|
Federer, Jankovic advance at French Open
2008-05-26
Roger Federer made a winning return to the French Open, the only Grand Slam title he has never won. The top-ranked Federer beat Sam Querrey of the United States 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 Monday in the first round at Roland Garros, where the 12-time major champion is trying to become only the sixth man to complete a career Grand Slam. Federer was broken once early in the first set, but he managed to win five times on Querrey's serve. "It's always difficult in the first round at Grand Slams," Federer said. "I'm relieved and I'm looking forward to the second round." Federer has played well on clay this season, despite having already lost seven times this year -- more than he lost in the entire season in 2004, '05 and '06. He won his only title of the year on clay in Estoril, Portugal, when Nikolay Davydenko retired from the final with a leg injury. Federer then reached the final at the Monte Carlo Masters and the Hamburg Masters, losing both times to Rafael Nadal. Nadal, who is undefeated at Roland Garros, has also beaten Federer in the last two French Open finals and in the 2005 semifinals en route to the title. Querrey was making his second appearance at the French Open. He also lost in the first round last year. Jelena Jankovic got 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. The third-seeded Jankovic put her hand up as if to say, "Sorry." The Serb then bent down and kissed the white tape. In the second set, Jankovic lost her serve after breaking her Romanian opponent in the opening game, then dominated the rest of the match. The first set was when she had the most trouble, despite jumping out to a 3-0 lead. "She hit quite good drop shots and I got a little bit confused, because, first of all, I didn't know her game, I didn't know how she plays, and I didn't know what to expect from her," Jankovic said. "And then I started making some errors and I lost my rhythm a little bit." The 20-year-old Niculescu was making her debut at Roland Garros after losing in the first round at the Australian Open in her first major tournament. "She plays slice and she plays high balls and she plays drop shots and all the different kind of shots," Jankovic said. "She's a different player than the other girls, and it took time for me to get used to that because I never played against her before." Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, the youngest person in the singles tournament at 16, advanced to the second round by beating Maria Emilia Salerni of Argentina 6-1, 6-1. No. 12 Agnes Szavay of Hungary and No. 32 Karin Knapp of Italy also advanced. Richard Gasquet withdrew from the French Open because of a left knee injury. The eighth-seeded Frenchman pulled out shortly before he was scheduled to play Florent Serra. Florian Mayer of Germany also withdrew. Mayer, who will be replaced by Evgeny Korolev of Russia, pulled out because of gastroenteritis. Korolev will now face Fabrice Santoro in the first round. Nadal was to start his quest for a fourth straight French Open title against Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil. On the women's side, Venus Williams was playing Tzipora Obziler of Israel. 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. "That's the way it is. That's tennis," said Baghdatis, who was returning to the game after more than a month off for personal reasons. "He played better than I did today." Tommy Robredo, the 12th-seeded player, rallied to beat Guillermo Coria 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 on center court. Coria, who served a seven-month doping ban in 2001-02, was playing at Roland Garros for the first time in three years. He missed much of the past two seasons with a right shoulder injury and had played in only four tour-level events since the 2006 U.S. Open.
Top-seeded Ivanovic loses in huge upset at US Open (2008-08-28)Serena, Venus Williams lose in 3rd round at French (2008-05-30)Federer, Jankovic advance at French Open (2008-05-26)Agassi survives U.S. Open marathon (2006-08-29)Mauresmo, Sharapova to play at U.S. Open (2006-08-29)
| 
