Translated material
Surprises at Roland Garros
Pavlyuchenkova made a successful debut on the courts of Paris, and Kuerten, Coria and Baghdatis dropped out of the fight
The second Grand Slam tournament, the French Open, kicked off on Monday in the outskirts of Paris. These competitions were first held in 1891 as the French national men's tennis championship, in which, however, members of French tennis clubs were also allowed to participate. It's funny that the first winner of the tournament was not a Frenchman, but an Englishman, H. Briggs. Six years later, the male company was diluted by representatives of the fairer sex. History has brought to us the name of the first champion of the tournament - the Frenchwoman Francoise Mason.However, in those years the competitions were not very popular, since they were constrained by the framework of the French national championships. It’s a different matter now, when the tournament has received such a significant status, and every tennis player strives to participate in it.
By the way, the tournament got its name after the First World War, when construction of a new tennis center began. The arena was named after a former member of the French tennis club, pioneer aviator, French pilot Roland Garros, who was the first to fly non-stop across the Mediterranean Sea from San Rafael to Bizerte.
The modern Roland Garros, unlike its predecessor, is held not in one day, but over two weeks. Yesterday's opening matches of the tournament, in which several famous players participated, were emotionally inferior to one involving the Brazilian tennis player Gustavo Kuerten, who won three times at Roland Garros. On the eve of the current start, Kuerten announced that he plans to end his sports career. The competition organizers accommodated the South American and gave him a wild card. Kuerten's fight with the Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu caused a huge audience stir. The Brazilian himself stated that he knew his opponent very well and intended to win and move further in the tournament bracket. However, few doubted the outcome of the confrontation - the Frenchman's advantages were obvious, since Kuerten's endless injuries, which had plagued him over the past years, did not allow him to get into optimal shape. And after the opening match, the legendary tennis player was forced to sheath his racket: a two-hour confrontation with Mathieu ended with the latter’s victory - 6:3, 6:4, 6:2.
After the match, with tears in his eyes, Kuerten, addressing the audience, said: “Roland Garros” is my life, my love, my passion. To win here three times was incredible, but the way you greet me means so much more.”
While Roland Garros was already over for Kuerten, the main contenders for the championship crown were playing their opening matches or preparing for them. On the first day of the tournament, American Serena Williams quite easily defeated her compatriot Ashley Harkleroad - 6:2, 6:1. Following Ana Ivanovic from Serbia, who beat Swede Sophie Arvidsson, one of the main favorites of the men's tournament, Novak Djokovic, won. The leader of the championship race withstood a difficult match against the German Denis Gremelmayr - 4:6, 6:3, 7:5, 6:2. Djokovic explained the slurred play in the opening match by his own passivity, which his opponent did not fail to take advantage of. “He got his chances and was able to take them in the first set. After which I completely concentrated on the game,” Djokovic explained after the meeting.
The first day's matches were played on eight courts. And among those who tested the French soil were two Russians. Both advanced to the second round. Ekaterina Makarova defeated Catalino Castaño from Colombia - 7:5, 6:1, and Galina Voskoboeva - over Frenchwoman Yulia Fedosova - 6:0, 6:7 (4:7), 6:1. On Monday, this duo was joined by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who made her debut at the “adult” French Open. The titled junior, who has three victories at Grand Slam tournaments, this time faced Argentinean Maria Salerni. The match lasted 47 minutes. and ended with the victory of the Russian woman - 6:1, 6:1.
A partly important role in this victory was played by the fact that two years ago Pavlyuchenkova had already won the junior Roland Garros, albeit in doubles. In total, the 17-year-old native of Samara has six victories at junior Grand Slam tournaments - three in singles and the same number in doubles. In 2006 and 2007, Anastasia won the Australian Open, and in 2006 the US Open. True, her performances at adult Grand Slam tournaments cannot yet be called so successful. Last year, Pavlyuchenkova made her debut at Wimbledon, but did not advance beyond the first round.
Unlike her compatriot, Ekaterina Bychkova was unable to overcome the resistance of the experienced Swiss Pati Schnyder, to whom she lost - 3:6, 4:6. As for other surprises on Monday, these included the defeats of Argentine Guillermo Coria and Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis. 2004 Roland Garros finalist Guillermo Coria, who made it into the main draw of this tournament after a three-year break, lost to Spaniard Tommy Robredo in a tough first-round match - 7:5, 4:6, 1:6, 4:6. Marcos Baghdatis lost to Italian Simone Bolelli in three sets - 2:6, 4:6, 2:6.
The first racket of the world, Swiss Roger Federer, did not experience any particular problems in the first match against American Sam Querrey - 6:4, 6:4, 6:3, as well as Serbian tennis player Jelena Jankovic, who defeated Romanian Monica Niculescu - 7:6 (7:3), 6:2.