Garbine Muguruza could be forgiven for doing the expected--having a big letdown after creating a big upset. But the Spaniard who took out top seed and defending champion Serena Williams in the second round got herself a ticket to the round of 16 today when she defeated Anna Schmedlova in the third round. Schmiedlova upset Venus Williams in the second round, and has been the focus of a fair amount of attention herself.
Muguruza "played big" again. She hit 24 winners and made 33 unforced errors. She was successful in eleven of eleven plays at the net, and she broke Schmiedlova four times to win 6-4, 6-2.
And at least in France, they're not coming--they're here. Ajla Tomljanovic upset 3rd seed Aga Radwanska 6-4, 6-4. Radwanska was hardly "herself," making twice as many unforced errors as winners. The French Open is hardly her tournament, and the conditions didn't help. Tomljanovic--whose mentor is Chris Evert--was happy to take advantage, and she was fun to watch. Those drop shots!
Radwanska's not-so-unexpected (by anyone who actually follows tennis) upset prompted a Tennis Channel commentator to announce that Simona Halep (seeded number 4) is now the highest remaining seed, but perhaps order can still be restored. Wow--maybe the officials at Roland Garros should have given Maria Sharapova a special seeding or something so that we wouldn't have to deal with all this Halep nonsense?
Taylor Townsend is gone. She was soundly defeated (6-2, 6-2) by Carla Suarez Navarro, who will next face Tomljanovic, and that should be a lot of fun to watch. Who knows, though, if we'll get to watch it?
Sam Stosur beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-4, meaning that Cibulkova is now 0-5 against the Australian. Maria Sharapova made quite a statement in her third round match, defeating Paula Ormaechea 6-0, 6-0. Genie Bouchard had trouble with Johanna Larsson, but defeated her 7-5, 6-4. Larsson had some decent opportunities against Bouchard, but couldn't do anything with them.
Angelique Kerber defeated Daniela Hantuchova (I'm always a bit sorry to see her go) 7-5, 6-3. And in what may have been the real dramatic result of the day, wild card Pauline Parmentier beat Mona Barthel, who was up 5-3 in the third set and appeared to be on her way to the round of 16.
Parmentier's 1-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory means that at least one Frenchwoman will be in the final 16. There will be two Frenchwomen in that round if Kiki Mladenovic wins her third round match against Andrea Petkovic.
For her efforts, Parmentier will now have to play Muguruza. Muguruza better be ready for a very rowdy crowd (same goes for Petko, but we know she can handle it).
In doubles, top seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Peng Shuai advanced to the next round, as did 2nd seeds Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. The recent hard-luck team of Kristina Mladenovic and Flavia Pennetta also advanced.
The top-seeded mixed doubles team of Abigail Spears and Alexander Peya won their first round match against Iveta and Jergen Melzer. Melzer and Melzer (she was "Benesova" then) won the title at Wimbledon in 2011.
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