MONDAYS WITH BOB GREENE: THE FIRST WEEK OF THE FRENCH OPEN IS FULL OF SURPRISES

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French Open

(First Week)

Nadia Petrova beat second-seeded Venus Williams 6-4 6-3

Tomas Berdych beat fourth-seeded Andy Murray 6-4 7-5 6-3

Teimuraz Gabashvili beat sixth-seeded Andy Roddick 6-4 6-4 6-2

Maria Kirilenko beat sixth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3 2-6 6-4

Mikhail Youzhny beat eighth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2 retired

Yaroslava Shvedova beat eighth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5 6-3

Kimiko Date Krumm beat ninth-seeded Dinara Safina 3-6 6-4 7-5

Jurgen Melzer beat ninth-seeded David Ferrer 6-4 6-0 7-6 (1)

SAYINGS

“It was slow, wet, damp conditions. It was just heavy out there. It was one of those days… The balls were gathering a lot of clay. The balls were brown by the end of the match. Just tough to see. It was dark in the end.” – Andy Murray, after losing to Tomas Berdych.

“This is a great champion, and you have to make sure you don’t give her chances. I really admire her, because at 5-3 in the third set she was still believing in her chances to win the match.” – Justine Henin, talking about Maria Sharapova.

“I definitely played some good tennis, but it wasn’t enough to win the match.” – Maria Sharapova, after losing to Justine Henin.

“Rafa doesn’t give you any cheap points out there.” – Lleyton Hewitt, after losing to Rafael Nadal in straight sets.

“You want me to explain? I won last year, so I think I can do it again.” – Roger Federer, when asked why he thought he could win the French Open this year.

“I don’t like to retire. Losing is a much better feeling.” – Kimiko Date Krumm, who received treatment for a trainer three times before upsetting ninth-seeded Dinara Safina.

“First set I was pretty dominant. Second set I was up a break. Third set I was 4 1 double break up. I should have closed it in two sets.” – Dinara Safina, after losing to 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm in their first-round match.

“Some days it might be there, some days it might not.” – Ana Ivanovic, talking about her game after suffering a second-round French Open defeat.

“My natural is left-handed. I can do everything left or right hand, left or right foot. I’m weird, I know.” – Jarmila Groth, a right-hander who showed off her ambidextrous strokes while advancing to the fourth round.

“Lace has never been done before in tennis, and I’ve been wanting to do it for a long time. The illusion of just having bare skin is definitely for me a lot more beautiful.” – Venus Williams, commenting about her outfit.

“It gives the illusion that she’s naked (underneath), but she isn’t. Maybe some people didn’t like it, but from what I know there was no angry reaction from the organizers or French federation officials.” – Christophe Proust, French Tennis Federation spokesman, commenting on the outfit worn by Venus Williams.

“Venus’ dress is not a violation of our match attire rules.” – Andrew Walker, WTA spokesman.

“Today, we’re in France. I’m French. I’m the French number one. I would have thought it was legitimate for me to be listened to.” – Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, saying French Open organizers turned down his request to have his first-round matched scheduled for the second or third day of the tournament.

“It’s nice to accomplish things for your country, but at the same time you have your personal goals. When I won that first round, I said, ‘OK, I want more.”’ – Chanelle Scheepers, after becoming the first South American woman to reach the third round at a Grand Slam tournament in almost seven years.

“When I lost that second set tiebreaker and got broken in the first game, I was done. I wanted to be off the court. I started thinking about leaving and pulling out of the doubles and how much I wanted to go home, how much I wasn’t enjoying it. You’re never gonna win a match if you’re just being negative.” – Sam Querrey, after losing his first-round match.

“There was a lot of ugliness out there today.” – Andy Roddick, after beating Jarkko Nieminen 6-2 4-6 4-6 7-6 (4) 6-3.

“I blame Monica.” – Venus Williams, saying she began grunting at the age of 10 because her favorite player, Monica Seles, was grunting.

“You know, I also think it’s difficult to play against me. I’m a powerful player with fast balls. And I took my opportunities all the time today. She’s a tough opponent to play against. But when I go on court, I’m not thinking about my opponent’s problems.” – Alisa Kleybanova, answering questions after she beat Ana Ivanovic.

“A very high percentage of being a professional tennis player is between the ears.” – Former ATP player and now coach Jose Higueras.

“I’ve got the British crowd on my side right now. I’ve built up a lot of good will over the last couple of years that I don’t want to ruin by answering this question. I’m not going to give you anything. I’m going to enjoy my sudden popularity in London and leave it at that.” – Andy Roddick, when asked to predict the outcome of the England-United States World Cup soccer match.

STILL WINNING

She’s not the defending champion, yet Justine Henin is going after her fourth consecutive French Open title. The Belgian, who has won Roland Garros four times, had captured the clay court Grand Slam tournament three consecutive years when she suddenly retired. After ending a 20-month retirement, Henin has returned showing the same skills that took her to number one in the world. She grabbed a spot in the second week at Paris by outlasting another former number one, Maria Sharapova, in a three-set marathon. Although losing the war, Sharapova ended Henin’s streak of 40 consecutive sets won at Roland Garros, which tied the tournament record set by Helen Wills Moody in 1926-32. The win over Sharapova extended Henin’s winning streak at Roland Garros to 24 matches.

SURGICAL HELP

Robby Ginepri was the only American man to reach the second week at Roland Garros this year. He credits his play to surgery he had on his neck. “I’m not 100 percent sure of the name of it, but they go in and burn a couple nerves in the neck to prevent the brain from feeling the pain,” Ginepri said. “But there’s no real harm to it, no downside at all, so I went with it.” Prior to the surgery, Ginepri had problems serving and turning his head from right to left. He began this year’s French Open by upsetting fellow American Sam Querrey, who was seeded 18^th. Victories over Potito Starace of Italy and 16^th-seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain propelled Ginepri into the second week of the clay court Grand Slam event. “I’m pretty happy that I got the procedure done and can move forward and focus on tennis,” Ginepri said.

SPECIAL LADY

It was Kimiko Date Krumm’s first French Open in 14 years, and the veteran from Japan made it a special one. First, the 39-year-old shrugged off a leg injury and stunned former world number one and last year’s runner-up Dinara Safina. That made Date Krumm the oldest woman to reach the second round at Roland Garros since Britain’s Virginia Wade did it in 1985. She then went against doctor’s orders and played her second-round match, losing to Australia’s Jarmila Groth. “Of course she knew my injury to my calf so she used the tactics,” said Date Krumm, who ended a 12-year retirement to resume her career. “She used the higher (ball) and then used the drop shot also. So it was hard tactics for me.” But Date Krumm didn’t complain. “It’s normal,” she said. “If I play her and she injured the calf of course I use the same way.”

SWEET MEMORIES

After losing in the first round of doubles at the French Open, Camille Pin announced her retirement. The Frenchwoman reached a career-high singles ranking of 61^st in the world in 2007, but never won a title on the WTA Tour. “It’s a very special day for me because it’s such a tough decision,” said Pin, who is now ranked 285^th in the singles. She was not entered in the singles draw at Roland Garros this year and had mainly focused on doubles lately.

SHOCKED

American twins Bob and Mike Bryan were set to break the record for most men’s doubles titles in the Open era. The record won’t be broken in Paris. Brazilians Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares upset the top-seeded Bryan brothers 6-3 7-6 (6) in a first-round French Open match. “It just comes down a little bit to the mental stuff sometimes. Maybe we’re a little tired mentally,” Bob Bryan said, adding the two were taking some time off before Wimbledon. “We need a little break. We’ve played a lot. It’d be nice to maybe get a week off,” he said. This was the earliest the brothers lost at Roland Garros since falling in the second round in 2001. They won the title in 2005 and were finalists in 2005 and 2006.

SCHEEPERS TIME

Chanelle Scheepers is the first South African woman to reach the third round of a Grand Slam tournament in almost seven years, when Amanda Coetzer accomplished the feat at the US Open in 2003. Coetzer was also the last South African woman to reach the third round at Roland Garros, that coming in 2001. And until this year’s French Open, Scheepers had never won a match at any Grand Slam tournament. “Tennis hasn’t been a big thing in South Africa, especially women’s tennis,” said Scheepers. “Hopefully with this it can get bigger.” Scheepers lost her fourth-round match to fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva.

SLAMMIN’

When he’s on, the surface doesn’t affect John Isner’s serve. Even though the clay surface at Roland Garros was wet, the 6-foot-9 (2.06m) American slammed 38 aces in his second-round victory over Switzerland’s Marco Chiudinelli. “Believe it or not, everyone was talking about how slow the courts were playing,” Isner said. “I felt like my court stayed fairly fast. What also helped me was he stood up a bit on the court instead of standing way back. As long as I kind of hit my spot, it was a good chance it would be an ace.” Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic holds the record at Roland Garros, rocketing 55 aces last year in a loss to Lleyton Hewitt. Isner had only nine aces in his third-round loss to Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.

STEPPING DOWN

Paul Annacone is leaving his post as head coach of men’s tennis in Britain. The Lawn Tennis Association says the American’s three-year contract will not be renewed when it expires in November. Annacone is a former coach of Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Marat Safin and Tim Henman. It was hoped the American would bolster Britain’s tennis fortunes. Britain has only one man in the top 100, fourth-ranked Andy Murray.

SCHEDULE GRIPE

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga didn’t want to play his first-round match on the first day of the French Open. Tournament organizers had other ideas, and that caused France’s top player to lash out at officials. “I had asked not to play on a Sunday, absolutely, because I had practiced in such a way that I thought I wanted to play on a Monday or Tuesday, to be totally fit. But they imposed it on me,” said Tsonga, who was taken to five sets by Daniel Brands of Germany. He said the organizers should have shown more respect considering his ranking and nationality. As it turned out, Tsonga retired in his fourth-round match against Mikhail Youzhny. The tournament doctor treated Tsonga for leg pain when he trailed 5-2 in the opening set. He lost the next game and retired.

Fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet said organizers had also refused to give him an extra day off following his winning the title in a tournament in Nice, France, two days before he played his first-round match. Gasquet lost in five sets to Andy Murray.

STADIUM TENNIS

Four players will play a pair of best-of-three matches in the new USD $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, USA. Serena Williams Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick and John Isner will participate in the event on July 10. Besides being where the National Football League team plays, Cowboys Stadium has been the site of the National Basketball Association All-Star game, soccer matches and a world title boxing match. Bull riding is on the agenda for this summer. Although the building can hold more than 100,000 spectators, it will be configured to hold 20,000 for the tennis matches.

SACHA STOPPED

Instead of playing at Roland Garros, Sacha Jones decided to take a shot at the LA Open Women’s $50,000 Challenger, a United States Tennis Association (USTA) pro circuit event. Wrong move. Top-seeded in the hard-court event, Jones, New Zealand’s number one player, was upset by 15-year-old qualifier Krista Hardebeck of Santa Ana, California, USA. Coached by former ATP doubles star Robert Van’t Hof, Hardebeck earned a wild card into qualifying by winning the Carson, California, International Tennis Federation (ITF) International Spring Championships in April. She then came through qualifying to gain a spot in the main draw, where she knocked off Jones.

SWITCHEROO

When the ATP returns to Los Angeles in late July, the men will be playing in the Farmers Classic, thanks to the Farmers Insurance Group moving up from presenting sponsor to title sponsor this year. The three-year deal between Farmers and the Southern California Tennis Association runs through 2012. Played on UCLA’s campus, this will be the 84^th edition of the tournament. Early entries include Novak Djokovic and defending champion Sam Querrey.

STORM OF DEBT

Murphy Jensen reported owed more than USD $1 million taxes before filing for bankruptcy last December, according to the Detroit News. The newspaper said Jensen owed state taxes in Georgia and California as well as USD $759,294 in federal income taxes from 1999-2007. Jensen coaches the Washington Kastles of World TeamTennis.

SAD NEWS

The matriarch of a family that produced four professional players, including two-time US Open champion Tracy Austin, has died. The 84-year-old Jeanne Austin died of heart failure following a long illness. Besides Tracy, daughter Austin and sons Jeff and John played on the pro circuit, including Wimbledon, while her other son, Doug, was a top college player. The most successful of the Austin children was Tracy, who was ranked number one in the world. She became the youngest player at the time to win a pro event. She won her first US Open title in 1979 at the age of 16, beating Chris Evert. Her other US Open crown came in 1981, when she beat Martina Navratilova in the final. In 1980, Tracy and her brother John won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title. Jeanne Austin had a heart valve replacement five years ago. In addition to her five children, Jeanne Austin is survived by her husband of 64 years, George, a retired nuclear physicist.

SITES TO SURF

Paris: www.rolandgarros.com/index.html

Halle: www.gerryweber-open.com/

Marseille: http://opengdfsuez-marseille.com

Lugano: www.challengerlugano.ch/

Roger Federer: www.rogerfederer.com

Serena Williams: www.serenawilliams.com

Rafael Nadal: www.rafaelnadal.com

Novak Djokovic: www.novakdjokovic.rs

Justine Henin: www.justine-henin.be/

TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK

(All money in USD)