Serena survives hiccup to reach fourth round

PARIS - Serena Williams looked ill, and not only because she had lost five games in a row at the French Open.

A trainer paid Williams a visit during a changeover, checked her temperature and gave her pills. Then came a third-set surge, and Williams beat 18-year-old Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Saturday, 6-1, 1-6, 6-2.

The top-ranked Williams appeared in danger when she fell behind 5-love in the second set and summoned the trainer.

Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here

“Just ran out of a little energy out there,” she said, “just fighting a cold and fighting sickness.”

Soon Williams’ court movement improved, her strokes steadied and she advanced to the fourth round.

“Doesn’t matter the score, especially against her,” Pavlyuchenkova said. “She’s a good fighter. She’s really confident and she is Serena.”

The seesaw win assured Williams of retaining the No. 1 ranking after the tournament.

In the completion of a suspended match, Nadia Petrova reached the fourth round. Petrova, seeded 19th, edged No. 15 Aravane Rezai of France, 6-7 (2), 6-4, 10-8.  Petrova plays Venus Williams next.

Other winners included Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan and wild card Jarmila Groth of Australia, with both advancing to the fourth round at a major tournament for the first time. No. 18-seeded Shahar Peer and No. 23 Daniela Hantuchova also won.

The third-round showdown between four-time champion Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova was suspended because of darkness at one set apiece. Henin led 6-2, but her streak of 40 consecutive sets won at Roland Garros ended when Sharapova took the second set, 6-3.

On a cloudy, windy, chilly day, the center-court stadium was slow to fill for Serena Williams’ match, the first on the schedule. Her aggressive returns had Pavlyuchenkova’s serve under constant pressure early, but the talented young Russian — a three-time Grand Slam champion in juniors — suddenly reversed the momentum in the second set.

Williams began to look sluggish during points, took her time between them and occasionally grimaced, while Pavlyuchenkova’s booming groundstrokes kept finding the corners.

The pills the trainer gave Williams provided a remedy.

“I don’t what they were, to be honest,” she said. “I just took them. He said they can help me feel better.”

But in the third set, Williams erased three break points to take the lead for good at 2-1. She again became forceful with her returns, and whacked the last one at Pavlyuchenkova’s feet for the win.

“Definitely a weird match,” Williams said. “I played all right. I definitely wasn’t at my best. I just was happy to win, especially against a player that’s on the up and up.”

Pavlyuchenkova, seeded 29th, fell to 8-1 this year in three-set matches. Williams is 100-44 in three-setters.

“After she beat me she has to win the tournament,” Pavlyuchenkova said. “I really hope so.”

Peer won 7-6 (7), 6-2 against No. 13 Marion Bartoli, the last remaining French woman. Hantuchova beat No. 16 Yanina Wickmayer 7-5, 6-3. Shvedova defeated No. 28 Alisa Kleybanova 6-2, 4-6, 6-0.

Groth, ranked 107th, defeated fellow Australian Anastasia Rodionova 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. Groth’s husband was happy to get the news back home by telephone.

“I just woke him up,” she said. “He was real angry in the beginning, but then he was very happy for me. And then he was kind of sad actually that he can’t be here to watch my success.”

Also on NBCSports.com

PBT: Who's better for Celtics — Suns or Lakers?
NFL: Don't expect magic to end for Favre, Vikings
  Baseball: Up close and personal with Longoria
Tennis.com: Federer's legacy could take a hit
Goal.com: Few U.S. roster surprises  |  Breakdown
Twitter: Follow us @nbc_sports

 

© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Serena wins marathonGijon no match for Sevilla

Venus Williams' tennis dress cheers lace industry

PARIS (AP) -When Grand Slam champion Venus Williams stepped out onto a French Open court in a see-through black lace skirt and red bustier, the beleaguered lace industry let out a cheer.

Williams' corset-like outfit - reminiscent of a 19th-century Parisian can-can chorus costume - shocked many sports fans and prompted wolf whistles and catcalls. But it also intrigued fashion insiders, and lace designers are now hoping that Williams' bold ensemble might boost their game.

"Seeing a tennis woman of Venus' caliber dolled up in lace and resembling more of a figure skater will hopefully revive the industry at a time when French lace makers are going out of business one after the other," said Isabelle Tartier, director of Paris-based Frank Sorbier, one of the few fashion houses that still uses lace.

Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here

Tartier blamed the lace industry's economic woes on cheaper Chinese-industrialized lace flooding the market.

"(It) is rarely made up of 100 percent cotton like French handmade lace, and is supplemented with chemicals such as polyamide, which produces cheaper thread," she said.

Julien De la Rue, finance director at lace factory Solstiss in northern France, said his company's sales had dropped in half in the last three years, from ?30 million ($38 million) in 2006 down to ?15 million ($19 million) in 2009.

"We've seen a decrease in demand these last two years primarily because lace has gone out of fashion. Designers prefer to use leather nowadays, so you simply don't see it on the catwalk," he said.

Williams, who designed the dress and has run her own fashion line Eleven since 2007, was quick to pick up on a possible niche market.

"Lace has never been done before in tennis, and I've been wanting to do it for a long time," she said after her appearance Sunday at Roland Garros, beating Swiss player Penny Schneiden.

Williams' burlesque outfit, with its tutu and frills, didn't do much to disguise her skin-tone underwear and "its illusion of bareness," as Venus described. That illusion - suggesting that she was naked under the lace - is what set tongues wagging and photographers snapping wildly at her muscled, taupe-covered derriere.

"What's the point of wearing lace when there's just black under? The illusion of just having bare skin is definitely for me a lot more beautiful," Williams said.

Marcellous L. Jones, editor of Fashion Insider.com magazine, agreed.

"I thought she looked sublime," he said.

"Her mix of can-can and pom-pom girl look brought cheer and entertainment to a tournament that has become dully predictable. I think it's great publicity for Roland Garros and great for the female tennis players who have become sidelined by the men," he said.

In terms of tennis fashion, women have always had a leg up on their male counterparts. Rafael Nadal's khaki pants and Roger Federer's sleeveless shirts have nothing on the catsuit that Venus' sister Serena Williams, currently ranked world No. 1, wore to the U.S. Open in 2002.

Nor do Andre Agassi's denim shorts and multicolored shirts compare to Russian tennis player Anna Kournikova's micro-miniskirts, or Maria Sharapova's tuxedo-inspired ensemble that she wore to Wimbledon in 2008.

For designer Frank Sorbier, female tennis fashion has always been about breaking the rules.

"When French tennis champion Suzanne Lenglen started playing in the 1920s, she was the first to invent a new style of dressing, which insisted upon wearing short skirts and exposing the player's bare arms. The aim was to liberate the body and leave it free to move," Sorbier said.

The tribute was fitting: Venus Williams wore her flouncy lace skirt in a match on the Suzanne Lenglen Court at Roland Garros.

"It is like a return to the past and a desire to liberate the body once again," Sorbier said.

Asked whether he would consider collaborating with Williams to produce a new tennis fashion line, he said "the door was open."

But his partner Isabelle Tartier said even if Venus has a good eye she needs more fashion schooling.

"Her colors need a bit of work. The red and black, which smacks of a lingerie get-up, is a definite fashion faux-pas," she said.

© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Primera Liga round-upWilliams’ dress draws more notice than her play

Sharapova, Henin advance to French showdown

PARIS - Maria Sharapova needed only five games Friday to advance at the French Open. Her next match will likely be a lot tougher — she faces four-time champion Justine Henin.

Sharapova and Henin set up a third-round showdown by winning matches suspended overnight because of darkness. Sharapova finished off Kirsten Flipkens, 6-3, 6-3, and Henin beat Klara Zakopalova 6-3, 6-3.

A schedule backlog caused by rain created a parade of champions on the sixth day of the tournament. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Venus and Serena Williams were among those who advanced.

Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here

Now the champions start playing each other. Henin has a 6-3 record against Sharapova.

“We’ve had some great matches in the past,” Sharapova said. “I’ve had some tough losses and great wins. I look forward to this one.”

Sharapova won their most recent meeting in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Australian Open. That was Henin’s last Grand Slam match before she retired.

Now the Belgian is mounting a career comeback and playing at Roland Garros for the first time since 2007.

“It’s going to be an interesting match,” Henin said. “Comes very early, of course, third round, but I expect a big fight as we always had in the past. It’s going to be very exciting to play her again in the second career. The motivation is going to be really high just to keep going in this tournament.”

Seeded 22nd, Henin has French Open winning streaks of 23 matches and 39 sets. The No. 12-seeded Sharapova is seeking the only Grand Slam title she has yet to win, and she said she’s becoming more comfortable on clay.

“I really do enjoy it,” the Russian said. “I’ve learned a lot playing on it the last few years. It doesn’t affect me as it did many years ago, because I knew I couldn’t last quite as long as I feel that I can now.”

While Henin and Sharapova won quickly, Serena Williams and Nadal did as well, taking the court on a sunny, cool morning. Both were done before lunch.

The top-ranked Williams won nine consecutive games and advanced to the third round by beating Julia Goerges 6-1, 6-1. Four-time champion Nadal lost serve only once and beat Horacio Zeballos 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.

Williams won in 55 minutes and said such a rout can help her in later matches.

“I can learn a lot, like, ’OK, what am I doing today? How can I get them to all be like that?”’ she said. “Those are the questions that I ask and I try to answer.”

  French Open 

 May 23-June 6, Paris  Sharapova, Henin advance to showdownFederer, Nadal keep on rolling through tourneyTennis.com: Record vs. Nadal is Federer's failingVenus Williams' tennis dress cheers lace industry  Vote: What do you think of Venus' outfit?Tennis.com: Nadal will win title  |  Henin alsoCicma: It'll be Nadal-Federer  |  Serena vs. HeninInteractive: Top men, women to watchFrench Open schedules, scoreboard 

 

Venus Williams reached the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time since 2006 by beating No. 26 Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 6-4. Once again wearing the lacy corset that has created the tournament’s biggest buzz, Williams hit six aces and lost only four points on her first serve.

Serena and Venus are seeded 1-2 and wouldn’t meet until the final.

“We’re having so much fun at this time of my career, and you know, we just feel good,” Serena said. “We’re doing the best we can, and we’re enjoying every moment.”

Russian qualifier Anastasia Pivovarova, ranked 187th, upset No. 25-seeded Zheng Jie of China 6-4, 6-3. Unseeded American Jill Craybas lost to No. 29 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-1.

Serena Williams, bidding for her first title at Roland Garros since 2002, played aggressively and still committed only four unforced errors to 20 for Goerges. Williams often moved two steps inside the baseline to smack returns, and she won 15 of 19 points on Goerges’ weak second serves.

Williams held every service game and sprinted forward several times to finish off points with swinging volleys.

The 12-time Grand Slam champion has won 41 consecutive second-round matches in major tournaments since losing in that round in her Grand Slam debut in 1998 to her older sister.

Also on NBCSports.com

PBT: Magic (finally) find their form  |  Technical talk
NFL: Don't expect magic to end for Favre, Vikings
  Baseball: Up close and personal with Longoria
Tennis.com: Federer's legacy could take a hit
Goal.com: Few U.S. roster surprises  |  Breakdown
Twitter: Follow us @nbc_sports

 

© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Ronaldo proud of seasonSerena, SharapovaВ withdraw from Family Circle Cup

Roddick reaches third round of French Open

PARIS - Maybe this is progress for Andy Roddick on clay: He lost serve seven times Thursday and still won.

On a rainy, chilly day at Roland Garros, Roddick endured two delays and difficult conditions to defeat Blaz Kavcic 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

The damp weather took some zip off Roddick’s biggest weapon, and for much of the match he was dueling from the baseline on his worst surface. But Roddick has become a more patient player in recent months, and he willingly settled into rallies that often lasted more than two dozen shots.

Roddick hadn’t played a match on clay this year when he arrived in Paris, but he’s now above .500 lifetime at Roland Garros — 9-8.

No. 4 Andy Murray beat Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-2. American John Isner, seeded 17th, hit 38 aces and defeated Marco Chiudinelli 6-7 (3), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (7), 6-4.

In a match that took two days to complete, Fabio Fognini beat No. 13 Gael Monfils of France 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 9-7. The match was suspended because of darkness Wednesday at 5-all in the fifth set.

Sixteen singles matches were postponed, including those involving Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, meaning they won’t play their second-round matches until at least Friday — the sixth day of the tournament. Nadal faces Horacio Zeballos, Djokovic plays Kei Nishikori, and Williams takes on Julia Goerges.

Twenty doubles matches were also postponed.

Roddick’s match looked like a mismatch on paper — the 112th-ranked Kavcic has won a single tour-level match this year — but the weather and clay were equalizers.

The No. 6-seeded Roddick lost 48 points serving, but despite his trouble holding, he seemed in control when he broke for a 4-3 lead in the second set. He promptly gave the break back, and rain halted play with Kavcic serving at 5-all, love-15.

When the match resumed nearly an hour later, Roddick lost eight consecutive points and the set to even the match.

As Roddick’s mood soured, he snapped at the umpire and at Kavcic.

“That’s a horrible read,” he said after the umpire rejected his appeal on a line call. “I know how to look at a mark and read it.”

The crowd jeered Roddick.

During later disputes about two marks in the same game, Roddick and Kavcic exchanged words.

“Don’t get upset with me when you just checked that one,” Roddick said.

But the American displayed patience at the baseline, as he mixed drop shots and lobs with conservative groundstrokes.

A rally that put him up a break in the fourth set lasted 39 shots and left a weary Kavcic bent over. The fresher-looking Roddick swept the final four games.

Also on NBCSports.com

PBT: Magic (finally) find their form  |  Technical talk
NFL: Don't expect magic to end for Favre, Vikings
  Baseball: Up close and personal with Longoria
Tennis.com: Federer's legacy could take a hit
Goal.com: Few U.S. roster surprises  |  Breakdown
Twitter: Follow us @nbc_sports

 

Federer hopes Madrid will provide turning pointReal play down Barca visit

French Open Show Court Schedules

Arantxa Parra Santonja, Spain, vs. Venus Williams (2), United States

Roger Federer (1), Switzerland, vs. Alejandro Falla, Colombia

Fabio Fognini, Italy, vs. Gael Monfils (13), France

Elena Dementieva (5), Russia, vs. Anabel Medina Garrigues, Spain

Court Suzanne Lenglen

Taylor Dent, United States, vs. Robin Soderling (5), Sweden

Josselin Ouanna, France, vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (8), France

Aravane Rezai (15), France, vs. Angelique Kerber, Germany

Tathiana Garbin, Italy, vs. Caroline Wozniacki (3), Denmark

Court 1

Leonardo Mayer, Argentina, vs. Julien Benneteau, France

Svetlana Kuznetsova (6), Russia, vs. Andrea Petkovic, Germany

Andy Murray (4), Britain, vs. Juan Ignacio Chela, Argentina

Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, France, vs. Li Na (11), China

Court 2

Marin Cilic (10), Croatia, vs. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, Spain

Flavia Pennetta (14), Italy, vs. Roberta Vinci, Italy

Edouard Roger-Vasselin, France, vs. Tomas Berdych (15), Czech Republic

Francesca Schiavone (17), Italy, vs. Sophie Ferguson, Australia

© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Spanish qualifier beats ClijstersDiarra welcomes United link

Williams' dress draws more notice than her play

PARIS (AP) -Venus Williams' latest fashion statement is generating plenty of questions.

During her second-round victory at the French Open on Wednesday, Williams sported the same black lace dress with bright red trim that she wore in her first match.

And after beating Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2, 6-4, Williams was asked much more about the dress than, for example, the 128 mph serve she hit or the fact that she's now 14-2 on clay in 2010.

Story continues below ↓advertisement | your ad here

Williams said the corset-like outfit's overlay and skin-toned undergarments are "about the illusion of bareness."

"Lace has never been done before in tennis, and I've been wanting to do it for a long time," she said. "The illusion of just having bare skin is definitely for me a lot more beautiful."

French Tennis Federation spokesman Christophe Proust said: "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."

---

ANGRY TSONGA: Top French player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lashed out at French Open organizers for turning down his request to have his first-round match scheduled for the second or third day of the tournament.

Instead, he had to play on Day 1.

"Frankly, I was a bit disappointed because I was playing on a Sunday," the eighth-seeded Tsonga said after beating countryman Josselin Ouanna 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 in the second round Wednesday. "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."

Tsonga said he deserved more respect considering his ranking and nationality.

"Today, we're in France. I'm French. I'm the French No. 1. I would have thought it was legitimate for me to be listened to," said Tsonga, the 2008 Australian Open runner-up.

"If you look at (Andy) Murray, if he decides on a day or a time schedule at Wimbledon, nobody is going to impose anything on him. For (Roger) Federer, in his country it's the same. And in the U.S., I suppose it's the same thing for the best American players. I think that Lleyton (Hewitt) probably plays in the sun during the Australian Open because he loves the sun and other opponents don't like the sun."

Another French player, Richard Gasquet, said the tournament refused to give him an extra day off after he won a tuneup tournament in Nice. Gasquet lost to Murray in five sets in the first round at Roland Garros.

---

SOUTH AFRICAN WINS AGAIN: Chanelle Scheepers looked up to Amanda Coetzer. Now Scheepers hopes South African kids who want to take up tennis will look up to her.

Scheepers, who had to go through qualifying to get into the French Open, became the first South African woman to reach the third round at a Grand Slam tournament in almost seven years by beating Gisela Dulko of Argentina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday.

"Tennis hasn't been a big thing in South Africa, especially women's tennis," Scheepers said. "Hopefully with this, it can get bigger, and people will see what I do and think, 'That's what I want to do."'

Coetzer was the last woman from their country to advance to the third round in a major tournament, accomplishing the feat at the U.S. Open in 2003.

In 2001, Coetzer was also the last South African woman to reach the third round at Roland Garros.

The 131st-ranked Scheepers never had won a match at any Grand Slam event before this French Open.

"It's nice to accomplish things for your country, but at the same time, you have your personal goals," Scheepers said. "When I won that first round, I said, 'OK, I want more."'

---

AP Sports Writer Sam Petrequin contributed to this report.

© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Venus wins again at French, talks about вЂskin’Blanc linked with Sevilla

Venus wins again at French, talks about вЂskin’

PARIS - Before the rain, No. 2-seeded Venus Williams used her big serve to beat Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2, 6-4 in the second round at the French Open on Wednesday.

Williams whiffed on a forehand and was often bested in long rallies, but serves at up to 128 mph kept her in control, and she was never broken.

“On the bigger points, especially on my serve, I thought I played those really well,” Williams said. “I think that was key.”

The defending women’s champion, sixth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, overcame four matches points in the second set and beat Andrea Petkovic 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. Petkovic committed unforced errors on all four points.

Williams improved to 14-2 on clay in 2010. She’s seeded second behind her younger sister Serena, who scouted while sitting next to their father. The sisters could meet in the final.

No. 26 Dominika Cibulkova rallied past American Varvara Lepchenko 4-6, 6-2, 6-0. Cibulkova, a semifinalist last year, faces Williams next.

“I’ll continue to try to execute my game and not worry really a ton about what my opponent is doing,” Williams said.

Two-time semifinalist Nadia Petrova, seeded 19th, beat Agnes Szavay 6-1, 6-2. No. 14 Flavia Pennetta defeated Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-1.

 Slideshow 

Serena wins marathonDepor ace talks stall