Mona Barthel gets a bit of a pass for losing her first round match at the French Open; she had to compete against 8th seed Angelique Kerber. Given the problems that both of them have had lately, nothing would have surprised me. Kerber beat Barthel 7-6, 6-2.
Julia Goerges was another story--though not a new story. The talented but extremely inconsistent German player was defeated 7-6, 6-0 by qualifier Zuzana Kucova.
Defending champion Maria Sharapova, Agnieszka Radwanska, 2011 champion Li Na, 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone, and 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova all advanced to the second round, as did Caroline Wozniacki. Wozniacki defeated Laura Robson in straight sets. Robson, more of a cow on ice that 'Pova ever was, has yet to hone her clay court movement skills. But that doesn't mean that she won't learn from her mistakes.
After the match, Wozniacki was asked about her search for a new coach, and she commented that it was difficult "to find someone who doesn't want to just go in and try to control everything." Uh-huh.
Carla Suarez Navarro won in three sets against Simona Halep--I hated to see either of them go out. RobertaVinci advanced, too, though Flavia Pennetta--not unexpectedly--lost. I'm thinking that both Pennetta and Schiavone may retire at the end of the year, and it's not a pretty thought.
Marion Bartoli, Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka, Jelena Jankovic, and Samantha Stosur all play tomorrow. Stosur gets Kimiko Date-Krumm, and who knows what that match will be like? Jankovic plays Daniela Hantuchova, and that's one that's definitely worth watching. Jankovic is 5-3 against Hantuchova, and 3-2 against her on clay. The match that they played in the Charleston quarterfinals in 2010 was of such high quality, it remains with me. Hantuchova won it 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.
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