NOTEBOOK French Open

Moving up: Now that Shenay Perry is ranked in the top 100, she could become the focus as U.S. tennis looks for its next success story. For her part, the 21-year-old Perry has no intention of being swayed by any of the attention she might receive as she journeys around the tennis tour. "I don't feel any pressure," Perry said after reaching the third round by beating Akiko Morigami 6-3, 6-0 Thursday. "I don't think it's the American players who are making it a big deal. I think everyone else is." Perry, ranked 92nd, doesn't believe the United States should expect to always produce the best players. "I don't think anyone is going in with the mind frame of, 'Oh, we're Americans, we're the underdogs now,' " Perry said. "The game is being dominated by different people, which is good for the sport. I don't think Americans are going to dominate everything." Venus Williams is the only seeded American woman, at No. 11, in the French Open, and she and Perry are among three U.S. women still in the tournament.
Doubles success: When Samantha Stosur was presented with a chance to partner three-time doubles Grand Slam champion Lisa Raymond last year, the Australian didn't hesitate. "I wanted to tag along with her," Stosur said Thursday after she and Raymond beat Marta Domachowska and Jasmin Woehr 6-1, 6-4 in the first round. "I thought it would benefit me for all parts of my game, with both singles and doubles." They won their fourth tournament together at New Haven in August and followed that with a win at the U.S. Open. The Raymond-Stosur pairing won five titles in the last half of 2005, including the season-ending tour championships. They have won five titles already in 2006, and reached the Australian Open final.
Modest Hewitt: Even after breezing through his second-round match Thursday, two-time Grand Slam champion Lleyton Hewitt is glad just to be in the game. Hewitt, battling a recent ankle injury that almost kept him out of the tournament, beat Mathieu Moncourt 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. Still, he was cautious about his chances at Roland Garros, where in seven appearances, he has never advanced passed the semifinals. "I haven't wasted a lot of energy so far and have got matches under my belt," he said. "We'll see what happens from here."
Associated Press
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