Sharapova Embarrassed in Debut
The fourth day at Roland Garros was very advantageous for the Russians – 11 players, seven women and four men, – eventually advanced to the second round yesterday. What’s more, exactly the opposition of the Russians stole the show and could have sprung a sensation. World No. 1 Maria Sharapova edged out fellow Russian and Grand Slam debutant Evgeniya Rodina with great difficulty.
The outcome of the first rounds of big tournaments is usually predictable. But Maria Sharapova broke the tradition yesterday, offering a real thriller to the spectators. Her assistant in this performance was fellow Russian Evgeniya Rodina, the debutant of Grand Slam tournaments.
Sharapova had never played that bad before, she committed 68 unforced errors yesterday, 40 more than Rodina. The number of double faults reached 17. She made three double errors in a row in the fifth game of the second set.
Of interest is that the beginning was cloudless for Sharapova, while Rodina apparently had no hope of opposing the top seed. But something happened to Maria in the second set. The problem was only herself, she acknowledged after the match of nearly two hours and a half, which she finally won 6-1 3-6 8-6. Sharapova needs only Roland Garros to complete the list of Grand Slam titles.
Unlike Maria, the path of other Russians was smooth. Only Elena Dementieva traditionally lost the first set to compatriot Vera Dushevina to create a sort of intrigue. Vera Zvonareva, Anna Chakvetadze, Nadezhda Petrova, Maria Kirilenko and Alisa Kleibanova eased to the second round besides Sharapova and Dementieva.
Once world number one Marat Safin progressed to the second round as well. Safin next plays in-form Nikolay Davydenko and the chance of his another success is very slim. Mikhail Youzhny, Dmitry Tursunov and Igor Andreev are also in the round 2.
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All the Article in Russian as of May 29, 2008
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