JOIN USSania fails to negotiate Voskoboeva in round one
Sania went down 4-6, 6-7(3-7) in a contest lasting a little over an hour and a half.
Sania, who has never gone beyond the second round at Roland Garros, had little match practice going into the clay court event. The Indian’s rustiness was evident in the six double-faults she committed in the first set.
Sania’s failure to convert any of the four break points that she earned only added to her problems. Voskoboeva converted a crucial break in the seventh game to clinch the first set in 46 minutes.
After losing her serve twice, Sania broke back to take the second set into a tie-breaker.
But Voskoboeva dominated proceedings thereafter and clinched the tie-breaker 7-3.
Sania is still in fray in the doubles event where she has teamed up with Taipei’s Chia-Jung Chuang.
Serena Williams fought off swirling winds and a bold challenge by Czech Klara Zakopalova to reach the second round with a 6-3 6-7 6-4 win.
Zakopalova proved to be a stubborn opponent as she saved five match points in the ninth game of the second set and frustrated the American further by taking the tiebreak 7-5 to level the contest.
World number 100 Zakopalova kept up the momentum in the third set by breaking early before the American clawed back to take four games in a row. Just when it looked that Zakopalova's day in the spotlight was over, she saved three more match points at 5-2 down and then broke back in the next game.
She finally bowed out on Williams's ninth match point, allowing the Australian Open champion to clinch her first win on clay this season after two hours 25 minutes.
Meanwhile fourth seed Elena Dementieva overcame a nervy start to beat South African qualifier Chanelle Scheepers 6-4, 6-3.
Jelena Jankovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova dodged rain showers to glide into the second round. Jankovic's Serbian compatriot Novak Djokovic got an easy ride into the last 64 when his opponent Nicolas Lapentti hobbled off court with an ankle injury. Djokovic was leading 6-3, 3-1.
Jankovic registered a 6-2, 6-3 win over Czech Petra Cetkovska.
Like Jankovic, Russian Kuznetsova also had to endure a two-hour rain break but she made sure she did not slip up on resumption and bamboozled French wildcard Claire Feuerstein 6-1, 6-4.
Men's fifth seed Juan Martin del Potro also appeared to be in a hurry to finish his match before the rain returned and stamped all over French hopes in a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 win over Michael Llodra.
Yuki pulls out
Junior Australian Open champion Yuki Bhambri pulled out of the French Open due to a sprained right ankle.
Yuki, who in January became the first Indian to win a junior Grand Slam in Melbourne, twisted his ankle while playing the doubles quarterfinals of the Kuwait Futures last week.
He was to play another week at Kuwait before heading to Roland Garros for the junior French Open.
The 16-year-old plans to leave for Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in June. “I came back home to see how my ankle responds. But I don’t think I will play singles as of now. The ankle keeps getting swollen and I need to regularly ice it,” Yuki said.
French Open results on Tuesday
First-round results (prefix denotes seeding):
Men’s singles: Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) bt Ivan Ljubicic (Cro) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 ,3-6, 6-3; 9-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) bt Julien Benneteau (Fra) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Juan Monaco (Arg) bt Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4; Andreas Seppi (Ita) bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) 6-3, 6-3, 6-1; Maximo Gonzalez (Arg) bt 22-Mardy Fish (US) 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(4); Viktor Troicki (Ser) bt Lukasz Kubot (Pol) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3; 16-Tommy Robredo (Spa) bt Adrian Mannarino (Fra) 6-2, 6-1, 6-2; 29-Philipp Kohlschreiber (Ger) bt Bernard Tomic (Aus) 6-1, 6-2, 6-2; 4-Novak Djokovic (Ser) bt Nicolas Lapentti (Ecu) 6-3, 3-1 (Lapentti retired); 11-Gael Monfils (Fra) bt Bobby Reynolds (US) 6-2, 6-3, 6-1; Daniel Gimeno (Spa) bt Evgeny Korolev (Rus) 6-4 (Korolev retired); Victor Crivoi (Rom) bt Simon Greul (Ger) 6-1, 7-6(1), 6-2; 5-Juan Martin Del Potro (Arg) bt Michael Llodra (Fra) 6-3, 6-3, 6-1; Marc Gicquel (Fra) bt 27-Rainer Schuettler (Ger) 6-0, 6-0, 6-4.
Women’s singles: Jelena Dokic (Aus) bt Karolina Sprem (Cro) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2; 4-Elena Dementieva (Rus) bt Chanelle Scheepers (SA) 6-4, 6-3; 2-Serena Williams (US) bt Klara Zakopalova (Czech) 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4; 2-Serena Williams (US) bt Klara Zakopalova (Czech) 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-4; 24-Aleksandra Wozniak (Can) bt Monica Niculescu (Rom) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3; 28-Sybille Bammer (Ast) bt Nathalie Dechy (Fra) 6-3, 7-6(1); Galina Voskoboeva (Kaz) bt Sania Mirza (Ind) 6-4, 7-6(3); Melinda Czink (Hun) bt Anastasija Sevastova (Lat) 3-6, 6-4, 6-1; Petra Martic (Cro) bt Mara Santangelo (Ita) 6-4, 6-2; 5-Jelena Jankovic (Ser) bt Petra Cetkovska (Cze) 6-2, 6-3; 7-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt Claire Feuerstein (Fra) 6-1, 6-4.