WEEK ONE WRAP
VIKA VICTORIOUS: In recent times women winners of Slams have struggled mightily in their next major: think Sam Stosur, Petra Kvitova, Li Na and Kim Clijsters. And in the first round it seemed that the Aussie Open champ Victoria Azarenka was about to suffer the same fate. The No. 1 player in the world was down 6-7 and 0-4, 0-4 to the unheralded No. 114, Alberta Brianti. But Vika blasted a monster second serve ace and stormed back to to win 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2.
IT’S TOUGH TO LIE: Andy Roddick lost to No. 88 Nicolas Mahut for the first time in his career and said, “It’s tough to lie. My footwork on this stuff is really, really bad.”
FLASH FORWARD: In some kind of patriotic surge, 10 American women – including youngsters Sloane Stephens, Varvara Lepchenko, Christina McHale, Melanie Oudin, Irina Falconi, Alexa Glatch and Lauren Davis – all won in the first two days at Roland Garros.
SERENA SHOCK: Jelena Dokic beat the then-dominant No. 1 Martina Hingis at Wimbledon. The then-unknown Ivo Karlovic beat the Wimbledon defending champion Lleyton Hewitt. But was Virginie Razzano’s win over Serena Williams the biggest first-round upset in tennis history? It was the first time Serena had ever lost in the first round of a major. A year ago Razzano lost her fiancé to a bout with cancer. After her win she said, “Honestly, the past is the past … I did my mourning. I feel good today. It took time. I also worked with someone who … helped me start something new. I felt I was ready to go ahead and live my life professionally and personally … So is it destiny? Is it fate? I don’t know. I wanted to win that match … and I think I won it as a champion.”
AT THE HEART OF THE FISH MATTER: Mardy Fish revealed that he was suffering a frightening heart condition and underwent a two hour procedure in L.A. which hopefully has cured the ailment. The popular veteran hopes to play Wimbledon
THE MAN FROM THE MIDDLE TENNESSEE TENNIS LEAGUE: American Brian Baker has been off the tour for seven years. He had five major surgeries in four years and last year he was playing with his dad and uncle in the Middle Tennessee Tennis League. Then he won a Challenger tournament, reached the finals in Nice and in Paris beat Xavier Malisse before losing in five sets to France’s Giles Simon.
THE MISERY OF THE MARATHON MAN: There’s something extraordinary about John Isner. The man who cannot avoid drama played another marathon, this time against PHM (aka Paul-Henri Mathieu). The match only lasted 5:41. OK, that made it the second longest in French Open history. And this time Isner played sloppy ball without a clear purpose and plan (and too many drop shots). After saving seven match points, the giant from Georgia lost 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16.
BY THURSDAY THEY WERE ALL GONE: No American men got past the third round.
NO LOVE FOR SERENA: Serena is the best woman player of our era. Numerous American men dreamed of playing with her in the Olympics, and Bob Bryan even said that many “saw Serena as the easy way to a medal.” And when Bryan, arguably the best doubles player of our era, and Serena teamed up it was presumed they would tip-toe through the tulips and win the crown. Wrong. They lost in the first round to Argentina’s Gisela Dulko and Eduardo Schwank 7-5, 3-6, 10-6. So who would have predicted that Serena would lose in the first round of both singles and mixed?
FEDERER’S MAN LEAVES IMG: Federer’s agent, Tony Godsick, left IMG. Now the question is whether Roger will too. Meanwhile back on the court, Federer broke Jimmy Connors record of 233 wins in majors.
BRAIN FART ALERT: Three and a half weeks ago 19-year old Sloane Stephens was acting like … well, according to her own report, she was acting like a 19-year and was suffering “brain farts.” So her mom and aunt rushed from L.A. to Spain. There was a family intervention, and the charismatic Californian promptly put in the best Grand Slam performance of her young career as she swept through to the fourth round where she will meet the tough Aussie Sam Stosur. As for her future, Sloane said if she doesn’t win the French within a decade she will be one “unhappy camper.” BTW: Stephens plays well on grass and reached the third round of last year’s U.S. Open.
OUT OF UZBEKISTAN: Since 2005 only Lindsay Davenport and Venus and Serena Williams have reached the fourth round the French. Now both Stephens and Varvara Lepchenka will be there. In a stunning come-from-behind performance in 80 degree temps, Lepchenko beat 2010 French Open Champ Francesco Schiavone 3-6, 6-3, 8-6. It was her second win over the Italian in three weeks and her victory brought attention to her “out of Uzbekistan” back story, which is filled with tales of escape, asylum and triumph.
SHEERED ON THE SIDES, PIGTAILS ON TOP: What Bethanie Mattek-Sands is to tennis outfits, Svetlana Kuznetseva is to hair-dos. Her daring new look is one of the most inventive in recent memory.
BORING OLD MARIA: World No. 2 Maria Sharapova – the good looking, long legged cover girl, international business woman and all-around icon extraordinaire – said she was bored with herself “on a daily basis.”
VENUS WILLIAMS JAVELIN THROWER: Venus Williams said she was playing the circuit so she could qualify for the Olympics. She added that she wanted to win “any medal, even the javelin.”
GESTURES: After beating Caroline Wozniacki, Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi drew a heart in the clay. After playing poorly, Mikhail Youzny spelled out s-o-r-r-i in the clay and after Jo Willie Tsonga hit a fabulous drop shot Fabio Fognini shook his hand.
DRAMATIC CRITICISM: After Andy Murray bravely (and successfully) fought off wretched back spasms in his second round match, Virginia Wade call his a “drama queen.” He’s only pulled out of one of his 241 matches.
THE REIGN OF SPAIN: France is having a great French Open. Ouch – they won four of the five times they faced Americans. But the Spaniards are something else. For the 17th year in a row there will be at least three Spaniards in the fourth round and this year there are four – Nadal, David Ferrer, Niclolas Almagro and Marcel Granollers.
SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE: Europe’s high culture endures. There is a Leonardo da Vinci show at the Louvre. You can’t get too much more of a cultural pedigree than that, can you? And tennis’ high culture goes on. Our longstanding top four – No. 1 Novak Djokovic, the king of clay Mr. Rafa, the best of all time Raj Federer and the lowly tag-along Scot, Andy (“When are you going to win a Slam?”) Murray – are all through to the second week of the French Open.
