Tennis News

Following solid starts in their respective campaigns at the French Open, former two time Grand Slam winner Victoria Azarenka will meet Lucie Hradecka in the second round of the prestigious tournament to determine who will get one step closer to the second week in Paris. This marks the third time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Azarenka leading the head-to-head series 2-0.

Having missed the French Open last year, Azarenka kicked off her quest in Paris with a straight sets win against Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor. She struck 27 winners and 10 unforced errors to close out the match 6-2, 6-1.

“It’s never easy to play the first round of a Grand Slam, no matter what your ranking is or your position, but it’s important to start the tournament well,” Azarenka said after the match. “I had an opponent who I didn’t know about and never played against her. For me it was important to just really try to get into the rhythm, get into the tournament, and really try to stay focused throughout the whole match.”

In the second round, Azarenka will come up against Lucie Hradecka, who had an even simpler opening match in Paris against Zheng Saisai. She defeated her in straight sets 6-3, 6-0 to secure her spot on Thursday. She struck four aces, hit 24 winers and converted four of six breaks of serve to secure the victory in less than an hour of court time.

This marks the third time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Azarenka leading the head-to-head series 2-0. Their most recent meeting on the tour took place several weeks ago at the Rome Masters, where the Belarusian was forced to play three sets in order to advance to the following stage of the tournament.
 

Following an opening round scare on Tuesday afternoon in Paris, Petra Kvitova is through to the second round of the tournament relatively unscathed, where she will next come up against Silvia Soler-Espinosa. This marks the first time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour and will step out on court for their match on Thursday afternoon.

Against Marina Erakovic in her opening round match, Petra Kvitova was forced to contest three sets and was certainly struggling to get across the finish line in the final set before she secured the pivotal break. After nearly two-and-a-half hours on court, Kvitova managed to secure the win against Erakovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

“I think she didn’t miss so much, and there were a lot of good rallies. It was really difficult,” Kvitova said. “She’s a really smart player with a good touch, so I knew it was going to be difficult.

“I played her last time here, as well, and it was two sets. But, anyway, every match is different. I’m just glad that I won.”

“I have to say the conditions weren’t really easy for me. I think it was quite cold and the balls are really heavy, and they didn’t really fly,” she added. “For me it was really difficult to go for the shots. It was tough to make any winners or ace from the serve or something like that.”

Kvitova will come up against Silvia Soler-Espinosa, who only needed straight sets to defeat Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 6-3. It was a straightforward performance and sets up an intriguing second round contest.

This marks the first time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour. While Kvitova had a difficult start to her 2015 campaign at the French Open, she should have less trouble in the second round.

Following a 10-0 start to his clay court season in 2015, Andy Murray maintained that undefeated run when he commenced his week in Paris with a straight sets victory to advance to the following round of the tournament. As one of the tournament favourites, Murray will advance to the second round, where he will next face Portugal’s Joao Sousa. This marks the fifth time that Murray and Sousa will cross paths on the professional circuit, and the Briton leads the head-to-head series 5-0.

Seeded third at this year’s tournament, Andy Murray reached the second round of the tournament following a straight sets win against Facundo Arguello. His 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 scoreline extended his win streak to 11 consecutive matches this season on that surface.

“The first set, I didn’t feel like it was great; I felt like it was difficult,” said Murray. “The start was very windy on the court and cold, so it was quite slow conditions. I found it difficult at the beginning. Then I felt, when the wind died down a bit in the second and third set, I felt that the level of tennis was better.”

Opposite Murray in the second round of the tournament will be Joao Sousa, who reached that stage of the tournament with a straight sets win against Canada’s Vasek Pospisil, who took part in the tournament on the heels of an ankle injury several weeks ago. He struck eight aces, 32 winners and converted seven break points to close out the match 6-3, 7-6, 6-1.

This marks the sixth time that Murray and Sousa will meet on the professional tour. Murray leads the head-to-head series 5-0, which include two recent wins in 2015, at the Australian Open and Dubai. All of those wins took place on hard courts, which adds some intrigue into their first clay court match on Thursday afternoon.

An all-Spanish match-up is scheduled to take place Thursday afternoon, as nine-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal and Nicolas Almagro meet for a spot in the third round at Roland Garros. This is a particularly intriguing match-up, as Nadal lost to Almagro for the first time in his career last season on clay. Nadal leads Almagro in the head to head series 12-1.

In typical fashion at his favourite event, Rafael Nadal began his Roland Garros campaign on Monday afternoon with a straight sets win against wildcard Quentin Halys 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 50 minutes.

“When I had the chance to play normal points, I think I changed [rallies with] good directions with my forehand [and] very good forehands down the line,” said Nadal. “After the first three games, when I started a little bit slow, then I start moving the ball better. I am happy with the way that I played. It is the first match and I played well enough. I think my forehand worked well for a lot of moments.”

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Nadal will next come up against Nicolas Almagro, who needed four sets to defeat Alexandr Dolgopolov. The Spaniard won the match 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(6). He will now attempt to deny Nadal a tenth title at the French Open when they meet in the second round.

This marks the 14th time these two competitors will clash on the ATP World Tour, with Nadal holding a solid 12-1 record against Almagro. The record includes an 8-1 clay court record, including ones in Barcelona and Acapulco in 2013. However, Almagro shocked the tennis community last season when he rallied from a set down to beat Nadal in the decider of the Barcelona quarter-final. Even though Nadal avenged that loss this season in Barcelona, he will have to repeat that feat again on Thursday.
 

For the first time in six years, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Dudi Sela will cross paths on the professional tour. The last time they met was back in 2009 at the Australian Open and they will now go out and rekindle their rivalry at yet another Grand Slam tournament. Overall, Tsonga leads the head-to-head series 2-0 and will look to remain undefeated against Sela en route to the third round in Paris.

In his opening match at Roland Garros, Tsonga faced little difficulty and managed to advance to the second round of the tournament relatively unscathed. He defeated Swedish qualifier Christian Lindell in straight sets 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. He struck 35 winners, fired four aces and won 91% of his first service points as well.

“Today I played a good match,” said Tsonga. “I was really in the match. I was solid from the very first minute, and therefore I was more relaxed afterwards. Then things went on well after that. I was aggressive the way I had to be. I played well. I played a good match, and therefore, I didn’t have to stay too long on the court.

“The conditions are good for me here in Paris at Roland Garros. I will continue. Next round I will try and be serious from the very beginning, and I will play my best tennis, I will try, and at the end, we will see. We will see if this match will give me more confidence or not.”

The former semi-finalist at the French Open will next encounter Dudi Sela in the second round of the tournament, who reached that stage of the event following a straight sets win against Mikhail Kukushkin. The Israeli won the match 7-6(5), 6-3, 7-6(4).

This marks the third time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Tsonga leading the head-to-head series 2-0. The first win took place back in 2008, while the second came during the 2009 Australian Open. Both wins were on hard courts.

An all-Czech second round match is scheduled to take place on Wednesday afternoon in Paris, as Davis Cup teammates Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek cross paths once again on the professional circuit. Of their three previous meetings on the tour, Berdych leads the head-to-head series 2-1. However, this marks their first meeting on the tour in four years, as well as their first on clay.

Seeded fourth at this year’s event, Tomas Berdych advanced to the second round of the French Open with next-to-no trouble at all. He defeated qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka in straight sets 6-0, 7-5, 6-3 to secure his spot in the following round of the tournament. It was a solid win for the Czech, as he has lost his Roland Garros openers on five previous occasions.

“I came into the tournament after a very, very good weeks on the clay, especially, which is very important to me,” said Berdych. “[I’ve] been playing a lot of matches, winning a lot of them, and also in between those weeks I have had very good preparation. So everything has been aimed for this tournament… I definitely want to go and do well.

“I’m feeling well. I’m feeling physically, mentally strong, and that’s the best possible start that I can have. [I] just have to be patient now, keep working for the two weeks and [I will] try to go as far as I can.”

Berdych will next encounter Radek Stepanek in the second round. His fellow countryman earned his slot in Round 2 with a four set victory against Ivan Dodig where he was forced to rally from a set down. He eventually won the match 5-7, 7-3, 6-4, 6-1.

This marks the fourth time that Berdych and Stepanek will cross paths on the professional tour, with the Czech No. 1 leading the head-to-head series 2-1. However, this marks their first meeting on the tour in four years, as well as their firs on clay.

17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer breezed into the second round of the French Open on Sunday afternoon and will now attempt to further his 2015 campaign in Paris when he meets Spain’s Marcel Granollers. This will mark the fourth time these two competitors cross paths on the professional tour, with Federer leading the head-to-head series with an unblemished 3-0 record.

In an impressive showing on court, Federer defeated Alejandro Falla in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the following round at Roland Garros. The Swiss star struck 42 winners and eight aces to lose out the match in straightforward fashion. He also advanced his overall record to 26-5 this season.

“I’m not sure that the first round is any different,” Federer said. “I think that as we go through the tournament, then we probably feel that we are more and more satisfied. But the first round is a bit like I want to win the first round, to be in the tournament and not to go back home immediately, to be one of the first ten players to go back home. So that’s the whole idea about it. That is, you want to play a good match and then focus on the future. That’s when I will start enjoying this moment.”

Federer’s second round opponent, Marcel Granollers, reached that stage of the tournament with a straight sets win against qualifier Matthias Bachinger. He won the match 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(7) to set up the encounter against Federer.

This marks the fourth time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour and the first time so far this season. Federer holds a 3-0 lead in the series, two of which took place in Dubai and the most recent at the US Open. Granollers has only ever taken one set off Federer and this is set to be their first ever meeting on clay.

After compiling an atrocious record by any standard in 2015, Ernests Gulbis found himself in the second round of the French Open. There, he will contest a match-up against local favourite Nicolas Mahut, whom he has faced once previously on the ATP World Tour. Gulbis leads the head-to-head series 1-0, with a recent win last season in Marseille.

A semi-finalist at last year’s French Open, Gubis needed to find his form quickly if he was to have any hope of salvaging some of those ranking points during the coming fortnight in Paris. In his opening round match, he was able to regain some of that lost form to secure a straight sets win against Igor Sijsling. He closed out the match 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(3) to earn just his third tour victory of the season.

“The last couple of matches on clay, it has been getting better and better,” Gulbis said about his current form. “I had some close losses against Goffin and Vesely in Rome and Madrid. As well as against Paire in Barcelona. But in Barcelona I didn’t play well yet. In Rome and Madrid I played decent and these are guys ranked in the Top 30 in the world. I lost to Goffin 7-5 in the third, and next week he played the quarter-finals. So it seems like I’ve been losing a lot of matches, but I lost to decent people… It’s now or never for the clay season.”

Awaiting the Latvian in the second round is French wildcard Nicolas Mahut, who defeated qualifier Kimmer Coppejans 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) to earn his spot.

While Gulbis and Mahut have only met once previously on the professional tour, Gulbis actually holds two wins against Mahut on French soil, as he also beat him at the 2012 Orleans Challenger tournament. Unless he starts showing shades of his earlier inconsistency, Gulbis should find his way into the third round in Paris.

Following a tough opening round match at Roland Garros, defending champion Maria Sharapova will continue her quest to defend her crown with a second round match on Thursday afternoon. The Russian superstar will face fellow countrywoman Vitalia Diatchenko in the second round of the tournament, a player whom she has never faced previously on the professional tour.

In one of the tougher opening round matches in the draw, Sharapova was faced with the task of ousting Kaia Kanepi and it certainly wasn’t a straightforward affair. While Sharapova won the match in straight sets, she faced resistance from her Estonian foe in the second set. Ultimately, she came out of it unscathed with a 6-2, 6-4 scoreline.

“I’m getting over it, and hopefully it will pass by soon,” Sharapova said. “But obviously it was such a big occasion for me to be back out on center court, and I had a tough opponent ahead of me. And the conditions were pretty difficult as well. So I knew it wasn’t just going to depend on the tennis today.

“Overall I’m just happy I got through it and have a day off tomorrow – I should be better by then.”

Sharapova will come up against Vitalia Diatchenko, who rallied from a set down to beat Stefanie Voegele 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

“I got to know her during Fed Cup this year,” Sharapova said. “That was really the first time we spent together. I didn’t get a chance to practice with her, though. I saw her play doubles a little bit – maybe it was good because it was the first time I had really seen her strike the ball. She’s a big hitter.”

This marks the first time that these two will meet on the professional tour. There is little to say about this match other than that Sharapova should have little trouble working her way past her inexperienced Russian foe.