One of the reasons I like the French Open so much is that red clay tends to be a neutralizer. There are a lot of service breaks, and there are upsets. And when it gets cold and windy, odd things can happen. There was a big upset today: Arantxa Rus took out number 2 seed Kim Clijsters in the second round. Clijsters, who is returning after suffering multiple injuries, was leading, 6-3, 5-2 and held a match point. She held another match point at 5-4, but did not convert that one, either. Then Rus just took over. Clijsters wound up making 65 unforced errors, and Rus walked away with a huge 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory.
Clijsters has been a finalist at the French Open on two occasions, but has never won it. She was considered a favorite to win it this year. Rus, a former star on the junior tour, will play Maria Kirilenko in the third round.
Tennis is always a more interesting spectacle when SERVE is NOT the dominant factor.
ReplyDeleteI watched in disbelief Kim Clijsters crumble in the third set. The FO promised one of those special 'bombshell' days with Sharapova down a set and 4-1. Keep your eye on Maria's 17-year French opponent. Caroline Garcia was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye - the same village as Amelie Mauresmo. Must be something in the water down there.