Translated material
Endless set
Dementieva played the longest game at Roland Garros
Last year's French Open finalist Elena Dementieva beat Croatian Sandra Mamic yesterday in the second round of the tournament - 7:6 (9:7), 6:2. The first set of this match, which lasted 85 minutes, became a record length at the current Roland Garros. It is difficult to predict how events in the match would have developed further if Elena had lost in the tiebreaker. But in this case, the “luck of the strongest” principle worked, and the Russian woman continues to fight for the trophy. Her next opponent will be 25-year-old Japanese Akiko Morigami, ranked 72nd in the world classification. In February, the Muscovite already met with a tennis player from the Land of the Rising Sun at a tournament in Indian Wells and won without much difficulty - 6:2, 6:2.The third day of play at Roland Garros began for fans of Russian tennis with unpleasant news. Dmitry Tursunov did not take part in the match against the current champion of the tournament, Argentinean Gaston Gaudio, due to a knee injury. His compatriot David Nalbandyan is also moving on. He easily dealt with the Czech Tomas Berdych - 6:3, 6:2, 6:1. Experts continued to discuss the failure of the most titled active tennis player, Andre Agassi, that had happened the day before. The American lost to Finn Jarkko Nieminen in the opening round - 5:7, 6:4, 7:6 (8:6), 1:6, 0:6. It turned out that at the beginning of the fourth game, Agassi felt pain in the muscles of his leg. He has had spinal nerve damage for a long time, and it sometimes affects his leg function. Andre found himself virtually disarmed - he lost two sets in just 38 minutes, taking only one game from his opponent.
“I couldn’t leave the court even though I was in pain,” Agassi said. - I may have put Nieminen in an awkward position, but the Finn did everything right and continued to play at full strength. I'm not going to retire, as some people are predicting. I will perform as long as I’m healthy enough and as long as I’m at the elite level. As for my current problems, I may have to have surgery. Although I don’t exclude the possibility that doctors will allow you to limit yourself to a course of injections.”
The second Russian woman to make it to the 1/16 finals after Dementieva was No. 9 seed Vera Zvonareva. She had to meet with an opponent of a lower class - Czech Eva Birnerova, but Vera could not catch her game for a long time. In the first set, Zvonareva made seven double faults on serve and 27 unforced ones when playing the ball. In her usual manner, the Russian woman began to get angry with herself, utter words addressed to someone unknown, and eventually managed to pull herself together. Having overcome her nerves in the second game, Vera defeated Birnerova in the final, decisive set - 4:6, 6:3, 6:0. Zvonareva will have a fight with Frenchwoman Marie Pierce, who will be desperately supported by the stands. The Russian lost her previous and only match with Pierce - this happened in the fall of 2003 in the semi-finals of the Federation Cup.
Late on Tuesday evening, Russian Alina Zhidkova, who has been living in the US state of Florida for a long time, became the victim of the youngest participant in the women's tournament, Frenchwoman Elise Cornet. The only tennis player in the singles main draw, who was born in 1990, defeated her opponent 13 years older with a score of 7:6 (7:4), 6:3. Almost the same age as Cornet, Bulgarian Cecile Karatancheva (she was born five months earlier) has already reached the third round. On Tuesday, this young lady upset Japanese Shinobu Asaga - 7:5, 6:2. Karatancheva is known for her aggressive statements towards other tennis players. A year and a half ago, before meeting Maria Sharapova at the Indian Wells tournament, the Bulgarian promised at a press conference to “kick the ass” of the then rising star. Cecile did not keep her word - she lost to the Russian both in America and last January at the Australian Open. In Paris, Karatancheva will be tested by Venus Williams, who barely defeated Colombian Fabiola Zuluaga - 6:3, 3:6, 6:3.