Saturday, May 21, 2011

News from the French (I)

Special guest
Wild cards announcedThe 8 wilds cards for the men's and women's singles draws have been revealed. As part of an agreement with the Australian and American Federations, Tim Smyczek (USA), Bernard Tomic (AUS), Irina Falconi (USA) and Casey Dellacqua (AUS) have all received invitations to the French Open. The other wild cards have all been given to French players. In the men's draw, the lucky participants are Arnaud Clément, Benoît Paire, Maxime Teixeira, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Guillaume Rufin and Vincent Millot.

In the women's, Pauline Parmentier, Caroline Garcia, Kristina Mladenovic, Iryna Brémond and Stéphanie Foretz-Gacon have all been awarded a place in the main draw. The name of the remaining wild card in the women's draw will be announced shortly.
Nalbandian, Serena and Safina won't playDavid Nalbandian is the first high-ranking player to withdraw from the men's singles, and he joins France's Paul-Henri Mathieu, who announced his withdrawal some time ago. The Argentinean world No24 has recently suffered from a string of health problems and does not feel that he is physically strong enough to take part in the tournament. Juan Martin Del Potro is also unsure whether he will be able to play at the Porte d'Auteuil after tearing his left hip muscle in Madrid. In the women's draw, there is still a question mark over the participation of Kim Clijsters, but as yet she still features on the player entry list.

But Dinara Safina, finalist in 2008 and 2009, will not play. The 25-year-old Russian former No. 1 not only will miss the French Open, she is taking an indeterminate leave of absence from tennis to try to get rid of her chronic back pain. And Serena Williams was also forced out of this 2011 French Open due to the injury. The American former No. 1 has suffered a blood clot in her lung at the beginning of March.

No comments:

Post a Comment