Translated material
After hours
Sharapova and Federer unhappy with Roland Garros schedule
Maria Sharapova's return to the court after an almost two-month break almost turned into a sensation. In the first round match of the French Open against the black American Mashona Washington, our prima was very close to defeat, but she showed her inherent fighting qualities, repelled three match points and saved the game - 6:2, 5:7, 7:5.After Sharapova easily won the first set, nothing foreshadowed a protracted fight. But suddenly some kind of inspiration descended on Washington, and it was not without sports luck. Very often, after her risky shots, the ball hit the very edge of the court, forcing Maria to desperately gesticulate. Of course, the Russian woman was never considered a specialist in playing on clay, and yet losing in the opening round to her opponent, who had never achieved anything in a Grand Slam competition, would have been too much. When the score became 5:2 in favor of Washington in the third game, the crowd on the center court of Roland Garros began to buzz excitedly in anticipation of the unexpected. Particularly emotional tennis fans even sent a wave of people through the stands.
And here Sharapova demonstrated what real sports anger is. She saved one match point in the eighth game and two more in the ninth, depriving the American of her former confidence and courage. The realization of 100% goals spoke most eloquently of how furious Maria was - both with herself and with the unenviable position in which she found herself. At the moments when, upon reaching the net, it was enough for her to simply substitute her racket and win a point, Sharapova, with battle cries, drove the ball into the court with all her might towards the opponent’s side. After Maria equalized the score in the third game, no one had any doubts about her final victory.
“I knew that due to an ankle injury I was not one hundred percent ready for the French Open, but I made the decision to play in Paris consciously,” the winner said after the match. “I’m an athlete, and that’s why I’m here, and I’ll fight for every ball, although everyone understands that my chances of winning Wimbledon are much higher.” “My problem is that I couldn’t score the winning goal,” Washington admitted. - Yes, she showed a good game, but this was not enough to defeat Sharapova. In those moments when one blow could have decided the fate of the match, I had to act more aggressively, but something stopped me.” By the way, Washington is one of the few tennis players who, not being among the 50 strongest in the world, was able to beat Maria when the Russian woman was already at the zenith of her fame. In August 2004, at a home tournament in New Haven, Mashona defeated the newly crowned Wimbledon winner in three games. The second time such a miracle did not happen.
Still not cooled down from the ups and downs of the struggle on the court, Sharapova allowed herself to criticize the organizers: “The starting round match is scheduled to last three days, and I asked to put my game with Washington at least on Monday, since the injury was still making itself felt. But they categorically answered me, without accepting any objections, “Sunday, last call.” It seems to me that the organizers think more about the French tennis players and the revenue from tickets than about the leading players.” It remains to add that Sharapova’s next opponent is Czech Iveta Benesova.
The strongest tennis player on the planet, Roger Federer, made a similar rebuke to the organizers. The Swiss, with whom only Spaniard Rafael Nadal can compete on equal terms this season, in an uncharacteristic manner suffered for two and a half hours with the 157th number in the ATP ranking, Argentinean Diego Hartfield - 7:5, 7:6 (7:2), 6:2. “I have to play the second round match on Wednesday, and I’m unpleasantly surprised that my first match was pushed onto Sunday. Why do I need this two-day break, it only knocks me out of the tournament rhythm,” Federer was indignant.
For the second day in a row, the tournament is not complete without a Russian derby. This is not surprising, considering that there are a dozen and a half of our compatriots in the main draw. On Sunday, Dinara Safina knocked Vera Zvonareva out of the fight, yesterday Vera Dushevina stopped Anastasia Rodionova, who is only playing for the second time at the Grand Slam tournament in singles - 6:3, 6:2. Dushevina will have to take an exam in the 1/32 finals against the leader of the BTA ranking, Amelie Mauresmo. Apparently Vera is unlucky with the draw - for the third time this season she ends up with a Frenchwoman in the early stages of the tournament bracket.
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French Open. Results. First round. Men. Tursunov - Novak (Czech Republic) - 6:3, 6:2, 6:2. Korolev - Seppi (Italy) - 6:4, 2:6, 3:6, 7:5, 6:1. Yuzhny - Tuksar (Croatia) - 6:3, 6:3, 3:6, 6:0. Women . Dushevina - Rodionova - 6:3, 6:2. Pen Shuai (China) - Vesnina - 6:3, 6:2. Sprem (Croatia) - Likhovtseva - 6:1, 6:1. Sharapova - Washington (USA) - 6:2, 5:7, 7:5. Safina - Zvonareva - 6:3, 7:5.