Muguruza Sees Off Schmiedlova
No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza overcame a slow start against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova to book her place in the second round of the French Open.
No.4 seed Garbiñe Muguruza overcame a slow start against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova to book her place in the second round of the French Open.
A rainy sunday washed out most of the first round matches in Roland Garros; World No.2 takes center stage on Monday while 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic also makes her debut.
No.10 seed Petra Kvitova was two points from a first round upset at the hands of familiar foe Danka Kovinic, but turned the tide to advance to the second round in Paris.
PARIS, France – No.10 seed Lucie Safarova made the most of an interrupted schedule on Sunday to defeat the recently returning Vitalia Diatchenko, 6-0, 6-2, to reach the second round of the French Open. Not long after the 2015 finalist’s win, play was canceled due to rain.
Safarova was one of only five women to complete their first round matches, joining Petra Kvitova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Viktorija Golubic and Hsieh Su-Wei before stormy weather held serve and kept top seeds like Simona Halep and Garbiñe Muguruza from making their 2015 French Open debuts.
“It’s nice to have the match finished,” said Safarova, who won the first seven games of the match before the first wave of inclement weather covered the clay courts. “Obviously now I have two days off, which I can train, hopefully, and get back to my routine.
“But I don’t think it does a huge impact in the draw results. I mean, obviously today it’s tough conditions because of the rain and delays and the balls are quite heavy, but it’s same for everyone.”
Diatchenko was playing her first major tournament since having to retire in the first round of the US Open due to an Achilles injury; the Russian returned last week to win a Challenger doubles title with Galina Voskoboeva, but was still struggling with her rhythm on Sunday, hitting 27 unforced errors and nine double faults.
“It’s really nice to be back,” the defending doubles champion with Bethanie Mattek-Sands remarked in her post-match press conference. “I’m excited. Obviously a lot of great memories from last year. To be back here on-site, playing on the same courts, brings a lot of nice feelings.”
Playing a clean match with 11 winners and 12 unforced errors, Safarova enjoyed her second win since food poisoning forced her to pull out of the Mutua Madrid Open; her season had already gotten off to a late start due to injuries and a bacterial infection causing a bout with reactive arthritis.
“I had a lot of health issues last half year, so I’m just really happy to be playing and to be here. Each match I face, I will try to win and we will see.”
Safarova advanced under the wire on Court Suzanne Lenglen, as a drizzle threatened to send her off court a second time, but the former World No.5 duly served out the match and booked a second round meeting with Golubic, who needed three sets to take out Alison Riske, 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.
Play is set to resume on Monday and will feature No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska as she takes on Bojana Jovanovski, Muguruza and Halep, and the completion of three matches which were rained out, including Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nicole Gibbs, and Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who lead Yaroslava Shvedova, Heather Watson, and Cagla Buyukakcay, respectively.
All remaining matches cancelled until tomorrow ☔ #RG16 pic.twitter.com/x5jbAyYT3A
— WTA (@WTA) May 22, 2016
Petra Kvitova survives: When Sunday’s schedule first came out, my eyes immediately zoomed in on the first match on Court Philippe Chatrier: Petra Kvitova vs. Danka Kovinic. The first thought that came to mind was whether it could possibly be that the two-time Wimbledon champion might bow out of the French Open before the tournament actually felt like it was underway. The threat seemed real given Kvitova’s struggles with an abdominal injury before the tournament and the very heavy conditions that would be in play on Sunday.
Kvitova looked to put those concerns to bed after building a quick 6-2, 3-0 lead over Kovinic, who had a solid clay season. The Montenegrin reached the final of the Instanbul Cup a few weeks before and can be a dangerous player when her game is clicking. It clicked in just in time.
The big-hitting Czech wobbled in the second set and Kovinic pounced, playing some fantastic counter-punching tennis to take the match into a third set. For much of the final frame she looked like the better player, as she combatted Kvitova’s heavy strokes with some magical defense of her own.
Kovinic served for the match at 5-4 only to get broken on a tremendous game from the Czech, who reeled off the final three games to win. The win underlined one oft-overlooked aspect of Kvitova’s game: She’s a fighter. Her game may desert her at times but she’s there until the end. She’ll play Hsieh Su-wei in the second round.
Let's just say I'm glad that one is behind me 🙂 and sorry for your blood pressure ? #petrainparis pic.twitter.com/ndkSGR7ckE
— Petra Kvitova (@Petra_Kvitova) May 22, 2016
Rain cancels eight matches, suspends three: The rain came later than expected in Paris, leading to a three-hour rain delay and early end to the day after a short resumption.
Just hit double digits for the amount of people in the players lounge who've mentioned the British weather to me. #notfunny #RG16
— Laura Robson (@laurarobson5) May 22, 2016
Five matches were able to finish before the rain came. In addition to Kvitova, No.11 seed Lucie Safarova, No.24 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Swiss qualifier Viktorija Golubic, and Hsieh Su-Wei advanced to the second round.
The following matches were in progress when play was called:
Svetlana Kuznetsova leads Yaroslava Schvedova 4-6, 6-1, 3-1.
Nicole Gibbs leads Heather Watson 7-5, 2-6, 2-1.
Aliaksandra Sasnovich leads Cagla Buyukakcay 7-5, 6-7(2), 2-1.
Cancelled matches, which included Garbiñe Muguruza and Simona Halep’s openers, as well as in-progress matches will take place on Monday.
Simo's match has been cancelled for today. See you tomorrow @rolandgarros ???? pic.twitter.com/whCMsXFaJB
— Darren Cahill (@darren_cahill) May 22, 2016
#RG16 almost started for me today.Will try again tomorrow?? @rolandgarros #rainyday
— Elena Vesnina (@EVesnina001) May 22, 2016
Golubic earns her first win at a Slam: The 23-year-old from Zurich made her Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open in January and earned her first main draw win at a major on Sunday, beating Alison Riske 6-1, 1-6 6-2. She’ll play Safarova in the round. Ranked No.130, Golubic earned wins over Karolina Pliskova and Barbora Strycova in the Fed Cup semifinals last month. That’s a nice run of form.
Cagla Buyukackay looks to make more history: By qualifying for the main draw, the Istanbul Cup champion became the first Turkish woman in the Open Era to play in the singles main draw at a Slam. In fact, there are two Turkish women in Paris, as she was later joined by 2014 US Open junior champion Ipek Soylu hours later.
With her match against Sasnovich suspended, Buyukackay will continue her quest to become the first Turkish woman to win a main draw match at a Slam on Monday.
Serena Williams and Venus Williams unseeded and looming: The doubles draw is out and all eyes were on where Serena and Venus would land. They’ve been drawn into the section of the draw led by No.2 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova and will open against the fiery young pairing of Jelena Ostapenko and Yulia Putintseva.
Radwanska, Muguruza, and Halep headline Day 2: Serena Williams was originally scheduled to play on Monday but the rain-delays on Sunday meant a reshuffling of the schedule. Radwanska starts her tournament against Bojana Jovanovski on Court Philippe Chatrier, Muguruza plays Anna Karolina Schmiedlova on Court Suzanne Lenglen, and Halep takes on Nao Hibino on Court 2.
Full order of play here.
Roland Garros Preview: Listen to the new episode of the WTA Insider Podcast for a full breakdown of what to expect over the fortnight in Paris and hear from the top players themselves as they discuss their expectations and preparations for the second major of the season.
Santina vs. History: Co-No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza lead the field in the Roland Garros women’s doubles draw, which was released on Sunday. The reigning Wimbledon, US Open, and Australian Open champions arrive in Paris hoping to become the first team to clinch a Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam since the Williams Sisters at this very tournament in 2010. Riding a 41-match winning streak through the Qatar Total Open, Hingis and Mirza suffered a minor slump at Indian Wells and Miami, and broke their three-month title drought at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Defeating Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in a match tie-break, the pair captured their first trophy on red clay, after finishing second to French Connection Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and the Mutua Madrid Open.
Santina wouldn’t have to play the French stars – or the recently reunited Williamses – until the final, with No.3 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Chan Yung-Jan, No.6 seeds and Australian Open finalists Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka, and No.7 seeds Makarova and Vesnina falling into their half of the draw. Opening against Daria Kasatkina – one half of the team that ended their winning streak in Doha – and Alexandra Panova, Hingis and Mirza will likely be relieved by their draw, one that gives them time to play into form in time for a projected Melbourne rematch against Hlavackova and Hradecka in the last eight.
The Swiss Miss already won a Calendar Year Grand Slam in doubles, back in 1998 with Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Jana Novotna; if she and Mirza can maintain the kind of consistency that took them through the clay court season, the team to beat will be heavy favorites to cement their legendary status in Paris.
Hometown Glory: Garcia and Mladenovic were the story of the spring, winning three titles, 15 straight matches and, most impressively, two wins over Hingis and Mirza in finals. Kicking off their campaign at the start of the year to prepare for the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the French youngsters had already reached two finals in Sydney and Dubai before the tour turned to clay. Defeating reigning French Open champions Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova to win their first title at the Volvo Car Open, they backed up their green clay succes with titles in Stuttgart and Madrid, only for their streak to end at the hands of Hlavackova and Hradecka in the quarterfinals of Rome.
Despite their surge, Garcia and Mladenovic are seeded outside the Top 4 at No.5, and are projected to play Mattek-Sands and Safarova by the quarterfinals. The latter looked strong in their first tournament of the season, winning the Miami Open to help Mattek-Sands clinch the Sunshine Double, but only played one match on red clay, losing in the opening round of Rome to Slovenian doubles specialists Andreja Klepac and Katarina Srebotnik in straight sets.
Garcia had previously admitted to the struggle of living up to national expectations, but a triumphant Fed Cup weekend at home may have freed up the pair, who both reached the semifinals at the Internationaux de Strasbourg – Garcia ultimately won the title over Lucic-Baroni. The duo play their first round against Annika Beck and Yanina Wickmayer, with No.12 seeds Lara Arruabarrena and 2012 champion Sara Errani the highest-ranked team in their section. All but unstoppable once they’ve gotten on a roll, Garcia and Mladenovic could have the greatest chance to end Hingis and Mirza’s hopes of a Santina Slam, but whether or not they can shine under the spotlight will be crucial to shifting the narrative in their favor.
Sister, Sister: Four teams of sisters make up the French Open draw, none more high-profile than Venus Williams and her sister, World No.1 Serena. For all the talk about their historic singles success, their stunning 13-0 record in Grand Slam doubles finals – and three Olympic gold medals – is an equally impressive aspect of their combined resume. Playing their first major tournament since 2014, Venus and Serena lost their only warm-up match at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (also to Klepac and Srebotnik), and won their last Grand Slam tournament at the 2012 Wimbledon championships – a pre-cursor to their most recent Olympic gold in London.
The Americans nonetheless have a history of blitzing even the most intimidating of doubles draws, and thus cannot be discounted in a quarter that includes both Garcia and Mladenovic, and Mattek-Sands and Safarova. Opening against dynamic duo Jelena Ostapenko and Yulia Putintseva, the top singles seed’s decision to play doubles could either help or hinder her in her march towards tying Steffi Graf’s 22 Grand Slam titles, but the younger Williams has played some of her best singles when she’s winning with her sister.
The Chans have been dangerous foes in the last 12 months, and were the last team to defeat Hingis and Mirza before the start of their epic winning streak. Winning back-to-back titles at home in Kaohsiung and Doha, their best result of the clay court season was a run to the quarterfinals in Madrid, where they failed to convert two match points against Vania King and Alla Kudryavtseva – who are seeded No.15 and could play No.4 seeds Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova in the third round.
Landing in a tough section of the draw that features clay courters and No.13 seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja, Makarova and Vesnina and the powerhouse pair of No.10 seeds Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova, the sisters will have to hit the ground running from their first round against Ukrainians Kateryna Bondarenko and Olga Savchuk.
Olympic Watch: With the Olympic cut-off fast approaching, Roland Garros is the last chance players and teams can earn points towards an Olympic-eligible ranking. More than half of the 64 teams in the draw are mono-country, including five of the Top 8 seeds. Makarova and Vesnina reunited just in time once the former was physically able to balance singles with doubles, and the former French and US Open champions celebrated their four-year anniversary by reaching the semifinals of Madrid and the final in Rome. Currently ranked No.9 in doubles, Vesnina could guarantee her addition to the Olumpic team with a strong result over the next two weeks, and will play their first round against former doubles No.1 Samantha Stosur and Zhang Shuai. Other all-Russian teams in the draw include Kasatkina and Panova, and Margarita Gasparyan and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Andrea Petkovic began the season playing with eventual Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber, but the former 2014 semifinalist at Roland Garros will pair instead with Sabine Lisicki in Paris. They could be the second round opponents of No.9 seeds and top Chinese team, Xu Yi-Fan and Zheng Saisai, who reached the final four at the Australian Open back in January. Petkovic’s countrywoman Laura Siegemund burst into the tennis consciousness at the start of the clay court season when she reached the Stuttgart singles final as a qualifier, but the German veteran is an accomplished doubles player with three WTA titles to her name; she has entered the draw with Anna-Lena Friedsam.
Photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Serena Williams’ march towards history turns to Paris, as the World No. 1 and defending champion looks to win her fourth French Open title and 22nd overall major title to tie Steffi Graf’s Open Era record.
With the tournament set to begin on Sunday, WTA Insider Senior Writer Courtney Nguyen and Web Editor David Kane analyze the top-heavy draw, which sees Serena surrounded by some big names in the top half of the draw, but contrary to popular opinion, her path to the title may not be as rough as people think. Out of the bottom half of the draw, can Garbiñe Muguruza and Simona Halep make good on their favorable draws? Or is this the year World No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska finally solves the terre battue?
You’ll also hear from the top seeds themselves as we take you inside the Roland Garros press room, as the likes of Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep, Garbiñe Muguruza, and Angelique Kerber give you some insight into their mindset as they head into the second major of the season. Who sounds confident? Who sounds unsure of themselves? We’ll let you be the judge.
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or on any podcast app of your choice and reviews are always helpful, so if you like what you’ve heard so far, leave us one. You can also get new episode alerts by following us on Twitter @WTA_Insider.
On the eve of the calendar’s second major, wtatennis.com contributor Chris Oddo previews the pick of Roland Garros’ opening day menu.
A resurgent Serena Williams looked unstoppable in Rome, but can anyone derail her hopes of Grand Slam number 22? Wtatennis.com contributor Ravi Ubha dissects the Roland Garros draw.
STRASBOURG, France – Caroline Garcia completed her French Open preparations in style on Saturday, outplaying qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the final of the Internationaux de Strasbourg.
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Twenty-four hours on from her marathon victory over Virginie Razzano, Garcia looked fresh as a daisy, the nerves so often accompanying French players on home soil conspicuous by their absence.
In her opening service game she was taken to deuce, fending of the threat courtesy of a couple of well-placed serves. Any lingering anxieties were completely removed the next game, a blistering forehand return winner helping her to the break. As the winners continued to flow, and Lucic-Baroni searched in vain for the form that had accounted for Kristina Mladenovic the previous round, Garcia quickly stretched this lead to 5-1.
With the set seemingly a lost cause, Lucic-Baroni’s game belatedly clicked into gear as she reduced her arrears to 5-4. However, Garcia recomposed herself to close out the set before dominating the second to wrap up a 6-4, 6-1 victory.
“I felt very confident going into the final. The first set I let her back into it. The first set is super important in tennis for momentum. Because you want to get off to a good start. And I got that today, which helped for the rest of the match,” Garcia said.
For Lucic-Baroni, who lost at the same stage of the tournament 19 years ago, it was a match too far: “It was my seventh match. I was a bit slow. A bit tired. It was to be expected. I’m proud to get to the final though.
“People have been asking me to sign pictures from 1999 – it’s like another life. But it makes me proud to have been able to come back and be at the same stage 19 years later.”
Garcia’s victory extends her perfect record with Lucic-Baroni, against whom she has now dropped just one set in four career meetings: “I have a good record against Lucic-Baroni and the match today was a lot more difficult than it looked. She joked in the presentation about beating me soon – she’s a great player and someone I look up to.”
Next stop for Garcia, whose only previous WTA title came two years ago in Bogotá, is Paris for her home major, Roland Garros, where she hopes to once again harness the energy of her compatriots.
“Another title is great – it’s progress but every tournament is a new chance to develop,” she added. “But today is a great day for me, especially in front of home fans here in France.”
In the doubles final, top seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja proved far too strong for María Irigoyen and Liang Chen, running out 6-2, 6-0 winners to lift a fourth title together and boost their Olympic qualification hopes.
The result was of particular significance to former singles champion Medina Garrigues, who is contemplating retiring at the end of the year: “All the victories are special. But this is important. With Roland Garros next week and we need points for Rio also, so it’s 280 points.
“Having won three times in singles it’s special for me here. It might be my last year playing tennis so coming back to Strasbourg was special. At the moment I’m 50-50 whether I will carry on next year. I will see how I feel physically and decide.”
.@CaroGarcia can't believe it! ? ? ? pic.twitter.com/SWLdmdYpFB
— WTA (@WTA) 21 May 2016