the front of her right knee, breaking in the second, fourth and sixth games.

Ivanovic was made to work a little harder in the second set but an unreturnable forehand sealed the win and a meeting with either ninth seed Victoria Azarenka or 22nd seed Carla Suarez Navarro next.

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

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