STARS
French Open (First Week)
Dominika Cibulkova beat top-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6-2 7-6 (4)
Svetlana Kuznetsova beat third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1 6-2
Virginie Razzano beat fifth-seeded Serena Williams 4-6 7-6 (5) 6-3
Petra Martic beat eighth-seeded Marion Bartoli 6-2 3-6 6-3
Kaia Kanepi beat ninth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6-1 6-7 (3) 6-3
Paul-Henri Mathieu beat 10th-seeded John Isner 6-7 (2) 6-4 6-4 3-6 18-16
SAYING
“I think it’s just a bad day, for my game, for my rhythm in general. But, look, I won. So I don’t need to be disappointed or I’m gonna be worried now or whatever. I’m in the quarterfinals. I won the match. That’s what matters the most.” – Novak Djokovic, after beating Andreas Seppi.
“I think he was a better player for first two sets, definitely. I was very fortunate to come through to this match. I was fighting. When I was two sets down, I believed I could win the match, and I think that’s the only positive I can really pick up from today’s match.” – Novak Djokovic, after needing five sets to beat Andreas Seppi.
“Before, I was at least making something happen myself. Today I couldn’t do it. All I could hope for is for her mistake. I couldn’t make anything myself today.” – Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka, after losing to Dominika Cibulkova.
“It’s like playing against a wall, basically. – Petra Martic, following her loss to Angelique Kerber.
“He’s got great potential in terms of his touch and the way he reads the game. Obviously in some ways I guess it’s tough for me coming out not knowing exactly what his favorite patterns are in the game, the way he serves, when he does what. But he impressed me and I enjoyed the match today.” – Roger Federer, after his four-set victory over “lucky loser” David Goffin.
“What is very frightening is his attitude. When he was down, I thought he’s going to show something with his face, he’s going to have a shake in his lips. Nothing. Poker face. Like in every other match. He’s very focused. Even when he’s not playing at his best level, he continues playing and he ended up winning. Just like anywhere else. That’s what I find impressive.” – David Goffin, after losing to Roger Federer.
“I have a problem because my wife is a fan of Roger.” – Nicolas Mahut, before playing his third-round match against Roger Federer. Mahut lost.
“I’m happy and curious. The strongest sensation is curiosity – to see how far I can go and up to what level I can arrive. Even I don’t really know.” – Sara Errani, after reaching her second straight Grand Slam tournament quarterfinal.
“I’ve played good from the beginning of the year. I think the players know right now who I am, and, yeah, I think nobody wants to play against me right now.” – Angelique Kerber.
“Today the weather was so bad. I felt cold during the whole match. For me to move was really complicated, I couldn’t make my feet move.” Svetlana Kuznetsova, after losing to Sara Errani under cloudy skies and chilly winds.
“I was fighting till the end. She played amazing. It’s her court. I knew that she’s not gonna give it for free. I had to work really hard, and I did.” Varvara Lepchenko, following her win over 2010 French Open winner Francesca Schiavone.
“I think today on the court there were two great players that gave it all, went to the limits, and I was able today to make a difference.” – Virginie Razzano, after handing Serena Williams her first first-round Grand Slam tournament defeat.
“At the end of the match I did not even believe I won the match. We played for more than five hours, and I thought it was not going to finish.” – Paul-Henri Mathieu, after outlasting John Isner in an 18-16 fifth set.
“I am just going to go home, I don’t want to think about tennis right now.” – John Isner, following his lost to Paul-Henri Mathieu.
SHOCK
After winning the Australian Open and taking over the world number one ranking, Victoria Azarenka was one of the strong favorites to win Roland Garros. Tell that to Dominika Cibulkova. The 15th-seeded Cibulkova shocked the top-seeded Azarenka 6-2 7-6 (4) in the fourth round on the red clay in Paris. Her normally steady baseline game disappeared as the Belarussian sprayed shots wide and long on the important points. At point she smashed her racquet to the ground in frustration during a changeover. Azarenka finished with 25 unforced errors against just 19 winners, while Cibulkova had 20 unforced errors and 28 winners. With the defeat, Azarenka could also lose her top ranking to Maria Sharapova if the second-seeded Russian reaches the final.
STINKING MARATHON
This time John Isner was on the losing end of a marathon Grand Slam tournament battle. It took Paul-Henri Mathieu five hours 41 minutes to outlast Isner 6-7 (2) 6-4 6-4 3-6 18-16. “It stinks that I lost,” Isner said, “but sleeping on a match like this isn’t much fun.” Isner knows about record-breaking five-setters. Two years ago in a first-round match at Wimbledon the American beat Nicolas Mahut in the longest tennis match ever played. Isner won the fifth set 183 in a match that last 11 hours five minutes, with the final set going eight hours 11 minutes. Mathieu’s victory over Isner was also record-setting: the longest match at Roland Garros in terms of games played.
SHELL-SHOCKED
Until she met Virginie Razzano at this year’s French Open, Serena Williams had never lost in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament. Razzano changed that as the 13-time Grand Slam tournament champion self-destructed. Williams was two points from victory at 6-4 5-1 when her game collapsed. Playing before a home crowd, Razzano won 11 of the next 12 games to level the match at a set apiece and grab a 5-1 lead in the third set. Williams won the next two games before Razzano closed out the upset on her eighth match point. “I didn’t think too much,” Razzano said. “I know I have unlimited resources. I dug very deep and I knew nothing was lost, even when I had cramps (in the last game), even when I was not feeling well. It’s the most beautiful victory in my career.” Williams did not mince her words after the staggering defeat. “I made so many errors today which is not the game that I have been playing in the past. There is no excuse,” she said.
Serena’s stay in Paris was quite brief. She also suffered a first-round loss in mixed doubles. Playing together for the first time, Serena and Bob Bryan were beaten 7-5 3-6 10-6 (match tiebreak) by Argentine’s Gisela Dulko and Eduardo Schwank. It was the first mixed doubles match for Williams since the 1999 Australian Open, which she and Max Mirnyi of Belarus lost in the final. Williams and Mirnyi won the mixed doubles at Wimbledon and the US Open in 1998.
SISTERLY SLIP
Venus Williams lasted one round longer than her sister. The older Williams was beaten easily by third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 6-3 in a second-round match. A seven-time Grand Slam tournament champion, Venus has been coping with an autoimmune disease that causes fatigue. Noting she is still learning to live with Sjogren ’s syndrome, Venus said: “There are a lot of people who have it a lot worse than I do. I am still playing a professional sport. I haven’t gotten to the ‘why me?’ yet, I hope I never get to the ‘why me?’ I am not allowed to feel sorry for myself.”
In the 43 Grand Slam tournaments both Williams sisters have entered, this year’s French Open is the first time neither Venus nor Serena have reached at least the third round. In 2002 Serena won the French Open women’s singles, defeating Venus in the title match. It was the only time either sister has reached the final at Roland Garros.
SURPRISING STATISTIC
Five women have won the last five Grand Slam tournament titles, and the last four majors have been won by first-time champions. The only former French Open winner still in the running for this year’s title on the second Monday is defending champion Li Na. Other Grand Slam tournament winners who made it past the first week were 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, 2011 US Open winner Samantha Stosur and Maria Sharapova, a three-time major winner seeking her first Roland Garros crown and a career Grand Slam.
SITE SET
The Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Final between the Czech Republic and Serbia will be played on an indoor court in Prague, Czech Republic, on November 3-4. It will be the first time a Fed Cup tie has been played at the 11,000-seat O2 Arena, which has hosted Davis Cup ties in 2007 and 2012. The Czech Republic is seeking to win its second straight Fed Cup Final.
“SORRI”
Mikhail Youzhny played so horribly in his third-round loss to David Ferrer, he apologized to the fans right on court during the match. The 27th-seeded Russian wrote the word “SORRI” in the clay court in the middle of his 6-0 6-2 6-2 defeat. “There was a lot of people. That’s why I write ‘sorry.’ Because I can’t show them a nice game,” Youzhny said. “The way we played in the beginning, it was not really interesting for people.” The apology came after he won his first game of the match, making it 2-1 in the second set. As he started towards his chair for the changeover, Youzhny stopped just inside the service line and wrote out his message. “People in the stands may not have noticed, but I think I had to do this,” he said.
SIDELINED
Upsets in the first week at Paris were not limited to singles. The top-seeded American women’s doubles pair of Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond lost in the first round, falling to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia and Zhang Shuai of China. Huber and Raymond, who last year won the US Open and reached the semifinals at Roland Garros, were broken five times. “It’s been a tough few weeks for us on clay,” Raymond said. “We thought we were as prepared as we could have been. Unfortunately, I guess we weren’t.”
SETS RECORD
Roger Federer continues to rewrite the record book. When he beat Adrian Ungur of Romania in a second-round match, it was Federer’s 234th Grand Slam tournament match victory, snapping a tie with Jimmy Connors for most career wins at major tournaments in the Open Era. His victory over “lucky loser” David Goffin of Belgium put Federer in the quarterfinals for a record 32nd consecutive major tournament. The third-seeded Swiss is seeking his record 17th Grand Slam tournament title.
SENIOR STARS
Goran Ivanisevic, Pat Cash, Mark Philippoussis and Henri Leconte will join Tim Henman in an all-star field at the Statoil Masters Tennis at London’s Royal Albert Hall in December. Also in the field will be Mansour Bahrami and Fabrice Santoro. Ivanisevic won the title two years ago. “I love playing tennis at the Royal Albert Hall,” the left-hander said. “Especially if I can beat Tim Henman again. That is always a nice motivation, to play in a beautiful place and beat Tim. Perfect.” The Statoil Masters Tennis is part of the ATP Champions Tour, a circuit of former world number one players, Grand Slam singles finalists and Davis Cup winners.
SIGNED UP
Japan’s Kei Nishikori has committed to play in the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island, USA, July 9-15. Others in the field in the only grass court ATP Tour event played in the United States include John Isner, brothers Bob and Mike Bryan, Canada’s Milos Raonic, Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Querrey, who was a finalist at Newport in 2009. Go Soeda, Japan’s number two player behind Nishikori, also will be in the field. A highlight of the tournament will be the induction of the newest members of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
SPLITSVILLE
Roger Federer is no longer represented by International Management Group (IMG). The split came after the 16-time Grand Slam tournament champion’s agent Tony Godsick left the company. “We confirm that Tony Godsick has left the company,” an IMG spokesman said. “Tony is a great guy and we thank him for his 19 years of service. Our contract with Roger Federer has expired and we no longer represent him. Roger is an icon in the world of sports.
SICK CALL
A 38-stroke rally that took nearly a minute was extremely hard on both players. One hour, 50 minutes into their second-round match, Richard Gasquet hit an overhead winner to break Grigor Dimitrov’s serve. Dimitrov collapsed with a leg cramp and crawled on his hands and knees to a line judge’s chair. Gasquet vomited on the court, blaming his intestinal distress on some fruit. “I was really feeling bad,” Gasquet said. “But he was on the ground. He was even in a worse situation than I was.” Gasquet won the match 5-7 7-5 6-2 6-3.
SURFING
Paris: www.rolandgarros.com
International Tennis Federation: www.itftennis.com
ATP World Tour: www.atpworldtour.com
WTA Tour: www.wtatennis.com
Halle: www.gerryweber-open.de
London: www.lta.org.uk/fans-major-events/LTA-summer-grass-court-events/AEGON-Championships/
Birmingham: www.lta.org.uk/fans-major-events/LTA-summer-grass-court-events/AEGON-Classic/
Bad Gastein: www.gastein-ladies.at/
Marseille: www.opengdfsuez-marseille.com
TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK
(All money in USD)
MEN
Roland Garros, Paris, France, clay (second week)
$113,614 UniCredit Czech Open, Prostejov, Czech Republic, clay
WOMEN
Roland Garros, Paris, France, clay (second week)
TOURNAMENTS NEXT WEEK
MEN
$818,000 Gerry Weber Open, Halle, Germany, grass
$771,500 AEGON Championships, London, Great Britain, grass
WOMEN
$220,000 AEGON Classic, Birmingham, Great Britain, grass
$220,000 Nürnberger Gastein Ladies, Bad Gastein, Austria, clay
$100,000 Open GDF Suez de Marseille, Marseille, France, clay