Serena in 3rd round of French? No big deal

PARIS - When the ball was in play, Maria Sharapova at least was able to make something happen.

The top-seeded Russian struggled with her serve in the wind at the French Open, hitting 17 double-faults and barely managing to defeat 103rd-ranked Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 3-6, 8-6 Wednesday in the first round.

Fifth-seeded Serena Williams, the only former champion in the women’s field, won the final four games to defeat Mathilde Johansson of France 6-2, 7-5 and advance to the third round.

“I haven’t played my best tennis,” said Williams, who won the French Open title in 2002. “Hopefully in the next round I’ll play better.”

Sharapova landed only 64 percent of her first serves in the match on center court, where she is trying to complete a career Grand Slam at the clay-court major.

“I was very close to losing this match,” Sharapova said. “Not many things were working for me today after the first set.”

The 19-year-old Rodina came within two points of winning at 5-4 in the third set, but Sharapova won the next two with strong serves to hold. At 6-6, Sharapova regained control by breaking serve for the first time in the final set, returning a second serve with a big forehand that caught Rodina flat-footed.

Then, serving for the match, Sharapova double-faulted one final time, but took the next three points to end it.

In the fifth game of the second set, Sharapova double-faulted three times in a row. After the third, she put her hands on her hips and stared blankly.

“I had problems in every department of my game today, so I’ll have to improve on every aspect of those things,” Sharapova said.

Although Sharapova had trouble landing her serves, the three-time Grand Slam champion was more consistent with her groundstrokes, often playing long rallies before hitting a winner or waiting for Rodina to make a mistake.

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -Former tennis star Roscoe Tanner has been arraigned on felony theft charges in Knox County.

According to information from the Knox County General Sessions Court, Tanner is accused of writing a $72,263.43 check to a Knoxville Toyota dealership for two Toyota Highlanders and refusing to return the vehicles when the check bounced.

Tanner appeared in court Wednesday for the arraignment but did not enter a plea. A court hearing is set for July 8.

His attorney, Scott Green, did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Tanner was convicted of grand theft in Florida in 2000 after bouncing a $35,595 check used to buy a 32-foot boat.

A Chattanooga native, Tanner won the 1977 Australian Open.

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Collins: Clay fray challenges Maria

getCSS("3315906")Bud CollinsPARIS – What no one expected from Maria Sharapova in her opening-round match at Roland Garros was for the world’s top player to be on the court almost two and a half hours before she could send packing a much lesser player in her fellow Russian Evgeniya Rodina, 6-1, 3-6, 8-6.

Barely squeaking out a three-set win in the first of seven potential French Open hurdles she will have to clear this Paris fortnight to win the only major to allude since she turned pro in 2001 is not usually the kind of opening act that’s part of a championship script.

She managed to keep from bidding adieu to the Parisians much too early at the season’s second major but her struggles to stay alive on dirt in what was looked upon as a solid chance to get off to a convincing start here reminds anyone -- who has somehow forgotten – of an important fact of Sharapova’s tennis life: that the surface on these courts is not her favorite ground on which to compete.

Sharapova’s less-than-stellar curtain raiser on clay sends a clear message that while she’s the top ranked player in the world, she’s no shoo-in to finally emerge the queen of clay.

What the much-more-difficult-than-expected tangle with Rodina tells all is that there are several elite players besides the abundantly talented Russian who could be holding the champion’s trophy in Paris this spring. They are Serena Williams, my pick for the title, 2007 French Open finalist Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Venus Williams as well.

It certainly looks as if Sharapova has convinced herself that clay is her worst surface and that’s a key as to why she has not had the type of success she’s had on other surfaces. Her best result in five previous tries at Roland Garros was making the semifinals last year.

If playing championship-caliber tennis on clay is a mental roadblock for the world No. 1 that’s something she needs to overcome if she is ever going to complete the career Grand Slam. She’s way too young at 21 and way too talented to have that kind of mental negative affecting her focus on the dirt courts.

Sharapova survived Rodina despite major serving woes. Many were left to wonder what was going with the star after she committed 17 double faults – and did so in a first-round match to boot. That just should never happen to the top ranked player in the world against an inferior opponent.

Her serve was a glaring issue for Sharapova. She tried to go hard on the first serve, but when that didn’t work she chose to just spin the second serve in. A top ranked player should be able to do more than just try to get the ball in play. This is especially true for Sharapova with her height (6-foot-2) helping drive her serves.

There are those that might reason that the extremely windy conditions earlier in the day were the cause of Sharapova’s issues with her serve. To that I say, “Weather happens,” so I was glad to see Sharapova did not offer that up as an excuse. She was doing something wrong with what usually is such a big weapon for her and failed to make any successful adjustments to her serve given the windy conditions.

Regardless of whether the wind is blowing hard or not, Sharapova needs work on her ball toss with her serve. In my mind, her toss is too high, which prevents her from controlling the ball.

I guess the real analysis of the match, however, is that she showed the heart and mental fortitude to win when she easily could have been sent packing. The other kid she played – I don’t know all that much about Rodina but I found out today she brings a lot to the table if she’s challenging the No. 1 in the world. Rodina played very well and was just a couple of points away from creating a huge upset that could have been one of the biggest upsets in Roland Garros history.

Sharapova prevented losing a stunner by doing what champions often do so well – stepping it up and hitting fearlessly when most needed. That effort put her into the second round but she’ll have to play a much better overall game to get on a potential title run here.

She has an incredibly favorable draw. Her next opponent is American Bethanie Mattek and that should be all but a give-me for the top seed. Her quarter of the draw should spell little trouble with a few key names lurking about in fellow Russians Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva and Dinara Safina but she should be able to handle all of those opponents. She has fellow Russian, No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova in her half of the draw but I believe if they meet, Sharapova wins.

Where her sternest challenge to winning this major for the first time could occur is in the final if she manages to get there. Some heavy hitters are potential opponents there for the Russian: Serena and Venus Williams, Ivanovic and Jankovic comprise the list.

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But Sharapova cannot get ahead of herself. She needs to work on playing better with each round, especially after the start against Rodina. She also needs to remember that while she possesses a mental toughness that can see her through rocky matches like her opening-rounder here, she’s not the only player with the sort of ultra tough mindset that leads to winning championships. The Williams sisters can match her in that regard.

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French Open Show Court Schedule

PARIS (AP) -The show court schedule Monday for the French Open at Roland Garros:

Play begins on all courts at 9 a.m. GMTCourt Philippe Chatrier
Tommy Robredo (12), Spain, vs. Guillermo Coria, Argentina

Venus Williams (8), United States, vs. Tzipi Obziler, Israel

Thomaz Bellucci, Brazil, vs. Rafael Nadal (2), Spain

Amelie Mauresmo (22), France, vs. Olga Savchuk, Ukraine

Court Suzanne Lenglen

Monica Niculescu, Romania, vs. Jelena Jankovic (3), Serbia

Roger Federer (1), Switzerland, vs. Sam Querrey, United States

Florent Serra, France, vs. Richard Gasquet (8), France

Casey Dellacqua, Australia, vs. Marion Bartoli (9), France

Court 1

Severine Bremond, France, vs. Jelena Pandzic, Croatia

Michael Llodra, France, vs. Olivier Patience, France

Nuria Llagostera Vives, Spain, vs. Anna Chakvetadze (6), Russia

Stanislas Wawrinka (9), Switzerland, vs. Philipp Kohschreiber, Germany

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French Open Results

PARIS (AP) -Results Tuesday from the French Open at Stade Roland Garros (seedings in parentheses):

SinglesMen
Nikolay Davydenko (4), Russia, def. Thomas Johansson, Sweden, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

Stanislas Wawrinka (9), Switzerland, def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

Paul Capdeville, Chile, def. Mischa Zverev, Germany, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.

Robin Soderling, Sweden, def. Juan Monaco (13), Argentina, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.

Mario Ancic, Croatia, def. Andreas Seppi (31), Italy, 6-2, 7-6 (1), 6-2.

David Marrero, Spain, leads Victor Crivoi, Romania, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 5-3, suspended

Marin Cilic, Croatia, leads Robin Haase, Netherlands, 7-6 (6), 6-2, 6-5, suspended.

Jarkko Nieminen (26), Finland, leads Marc Lopez, Spain, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 2-2 (40-15), suspended.

Martin Vassallo Arguello, Argentina, leads Feliciano Lopez, Spain, 7-6 (1), 6-4, 3-6, 2-1 (15-40), suspended.

Bobby Reynolds, United States, leads Thierry Ascione, France, 7-6 (2), 4-6, 5-3 (15-15), suspended.

Dmitry Tursunov (30), Russia, leads Daniel Brands, Germany, 5-2 (30-0), suspended.

Juan Ignacio Chela, Argentina, leads John Isner, United States, 2-6, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 1-1 (15-0), suspended.

Dudi Sela, Israel, leads Victor Hanescu, Romania, 6-4, 1-2 (30-15), suspended.

Mikhail Youzhny (15), Russia, vs. Benjamin Becker, Germany, 1-1 (40-40), suspended.

Thomaz Bellucci, Brazil, vs. Rafael Nadal (2), Spain, 1-1, suspended.

Jean-Rene Lisnard, Monaco, leads Marat Safin, Russia, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 2-1, suspended.

Marc Gicquel, France, leads Viktor Troicki, Serbia, 6-4, 6-3, 2-1, suspended.

Julien Benneteau, France, leads Vince Spadea, United States, 4-3, suspended.

Albert Montanes, Spain, leads Kristof Vliegen, Belgium, 7-6 (5), 3-2, suspended.

WomenFirst Round

Svetlana Kuznetsova (4), Russia, def. Aiko Nakamura, Japan, 6-2, 6-3.

Dinara Safina (13), Russia, def. Kateryna Bondarenko, Ukraine, 6-1, 6-3.

Amelie Mauresmo (22), France, def. Olga Savchuk, Ukraine, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.

Ai Sugiyama (31), Japan, def. Alla Kudryavtseva, Russia, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.

Sabine Lisicki, Germany, def. Elena Vesnina, Russia, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Olivia Sanchez, France, def. Jarmila Gajdosova, Slovakia, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8).

Carla Suarez Navarro, Spain, def. Pauline Parmentier, France, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.

Agnieszka Radwanska (14), Poland, def. Mariya Koryttseva, Ukraine, 6-4, 6-3.

Marion Bartoli (9), France, leads Casey Dellacqua, Australia, 6-5, suspended.

Flavia Pennetta (26), Italy, leads Tatiana Perebiynis, Ukraine, 4-3 (Ad-40), suspended.

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Federer improves clay record with French win

PARIS - Roger Federer added another win to his already burgeoning clay-court record this season.

Federer improved to 16-3 on clay in 2008 by beating Sam Querrey of the United States 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 Monday in the first round of the French Open, where he is trying to become only the sixth man to complete a career Grand Slam.

“I’ve played well all clay-court season long,” said the top-ranked Federer, who is 27-7 overall this year. “Didn’t have many hiccups really, and I have plenty of matches. That was my goal as well.”

Federer came into the French Open with only one title this year, which he won on clay. His seven losses are more than he had for the entire season in 2004, ’05 and ’06.

On Tuesday, the start of play was delayed by rain for 2 hours, 50 minutes. Rafael Nadal was scheduled to begin his quest for a fourth straight French Open title against Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil. Nikolay Davydenko, Lleyton Hewitt and 2003 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero were also to play.

Maria Sharapova and Amelie Mauresmo were to play in the women’s tournament.

Federer was broken once early in the first set Monday, but he managed to win five times on Querrey’s serve.

“I got through with my first round, which is sometimes a difficult match in a tournament,” said Federer, who has lost to Nadal in each of the last two French Open finals.

The second day of play at Roland Garros ended early because of rain. It also rained Sunday.

No. 8 Venus Williams joined sister Serena in the second round, completing her win just before play was suspended Monday. The eight-time Grand Slam champion overcame a second-set lapse to beat Tzipora Obziler of Israel 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

“It’s nice to have a quick match but it’s nice to have a challenge also,” said Williams, who had eight double-faults. “I’m glad at the end that I figured it out.”

Third-seeded Jelena Jankovic also advanced, getting a little love from the net to help her beat Monica Niculescu 7-6 (3), 6-2.

Leading 4-2 in the first-set tiebreaker, last year’s French Open semifinalist had a drop volley hit the top of the net and roll along the tape before falling into the opposite court. Jankovic put her hand up as if to say, “Sorry,” and then bent down and kissed the white tape.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, the youngest person in the singles tournament at 16, reached the second round by beating Maria Emilia Salerni of Argentina 6-1, 6-1. No. 10 Patty Schnyder, No. 12 Agnes Szavay and No. 32 Karin Knapp also advanced, while No. 23 Alona Bondarenko lost to Petra Cetkovska 6-3, 6-0.

No. 17 Marco Baghdatis, the 2006 Australian Open runner-up, lost to Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the men’s draw. No. 29 Guillermo Canas also lost, but No. 11 Tomas Berdych, No. 12 Tommy Robredo, No. 22 Fernando Verdasco and No. 24 Fernando Gonzalez advanced.

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Venus recovers in time to avoid huge upset

PARIS - Venus Williams was cruising along with a ho-hum 6-3, 4-1 lead over her 35-year-old opponent at the French Open on Monday when suddenly everything went awry.

The double-faults piled up. The forehand errors did, too, and Williams lost six consecutive games to fall behind as a drizzle fell. The crowd was rooting for the underdog, applauding in unison every time 93rd-ranked Tzipora Obziler of Israel earned a point.

When the No. 8-seeded Williams would hit a winner, the sounds of approval emanated mainly from her personal guests. “Whooo!” one of her sisters kept yelling.

“I told the people in our box, ’Be quiet, so she can concentrate,”’ said Williams’ father and coach, Richard. “Venus is a great thinker and a great player. I wasn’t nervous at all.”

Eventually, six-time major champion Williams did manage to turn things back around quickly enough to pull out a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Obziler and reach the second round at Roland Garros before the rain grew heavier and washed out the latter part of the day’s schedule.

“I’m glad at the end that I figured it out,” Williams said.

Three-time defending men’s champion Rafael Nadal was supposed to follow her on center court, but his match never began. Among those who did play Monday was No. 1 Roger Federer, who wasn’t tested much in a 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Sam Querrey of the United States.

“You never think you’re going to be the guy that’s going to draw him when the draw comes out,” the 40th-ranked Querrey said. “But someone has to.”

The day’s most significant upset was produced by another American, 106th-ranked Wayne Odesnik, who beat No. 29 Guillermo Canas of Argentina 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8). The match lasted the minimum number of sets yet took 3 hours, 46 minutes.

“There’s not too much to say. I think he played well,” said Canas, who’s lost his past six matches, all on clay. “I didn’t play well at all.”

The only other seeded man to exit on Day 2 was No. 17 Marcos Baghdatis, the 2006 Australian Open runner-up, who lost to Simone Bolelli of Italy in straight sets. Baghdatis always draws a big crowd at Roland Garros because he trains at a Paris tennis academy.

Another product of that academy is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 16-year-old Russian who won a Grand Slam match for the first time by beating Maria Emilia Salerni of Argentina 6-1, 6-1.

“I just play. I don’t think about the results,” said Pavlyuchenkova, who recently finished high school and is the youngest player in the tournament.

Odesnik is only 22, yet he was exhausted after his match and was checked by a doctor. He credited recent work with a sports psychologist for helping him play well in all of those tiebreakers.

“On the big points, I thought I played more aggressive and executed my shots better,” said Odesnik, who was born in South Africa and moved to the United States as a toddler.

He’s been trying to improve his clay-court game lately with Felix Mantilla, a Spaniard once ranked as high as 10th. Odesnik actually calls clay his favorite surface, something that’s rare to hear from an American.

Querrey also doesn’t mind playing on the red stuff, although he also said he basically doesn’t pay too much attention to what is underfoot.

“He is a young player who is capable of playing a good match on clay,” Federer said, “so I’m glad it’s over.”

Querrey is 6-foot-6 and relies on his big serve, one that once produced 10 consecutive aces in a match. But Federer had little trouble getting serves back, limiting Querrey to six aces and compiling 12 break points, five of which he converted.

“He just seems like he gets the racket on everything,” Querrey said.

There are those, though, who wonder whether Federer is slipping a bit. Consider: The 12-time major champion already has lost seven matches this year, more than for the entire seasons of 2004, 2005 and 2006. He also has only one title so far.

“He’s still got all the shots of a No. 1 player,” Querrey said.

Querrey wanted to forget whom he was facing so he could relax.

“It’s hard. I mean, I’m still in awe of him,” the American said. “Sometimes he hits shots, you’re just like, ’I’ve seen that on TV a bunch of times.”’

Same goes for Williams, who used to be ranked No. 1 and has had stretches of brilliance, particularly at Wimbledon, but never has been all that successful at the French Open. This is the only Grand Slam tournament at which she’s been past the quarterfinals only once — in 2002, when she lost to sister Serena in the final.

Part of it is that clay dulls her stinging serve. Part of it is that moving around on clay is tough. Part of it is the sort of inconsistency on display in the middle of Monday’s match, when she kept slumping her shoulders and hanging her head after miscues.

“Venus can play a lot better than she did today,” her father said. “After she settled down, she pulled it out.”

He shed no light on whatever health issues might be troubling her. Venus Williams was off the tour for about a month this year after having medical tests. She hasn’t said what the tests were for — and even her father said he doesn’t know.

“Venus never talked to me about it, and I never asked her. The only thing I asked is, ’Are you sure it’s time to come back?’ And she said, ’Yes,”’ he said. “Does it have an affect on her or not? This I don’t know.”

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