May 26th, 2008
Odesnik, Venus Advance at French Open
American Odesnik Shocks Canas at French Open
First he won the USTA Wild Card Tournament for the French Open, then he pulled off the first big upset of the tournament when American Wayne Odesnik defeated No. 29 seed Guillermo Canas 7-6(6), 7-6(3), 7-6(8) on Monday at Roland Garros.
“He’s really hungry, really motivated,” said Spanish former player Felix Mantilla, who is coaching Odesnik, speaking to ESPN. “I’m really excited and happy for him.”
Odesnik will next face Korea’s Hyung-Taik Lee, who defeated Jonas Bjorkman.
Italian Simone Bolelli orchestrated the other upset of the day, easily downing No. 17 seed Marcos Baghdatis 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.
“I was lacking practice and matches,” said Baghdatis, who says he hasn’t been playing of late for personal reasons. “I was not making the appropriate choices at the right time. I wanted to play, but the problem is I didn’t know what to do. Sometimes the ball was arriving, I didn’t know how to play it.”
Rains suspended a number of matches, with world No. 1 Roger Federer the only Top 10-seeded player completing a match, defeating American Sam Querrey in straight sets.
“The first round of a Slam is always hard to get through. There’s always a lot of pressure. I’m glad I got this one out of the way,” Federer said. “It was a bit nerve racking in the first set. I played better after that. I was able to create more opportunities.”
In other matches of note, No. 12 Tommy Robredo lost the first set to former runner-up Guillermo Coria before subduing the Argentine in four sets, and No. 22 Fernando Verdasco edged Spanish countryman Santiago Ventura 6-1 in the fifth.
Highlights of Tuesday’s schedule include Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci vs, (2) Rafael Nadal, Gael Monfils vs. Arnaud Clement in an all-French, (4) Nikolay Davydenko vs. Thomas Johansson, France’s Gilles Simon vs. (21) Radek Stepanek, (25) Lleyton Hewitt vs. Nicolas Mahut, Robin Soderling vs. (13) Juan Monaco, an all-American in Donald Young vs. Robby Ginepri, (9) Stan Wawrinka vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber, John Isner leading Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 6-3, 5-7, 1-4 (to finish), and Mario “Baby Goran” Ancic vs. (31) Andreas Seppi.
Venus Williams Survives Wet Monday at French Open
No. 8 seed Venus Williams was the only Top 10 seed stretched on Monday at the French Open, overcoming a late charge to defeat Israel’s Tzipora Obziler 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
“I knew she was going to bring a lot of balls back and try to play aggressive when she could,” Williams said. “The only pressure I have is the pressure I put on myself, so I try not to put too much.”
The Czech Republic’s Petra Cetkovska had the only upset on the day, easily subduing No. 23 seed Alona Bondarenko 6-3, 6-0.
Rain suspended most matches on the day, but Top 10-seeded players finishing were (3) Jelena Jankovic (d. Monica Niculescu) and (10) Patty Schnyder (d. Ekaterina Bychkova).
Highlights of Tuesday’s schedule includes the fragile (22) Amelie Mauresmo vs. Olga Savchuk, an all-Russian in (1) Maria Sharapova vs. Evgeniya Rodina, a potential upset in Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai vs. the struggling (25) Nadia Petrova, an all-Russian in Vera Dushevina vs. (7) Elena Dementieva, an all-American in Bethanie Mattek vs. Madison Brengle, Virginia Ruano Pascual vs. (27) Katarina Srebotnik, an all-Spanish in (29) Anabel Medina Garrigues vs. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Spain’s Nuria Llagostera Vives vs. (6) Anna Chakvetadze.
Also Check Out:
Resurgent Hewitt, Isner, Odesnik Win at ATP Houston
Karlovic Crushes a Record 55 Aces in Loss to Hewitt at French Open
Federer, Nadal, Williams Sisters All Just Three Wins From Gold
Rezai Adds Sharapova Scalp to Venus at WTA Istanbul
Serena Wins but Upstaged by Playboy-posing Harkleroad at French Open
