Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Women’s roundup: Jelena Jankovic and Nicole Vaidisova are looking to make their Grand Slam breakthroughs, and this year’s French Open could be the perfect opportunity. Both players reached the semifinals at a major tournament last year, and both had to overcome adversity to make the main draw at Roland Garros this year. Neither looked troubled Tuesday, reaching the second round in straight sets. “I feel fine,” said Jankovic, who beat Stephanie Foretz of France 6-2, 6-2 four days after withdrawing from the semifinals of a clay-court event in Strasbourg because of gastroenteritis. Vaidisova, who pulled out of three warmup tournaments with a right wrist injury, beat Emmanuelle Gagliardi of Switzerland 6-4, 6-3. “For the last week and half, I’ve been pain-free,” the 18-year-old Czech said. “But of course I’m lacking some matches.” Still, with the absences of Kim Clijsters (retired), Lindsay Davenport (pregnant) and Martina Hingis (injured hip), this could be their chance to finally reach a Grand Slam final. The main competition figures to come from top-ranked Justine Henin — the two-time defending champion — Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Amelie Mauresmo. Of those four, only Henin has already reached the second round at the rain-interrupted tournament, beating Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-4, 6-3 Sunday. The other three were scheduled to play their first matches today — when Henin tries to get to the third round.
A tall task: She’s 6-foot-3, so the coach of Uzbekistan’s national basketball team keeps trying to recruit her. Akgul Amanmuradova is sticking with tennis instead, and the tallest woman on tour is in the second round. Amanmuradova, who had to go through qualifying just to get into the tournament, beat Vania King of the United States 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3 Tuesday, setting up a match against No. 6-seeded Nicole Vaidisova today. The 5-5 King defeated Amanmuradova in a tournament in Thailand last year, so she knew what awaited her. “I think she’s not well-known, but she is most known for being the tallest WTA player,” King said. “I went out there expecting a tough match.” Amanmuradova, who owns only one other victory at a major tournament, began playing tennis at age 10, relatively late for a pro, and that was only because her home in Tashkent is near a tennis club. “I started as a hobby. I didn’t think about any professional career,” Amanmuradova said.
Raise the roof: Roger Federer would love to see a roof at Roland Garros. It might just happen. “It would be good for every tournament to have something like this,” Federer said. “I know the budget doesn’t always allow it, but I would guess this tournament has the cash, so it should not be a problem.” Rain washed out nearly all action over the first two days of the tournament, and Federer’s match was stopped during the second set Monday.
Associated Press