Serena buries Paris misery, Federer cruises
Serena Williams buried the ghosts of her 2012 Roland Garros horror
show to storm into the French Open second round Sunday as Roger Federer
enjoyed an untroubled start to his 54th consecutive Grand Slam. The
31-year-old Williams, bidding for a 16th Grand Slam title, suffered her
worst defeat at a major in Paris 12 months ago when she was dumped out
of the first round by Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano.
But on Sunday, Williams extended her current winning streak to 25,
the best of her career, with a 6-0, 6-1 demolition of Georgia’s Anna
Tatishvili, the world number 80.
It took Williams just 51 minutes to complete victory on a chilly
Court Philippe Chatrier, where the temperature hovered just above the
10-degree mark, firing 27 aces to her opponent’s four.
Williams, who won over the usual hard-faced Paris crowd by delivering
an on-court television interview in French, admitted that the French
Open is a tournament which has caused her the most problems. “It hasn’t
been working out for me. I just think I may have gotten nervous in the
past or may have basically choked a few matches away,” she said. “Some
matches I just lost because maybe I wasn’t intense enough or maybe I
didn’t do enough work before I got here to the tournament.” Williams
next faces France’s Caroline Garcia who, as a raw 17-year-old, was a set
up and 4-1 to the good against Maria Sharapova in 2011 before slipping
to defeat.
Federer, the 2009 champion and hunting an 18th major, saw off Spanish
qualifier Pablo Carreno-Busta, the world number 166, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. The
21-year-old Spaniard had started the year at 654 before winning seven
Futures events and claiming an astonishing record of 53 wins in 57
matches on the circuit’s third tier.
But Federer, playing in his 15th Roland Garros, was too strong,
building the foundation for victory with a break in the opening game of
all three sets. The Swiss star, who bitterly attacked organisers for
forcing him to play on a Sunday when the tournament extended its
programme in 2006, said he was now happy to have the extra day’s rest
that the early start affords.
“I didn’t agree with how things went. Wimbledon does it in 13 days
and the French does it in 15,” said 31-year-old Federer after firing 33
winners and 10 aces past Carreno-Busta to achieve his 55th career
victory at Roland Garros.
“But I do understand that a weekend for tennis is very important for
the people who can show up. I’m happy this time around. I told them if
they wanted me to play Sunday, whatever, I’m fine with it.” Spanish
fourth seed David Ferrer also cruised through with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win
over Australia’s Marinko Matosevic whose Grand Slam record now reads
nine matches played, nine matches lost.
AFP
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