NOTEBOOK French Open

Russians on the rise: They come from Moscow, St. Petersburg and Siberia, and they're making a lot of noise on the women's tennis tour. "We're hearing more Russian than English spoken around the locker rooms," reigning French Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne said. Eight seeded Russians are in the women's draw at Roland Garros -- the most of any country. The United States has six seeded women, France four. Among those most likely to advance to the second week are Nadia Petrova, Anastasia Myskina, Vera Zvonareva and Maria Sharapova. Zvonareva upset Venus Williams in the fourth round last year, then lost to Petrova in the quarterfinals. Sharapova reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2003. "The rise of Russian players in the standings is very impressive," Henin-Hardenne said. "They're young, audacious and they never relinquish anything, even if they are losing." The last Russian woman to reach a Grand Slam final was Natasha Zvereva, who lost 6-0, 6-0 to Steffi Graf at Roland Garros in 1988.
Starstruck: Serena Williams attended the Cannes Film Festival before coming to Paris and said the highlight was meeting actor Tom Hanks. Williams said she has seen Hanks' movie "Turner & amp; Hooch" at least 50 times. "It took all my guts to go up to him," she said. "I was like, 'Can I have a picture?' He said, 'Are you kidding? I have my camera too.' It was so cool.' " Williams, a budding actress, said she and Hanks talked about acting and tennis. "He knew all about myself and my sister," Williams said. "I was like, 'Oh my God.' He knew the whole story. I was really excited."
Coaching carousel: Roger Federer parted ways with coach Peter Lundgren at the end of last season, even though the pairing produced the Swiss star's first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. Lundgren has a new job now, working with 2000 U.S. Open champion Marat Safin. They teamed up three weeks ago. "It's going well," Lundgren said in the players' lounge at Roland Garros. "He's got the game to go [far]. It's up to Marat." Safin, the Australian Open runner-up in January, has had a hard time sticking with coaches, going through half a dozen over the past four seasons.
-- Associated Press
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.