Nadal v Hewitt, Serena v Henin at French Open
Posted on June 4, 2007
Federer Wins, Nadal v Hewitt at French Open
World No. 1 Roger Federer took another step closer to a first French Open title Sunday, rolling past No. 13 seed Mikhail Youzhny 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-4 to set up a quarterfinal against No. 9 seed Tommy Robredo.
Federer improved to 10-0 career against the Russian.
"We both can do almost everything on court. But he (does) everything better than me," Youzhny said. "Maybe, maybe, I will have a chance. Maybe. Maybe no. You never know what happens in the future."
Robredo made the meeting by stopping the run of hot Italian and No. 29 seed Filippo Volandri in straight sets.
Other winners Sunday were No. 4 seed Nikolay Davydenko and No. 19 Guillermo Canas who will face each other in the quarters.
Davydenko outlasted No. 15 seed David Nalbandian 6-3, 7-6(1), 3-6, 7-6(2), while Canas continued his dominance over his Argentine countryman Juan Monaco 6-0, 6-4, 6-2.
Canas made single-digit unforced errors for the entire three-set match against Monaco.
On court Monday in 4th round play are (6) Novak Djokovic vs. Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco, (2) Rafael Nadal vs. (14) Lleyton Hewitt, (23) Carlos Moya vs. Jonas Bjorkman, and (16) Marcos Baghdatis vs. Igor Andreev.
"His game is obviously about wearing a lot of players down," said Hewitt of facing Nadal. "My game has been over the years about wearing people down, as well. I was prepared for that against Gaudio, so Nadal's going to be no different."
Henin v Serena Williams a Mouth-waterer at French Open
World No. 1 Justine Henin and former No. 1 Serena Williams will resume their rivalry after wins Sunday at the French Open.
It was four years ago when they last met in the French Open semifinals where Henin gave the "talk to the hand" motion as Serena served, and the younger Williams sister made a tearful exit from the court after the loss, accusing the Belgian of deceitful practices.
Now the two will meet again after Henin defeated No. 20 seed Sybille Bammer 6-2, 6-4, and Serena handled No. 10 seed Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-3.
Henin was up 4-0 in the second set until Bammer evened things at 4-4.
"I lost a little bit of intensity at that point and also she started to play better," Henin said. "I can't make that mistake again now we are going into the second week. But I had many positive things in my game today."
No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova also advanced Sunday with a 3-6, 6-4, 9-7 win, saving two match points against No. 14 seed Patty Schnyder.
"Don't count on me giving up," Sharapova said.
There was a bit of controversy as Schnyder tried to call time in the middle of a Sharapova serve, yet Sharapova ended up taking the point. Fans jeered Sharapova after that through her various fist-pumping routines and changing racquets in the middle of games.
Sharapova said things can't always be perfect.
"It's tough playing tennis and being Mother Teresa at the same time," Sharapova said.
Sharapova will next meet fellow Russian ad No. 9 seed Anna Chakvetadze, while Schnyder accepts another also-ran result.
"At the end, she was the big champion," Schnyder said. "I'm the little one who could not win. That was the match today."
Chakvetadze beat No. 25 Lucie Safarova 6-2 in the third to advance.
Other winners Sunday were (3) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. (15) Peer), (4) Jelena Jankovic (d. (18) Bartoli 1-and-1), (6) Nicole Vaidisova (d. (19) Garbin), and (7) Ana Ivanovic (d. (24) Medina Garrigues in three).
Kuznetsova will next face Ivanovic.
"It's very exciting to be back in the quarters," Ivanovic said. "I won a lot of matches lately so that's what gives you confidence. I'm very excited to be back in the quarters and to have a chance to compete to get further."
Monday will be men's day at the French Open with the women resuming play on Tuesday.
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Just as he did with The Tennis Channel in enticing early investments from Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, sports broadcasting entrepreneur Steve Bellamy, founder and CEO of The Ski Channel, announced Monday that the channel has entered into a partnership with Olympic skiing gold medalist Jonny Moseley that encompasses a vast array of involvement, including his own show. "Jonny is to skiing what Michael Jordan is to basketball or Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras are to tennis," said Bellamy. "He is an icon in snow sports, an amazingly gifted on-air talent, an incredibly creative mind and a roll-up-your-sleeves type of guy."...From The Telegraph: "The appearance of the third largest court at Roland Garros has led to it being affectionately known as the "bullring". That's at least appropriate for the men's matches that take place on it because two months ago the Association of Tennis Professionals revealed their apparent support for bullfighting by staging a publicity shot during a tournament in Valencia a bullring. Russian Igor Andreev, who knocked out third seed Andy Roddick last week, played the role of matador to a 100 kilo bull. Not surprisingly, it provoked condemnation among animal rights activists. "We are hopeful that Igor is just the hapless victim of some tournament publicity honcho and isn't someone who actually supports something that causes such extreme, prolonged cruelty to animals," said a spokesperson for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). "Bullfighting is a coward's activity, whereas tennis takes skill, sportsmanship and athletic prowess. We encourage Igor Andreev to steer clear of cruel promotions...A throwaway, if a little mischievous line in the blog of Argentine Sergio Roitman landed his good friend and world No 49 Nicolas Massu in trouble in his native Chile. Roitman revealed on atptennis.com that during a tournament in Casablanca last month the pair had been on a shopping expedition to an outdoor Moroccan market. According to Roitman, Massu purchased a fake designer watch. Massu, who is relatively unknown on the global stage but a superstar in Chile, promptly received much press attention for his alleged love of knock-offs and was even lampooned for it on a popular television show...World No 6 Novak Djokovic is a fun, open character who even posts amateur videos of himself dancing on his personal website. However, even his patience was tested at a tournament earlier this year when, as he was preparing to go on court for a match, a "journalist" emerged from the showers in the men's locker room and attempted to conduct an unscheduled interview with him."...Lleyton Hewitt is starting to talk the talk as well as walk the walk: "I still feel there are only a handful of players that can push (Rafael) Nadal and (Roger) Federer and I think I'm one of those," Hewitt told the Artois Tennis Podcast. "Especially on a grass court. Since I won Wimbledon, only Roger has won it, and there are only a handful of players who can actually win it, so I give myself a fighting chance."...Svetlana Kuznetsova on Roger Federer choosing her as the favorite to win the French Open women's title: "The Russian press told me and I thought 'No, it was a joke'. So I wanted to check it myself and read this on the Internet. If I would have to choose a compliment from anybody, it's definitely the best I ever heard. Roger is a legend and to hear him say that is almost a dream. It's unbelievable to hear my hero say this about my tennis. If he likes my game, I would like to prove it more."...The AP reports that the Williams camp says Venus played the French Open on a bad knee: "Her knee was swollen, and she shouldn't have played here," Richard Williams said after watching his other tennis-playing daughter, Serena, beat Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-3 to reach the French Open quarterfinals. He said he wondered whether something might be wrong with Venus because of some awkward movement during a straight-set loss to Jelena Jankovic on Friday. "I didn't learn 'til Venus got home that her knee was actually hurting her," he said, adding that joint has troubled her for years."...Also from the AP, Serena Williams' therapeutic moment with the press: "Serena Williams began to develop a cynical world view way back in kindergarten, when the games of "Duck, Duck, Goose" never went her way. "It still hurts to talk about it," she said with a smile Sunday. "I was never 'Goose."' Williams then delivered a detailed description of how the game is played, beginning, "Basically, all the kids from the class sit in a circle." She continued: "I didn't have many friends. I never got chosen unless it was about time for recess to be over with." Then, laughing at her own joke, she said, "Man, I need to talk to a shrink about this. I'm going too far into this. Never mind." And then, for emphasis, she repeated, wistfully: "I was never the Goose."...France's Marion Bartoli on choking against Jelena Jankovic: "I felt the pressure when I walked on the court. Because when you walk on center court and have people applauding you, and you have French flags, and you have people...that say, 'You're the last French player, fight it. It's the match of your life. What are you doing? You're not playing well.' -- I mean, that was a bit difficult for me to listen to."...Roger Federer matches two of John McEnroe's records Sunday: Grand Slam record for most consecutive sets won (35), and 11 straight-set Grand Slam victories in a row. McEnroe set both records in 1984.