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Showing posts with label tennis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tennis. Show all posts

Monday, October 20, 2008

Murray, Venus champion in zurich

Venus Williams celebrates her latest tennis title on Sunday.Venus Williams celebrates her latest tennis title on Sunday. (Alessandro Della Bella/Keystone/Associated Press)

Venus Williams of the United States captured the Zurich Open on Sunday with a straight sets win over Flavia Pennetta.

Williams topped the Italian 7-6, 6-2 in the Swiss final. Pennetta had beaten Williams for the third consecutive time last week early in the Kremlin Cup competition in Moscow.

The turning point was the first set tiebreak, with Williams storming into a 6-0 lead after forcing two early errors from her opponent with a couple of powerful ground strokes directly to Pennetta's feet.

Williams all but clinched a place at the season-ending WTA Championships in Doha, Qatar, where the top eight women in the game will compete.

On the men's tour, Andy Murray of Scotland defeated Gilles Simon of France 6-4, 7-6 (6) in the final of the Madrid Masters.

It was Murray's second Masters title of the year, following a win in Cincinnati in the summer.

Murray had reached the final by avenging a defeat against No. 2 Roger Federer, who had defeated him in the U.S. Open in September.

Simon also enjoyed a tremendous week, following up wins over the likes of Igor Andreev and James Blake by knocking off top seed Rafael Nadal of Spain in three sets in the semifinals.


Saturday, October 18, 2008

Murray highs at the good time in spain


Andy Murray is well beyond the stage of his career where he needs someone else to help to make him look good. The 21-year-old is talented enough to do it on his lonesome.



When Murray, having reached the semi-finals of the Mutua Madrileña Masters spoke of Gaël Monfils, who he had just put to the épée yesterday, he said that he appeared to play better than he had because the manner of the Frenchman made it seem that way. If it was a way of letting his opponent down lightly after a 6-2, 6-2 thrashing, Murray acquitted himself just as well to that end.

“Although I played very well, it’s easy to look like you’re playing well against him because you have some awesome points,” Murray, who faces Roger Federer today in a rematch of their US Open final last month, said. “He does so much running. He almost enjoys running too much. He leaves the ball in the middle of the court and likes you to dictate play.” And Murray is too much of a player to refuse invitations so colourfully embossed.

Indeed, yesterday afternoon was an unremitting success and one could not even pick a fight with him for dropping his serve in the first game and, for the second time in the match’s 67-minute duration, when serving for it. Murray placed this result among his finest ten of the year and in terms of his ball-striking, it deserved the highest commendation.

It could be argued that the game is a lot easier to play when you lead by a set and 4-1, but the sixth game of the second set will live long in the memory. Murray broke to love as the Scot read a smash and struck a double-fisted winner down the line, contrived a stunning forehand cross-court winner and then tricked Monfils into coming forward and messing up a volley. He played every stroke in the book lethally.

It was suggested to him that big-time semi-finals — and they do not come much bigger than against the world No 2 — are becoming something of a staple for Murray. Typically, he would have little truck with such hyperbole. “It’s only been since the summer that I’ve started to do it a bit more,” Murray said. “The points total I’ll have after this week in some years would have had me at No 2 in the world, so that’s how good a year I’ve had. It’s unfortunate that I’ve got two of the greatest players ever and Djokovic, who has been unbelievably consistent for the past two years, in front of me. So it’s been a great year.”

And there are three weeks to run, a period that, if Murray keeps up this kind of attitude, will serve only to enhance his reputation among the top players.

He knows that he will have to play better today than he did against Federer in New York, but beating Monfils in just over an hour is a world removed from having to play Rafael Nadal across two days on two different courts, beat him for the first time and have a touch more than 24 hours to prepare to face the four-times defending champion.

Federer said that at this time of the year, and after the season he has had, he is taking every match as it comes, with nothing too much to lose and not a terrible amount to gain. Murray, having qualified for the Masters for the first time, is in the same mood.

The Swiss has veritably skipped through his three matches here, the third of which was a 6-3, 6-3 win over Juan Martín Del Potro, of Argentina.

Nadal needed an injection in his serving shoulder to compete for a place in the semi-finals last night. The Spaniard defeated Feliciano López, his countryman, 6-4, 6-4 and will meet either Ivo Karlovic, of Croatia, or Gilles Simon, of France, today.


Friday, October 17, 2008

world No.1 Jelena Jankovic's 12-match winning streak was snapped in a surprising loss in Zurich


Split end . . . Jelena Jankovic of Serbia has been defeated by Fllavia Pennetta of Italy.

Photo: Reuters

oct 17 2008

Top seed and world No.1 Jelena Jankovic's 12-match winning streak was snapped in a surprising 5-7 6-3 6-3 loss to Italy's Flavia Pennetta in the second round of the Zurich Open today.

The Serb, who has recently added the Beijing, Stuttgart and Moscow titles to the one she claimed earlier this year in Rome, looked weary against an aggressive and persistent opponent.

Pennetta's deep groundstrokes and constant pressure paid dividends to produce her first win over Jankovic in six meetings.

Her win comes just a week after Jankovic won their Moscow quarter-final in straight sets.

"I was mentally and physically tired today, especially physically," said Jankovic.

"I'm not a machine. I've played a lot of matches, a lot of time changes, different finals, and I'm human.

"Today I couldn't really play my game. I didn't feel that great and Flavia took advantage of that. She played quite solid, so she was the better one today.

"I went on court and didn't know how my body would feel and went out there hoping for the best, but especially at the end today I didn't have any gas left in the tank."

The high-quality match, which lasted two hours 28 minutes, remained finely balanced throughout, with Pennetta looking increasingly sharper and fresher but Jankovic showing her usual resilience under pressure.

A winning backhand return down the line off a second serve gave Pennetta a break for 5-3 in the third, and she closed out the match in the next game in dramatic fashion, as her ace was called out but then over-ruled by the umpire as good.

"I was very tired but I just kept going with my serve. That was the important thing for me. And I tried to put pressure on her with my returns," Pennetta said.

"Last week I didn't have some luck but today I was more aggressive and just tried to make something different."

Serb second seed Ana Ivanovic, who had managed to win just five matches since lifting the French Open trophy in June, defeated Marion Bartoli of France 6-2 6-4.

Recovered from a thumb injury which kept her out of the Beijing Olympics, Ivanovic rallied powerfully and easily overcame any brief threats from her struggling opponent.

Agnieszka Radwanska's hopes of qualifying for next month's tournament in Doha were dealt a blow when the Polish fifth seed was beaten 2-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 by Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik.

Radwanska led the second set 5-2 and came within two points of victory at 6-5 before the 2006 semi-finalist turned the match around.

Fourth seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva was forced to retire because of illness when she was down 6-3 3-0 against Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues.

In other second round matches, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus crushed Romanian qualifier Monica Niculescu 6-0 6-0 and Czech qualifier Petra Kvitova followed her first round upset of Switzerland's Patty Schnyder by beating Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden 6-2 6-1.

AFP

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Rafael Nadal claimed his first Wimbledon


http://www.sforts.com/2008/07/07/nadal-takes-federers-crown/

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

IVANOVIC RELISHES TOP BILLING


Ana Ivanovic is relishing the pressure of being world number one and top seed for Wimbledon.

Ivanovic took over top spot in the world rankings with her French Open triumph earlier this month and is among the favourites to make it back-to-back grand slam titles at the All England Club.

The Serbian star is just 20 years old but - speaking ahead of her second-round clash with France's Nathalie Dechy on Court One - claimed she is only taking the positives from her newly-elevated position.

"Obviously, there are different ways of dealing with pressure," said Ivanovic, who lost just three games in her opening victory over Rossanna De Los Rios.

"Becoming number one, it takes more pressure, but also you have to see pressure for what it is. It's a reflection of your own ambition.

"If you see it as a positive thing, it means that you put yourself in a position to do something memorable. So if you look at it that way, it can be very motivating."

Former champion Serena Williams was also in action on day three, the sixth seed facing a potentially-tricky encounter with Poland's Urszula Radwanska.

Elder sister Venus yesterday enjoyed a straight-sets victory over Britain's Naomi Cavaday, although the four-time winner had to come back from 3-1 down in the opening set in the 7-6 (7/5) 6-1 win.

"I thought she played excellent. She took her chances, really took advantage of her opportunities and played with poise on this occasion, Centre Court in front of a home crowd,"," said the 27-year-old seventh seed.

"I thought she did really well with that. She served well and really returned the ball with force and ran a lot of balls down, so I was impressed with her game.

"I felt that my level was good. I think it's nice to have a really challenging opponent early on, especially having not played since the French Open."

Two more former champions also advanced to the second round, Maria Sharapova easing through in straight sets against French qualifier Stephanie Foretz and Lindsay Davenport battling past Renata Voracova in three sets.

Davenport missed Wimbledon in 2006 through injury and announced her retirement in December that year after learning she was pregnant with her first child.

However, the American returned to the tour in 2007 after the birth of son Jagger and is back at the All England Club for the first time in three years despite suffering from a knee injury which forced her to withdraw from the warm-up event at Eastbourne last week.

"Jagger travels with me and it's obviously more of a challenge than life used to be just because there's always something going on and to look after him," the 32-year-old said.

"But we have a great time. He's a lot of fun to hang out with. There's a lot of downtime when you're on the tennis tour. He definitely occupies my time.

"I did not think I would be back here at Wimbledon, it's a real treat, a real honour and privilege. I'm real excited to be back here and be able to play.

"I've had some of my greatest memories here. What started off as a grand slam that I probably liked the least definitely turned into one I liked the most in the latter part of my career."

One match suspended by bad light last night saw number five seed Elena Dementieva on course to progress to round two against Italy's Maria Elena Camerin.

The Russian led 6-3 3-3, with game seven of the second set yet to get under way. more details


Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Tennis: unassuming gardener saves ASB ClassicWed, 04 Jun 2008 05:19p.m.


The future of the ASB Classic is safe after securing after the sponsorship needed to keep New Zealand’s only international women's tennis tournament alive.
A financial backer has come to the rescue, but he is not in the mould of your typical wealthy businessman.
When you think of a financial backer, you think Italian suits and fast cars, but the saviour of the ASB Classic prefers tennis shoes and track pants, that is because he is a gardener.
“I love all sport, and the outdoors, and avoid getting in an office wherever possible,” says Graham Windross.
Te
Tennis: unassuming gardener saves ASB ClassicWed, 04 Jun 2008 05:19p.m.
Graham Windross



The future of the ASB Classic is safe after securing after the sponsorship needed to keep New Zealand’s only international women's tennis tournament alive.
A financial backer has come to the rescue, but he is not in the mould of your typical wealthy businessman.
When you think of a financial backer, you think Italian suits and fast cars, but the saviour of the ASB Classic prefers tennis shoes and track pants, that is because he is a gardener.
“I love all sport, and the outdoors, and avoid getting in an office wherever possible,” says Graham Windross.
Tennis enthusiast Graham Windross is the managing director of wholesale nursery Zealandia, and his company's come up with 500 thousand dollars to save the ASB Classic.
But unlike other high profile backers who like to mix business with pleasure, Windross is modest about his role in rescuing the tournament.
“I'm sure somebody else would've come along if I hadn't you know I just saw it as an opportunity the same as I’m sure Terry does and it's amazing what he's done for soccer and I think that's fantastic as well so no, just pleased to be able to help.,” Windross says.
Changes to the women's tennis tour put the tournament at risk, but new sponsorship means the Classic can now attract top 10 players with more prize money, and the same points on offer as a corresponding tournament in Brisbane.
It also means fans can enjoy watching Marina Erakovic continue her development.
It is all thanks to an unassuming gardener, with a passion for tennis. nnis enthusiast Graham Windross is the managing director of wholesale nursery Zealandia, and his company's come up with 500 thousand dollars to save the ASB Classic.
But unlike other high profile backers who like to mix business with pleasure, Windross is modest about his role in rescuing the tournament.
“I'm sure somebody else would've come along if I hadn't you know I just saw it as an opportunity the same as I’m sure Terry does and it's amazing what he's done for soccer and I think that's fantastic as well so no, just pleased to be able to help.,” Windross says.
Changes to the women's tennis tour put the tournament at risk, but new sponsorship means the Classic can now attract top 10 players with more prize money, and the same points on offer as a corresponding tournament in Brisbane.
It also means fans can enjoy watching Marina Erakovic continue her development.
It is all thanks to an unassuming gardener, with a passion for tennis.

Friday, May 30, 2008

2007: Menomonie FFA celebrates 50 years





Past and present members of the Menomonie High FFA Chapter celebrate the golden anniversary of the organization at a banquet held in the UW-Stout Memorial Student Center. For 32 of those 50 years, Archie Abbott served as the agriculture teacher and FFA advisor. Agriculture became part of the curriculum at Menomonie High after the close of the Dunn County School of Agriculture & Domestic Economy... Members of the Menomonie Rotary Club recognized as Paul Harris Fellows through their support of the Rotary Foundation are Linda McIntyre, Brad O’Connell, Steve Arntzen, Dennis Beety, Jeff Heinzen, Dale Kastner, Ellen Ochs, Sandy Ott, Chris Smith, Gerald Leff, Ed Smith, Steve Young, Mark Kinney and Greg Lentz...Nineteen members of Menomonie High’s boys’ track and field team qualify for WIAA sectional competition at Eau Claire North at regional meet in River Falls. Pacing the team were Sean Olson, who won the 1600-meter run and the 3200-meter run, and Grant Luer, who tossed the discus 157 feet. The boys were easy winners of the regional crown with 168 points. New Richmond was a distant second with 105.5 points. Members of the girls’ squad qualified in three events at sectionals: Laura Reckard, Tena Stark, Katie Thoe and Marissa Cassellius, 4x800-meter relay; Tara McCoy, 800-meter run; and Andrea Gust, discus... Temperature range here during week of May 15-21 was 34 to 92 degrees. Precipitation totaled 0.09 inch...Laura Boehm and Sarah Miller, both of Menomonie, recognized for academic achievement when St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., holds its Honors Day convocation... Menomonie City Council approves the transfer of the liquor license held by the Old 400 Depot Cafe to the Dona Rita Mexican Restaurant... Eugene L. Weber, age 84, of Menomonie, who purchased Ed Hermann’s trucking business in 1952, and who, after conduction the business 40 years, sold it in 1992 to his sons, Dennis and Jay, died May 21 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, Minn... Members of Menomonie High’s tennis team advancing to sectional competition are Nathan Fekete, Troy Bryant, Danny Martinez and John Lindsay...Jack Sampson, of Menomonie, presented a “Senior Salute” award by the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups and WQOW-TV 18 for his commitment to “making the day” of others in the community through his music, stories, jokes and attitude... Henry Schwartz, of Menomonie, awarded a $40,000 scholarship by the McKelvey Foundation to study entrepreneurship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The McKelvey Foundation grants four-year scholarships ($10,000 per year) to qualifying high school seniors who demonstrate their drive and ambition to be successful entrepreneurs by owning their own business while in high school... Competing at the regional track and field meet, Boyceville High’s Stephanie Steinberger wins four championships — 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter hurdles, long jump and triple jump.
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Wednesday, May 25, 1983A new chapter in the history of Menomonie’s business community began unfolding today when Lammer’s Foods opened at 1408 Ninth St. The newly remodeled and enlarged facility is operated by Patrick and Lucy Lammer, a brother-sister team representing the fourth generation of the Lammer family associated with the grocery business in the community. The business was launched by their great-grandfather, Leonard, who was followed by grandfather, John Leonard, and father, John Francis. The new store totals 40,500 square feet, including 28,000 square feet of selling area. In contrast, the old store totaled 27,000 square feet. The extra footage was gained through construction of a 20,500 square foot addition and the incorporation of the former liquor store and bakery department into the new facility...Menomonie’s Board of Zoning Appeals grants John B. Exley, Hastings, Minn., a conditional use permit which allows him to construct a 60x80 foot Tom Thumb grocery store and service station at 1320 North Broadway... Broker Tom Harris of Realty World-Colonial Square, Menomonie, announces the addition of Mildred Halvorson to their sales organization. She is a former teacher at Glenwood City and UW-Stout and for the last 12 years was office manager at Halvorson GMC Sales & Service... Beth An Poulton of Menomonie and Leo T. Spychalla of Antigo were married April 30 at the United Methodist Church in Menomonie by the Rev. Milton Ford... Airman 1st Class Hildegard A. Kroll of Menomonie arrives for duty at Osan Air Base, South Korea...Linda M. Olson, public services/reference librarian at the UW-Stout Library Learning Center, is the 1983 vice president/president elect of the Wisconsin Association of Academic Librarians, a division of the Wisconsin Library Association... Paced by the hitting and pitching of Tracy Scott, Menomonie High’s girls’ softball team begins WIAA regional competition with a 9 to 4 win over Chippewa Falls. Next opponent is Eau Claire Memorial... With Menomonie High’s Steve Dahlby taking medalist honors, the Maroons capture WIAA regional golf meet played at Spring Valley. Dahlby, who finished with a 75, was followed by Kevin Simons with an 80, Craig Anderson 82, Greg Stai 84, and Steve Wolfe 85...Sandra Engeldinger and Robert Kaufman announce their engagement. Their parents are Mike and Barbara Engeldinger of Menomonie and Clem and Mary Kaufman of Eau Galle... Junior Girl Scouts from Troop 204, East School, receiving “The Sign of the Satellite” are Corey Kell, Martha Jacobs, Lisa Young and Angela Yost... Menomonie High wide receiver Marty Peterson reports he will attend UW-Stevens Point and play football... Some specials at Dick’s Red Owl are eight hamburger buns for 85 cents; hot B.B.Q. pork sandwich and small drink for $1.19; four pieces of crispy chicken, six jo jos, eight-ounce cole slaw and two rolls for $3.09; 12-pack cans of Coke, Pepsi or Mountain Dew for $2.79; homemade potato salad for 89 cents a pound; Jacksonville pre-cooked brats for $2.69 a pound.Wednesday, May 21, 1958Menomonie City Council proposes to sell general obligation bonds not to exceed $125,000 with $85,000 earmarked for improvements at Wakanda Park. About $30,000 of that $85,000 is already spent for construction of the Wakanda Park beach area. Work under consideration includes construction and improvement of roads leading into the park and construction of a bathhouse... Stout State College and Menomonie public schools will close Friday, June 6. Stout’s summer school begins June 23... Members of Menomonie’s American Legion Auxiliary unit attending a 10th District conference in Cumberland are Mmes. O. L. Halverson, Ira O. Slocumb and Myrtle Whittier and Misses Myrtle Strand and Ada Hosford...Pete Noreen fired a steady three-hitter to defeat Elk Mound, 18 to 0, and move coach Pete Hendrikson’s Menomonie High nine into the district tournament finals today against Glenwood City. Wayne Sabatke was Menomonie’s big gun a the plate with three hits, including a triple... Army Cpl. Vernon A. Larson of Downing assigned to the 4th Calvary’s Troop B at Fort Riley, Kan... R. N. Breitzman of Menomonie’s Berg Chevrolet Co. selected top service manager from Chevrolet dealerships in this area... Annual banquet of Dunn County Teachers College Alumni Association will be held June 5 at the Evangelical United Brethren Church on Wilson Avenue, reports Mrs. Gerald Rassbach, association president...Twin daughters born to Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Leonard, Menomonie, May 13; daughters born to Rev. and Mrs. Donald Farley, Menomonie, May 14; Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Gansberg, Menomonie, May 19; Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Saxton, Route 3, May 19; Mr. and Mrs. Loren Wyss, Knapp, May 19... Leonard Kinsley, Dunn County’s clerk since 1931, says he will seek re-election on the Republican ticket... Elected officers of the Wheeler Woman’s Club are Mrs. N. J. Nichols, president; Mrs. Melvin Stevens, vice president; Mrs. Clarence Lorenz, secretary; and Mrs. Chester McIntyre, treasurer... E. J. Schoepp, business manager at Stout State College, participates in the 47th annual meeting of the Central Association of College and University Business Officers in Chicago...Eau Claire High wins both track and field and golf championships at Little Olympics held Saturday at Nelson Field and Menomonie Country Club. In track and field competition, Bob Ott scored five of Menomonie’s 19 points with a second place finish in the 440 and fifth in the high jump. Craig Halverson led Menomonie’s golf team with an 84 on rounds of 45 and 39... Valu Selected choice T-bone steak is 99 cents a pound at Don’s Super Valu; two large heads of crisp California lettuce are 29 cents; six-ounce can of Sea Mist frozen lemonade is 10 cents; two-pound package of Yorkshire skinless wieners is 99 cents; nine-ounce box of Stokely’s frozen French fries is 10 cents; five No. 303 cans of Libby’s halved or sliced peaches are $1.Thursday, May 25, 1933Wakanda Park, Menomonie’s new 80-acre recreation center, bordering the beautiful Lake Menomin on the north side, will be visited by thousands of people Sunday who will join in the dedication of western Wisconsin’s most attractive playground. The event is one important in the history of the city for it adds to the park system the largest recreational center that will be enjoyed by the public. Starting at 10:45 o’clock Sunday from the Memorial, a procession of cars will advance from the downtown to the new park. Following the parade will be the formal dedication of the flag and flagpole on Lookout Point and of the park proper through the ceremony at the unveiling of the marker. W. G. Ballentine will give the dedication address...Displaying a community interest in Wakanda Park, the Farmers Union donates all the milk and cream that will be used at the stands on the grounds on May 28, the day of dedication... Menomonie High School alumni members who are planning to attend the annual banquet are asked to make early reservations at Lee’s Drug Store. This year the banquet will be held at the Menomonie Country Club, reports Walter Wensel, association president... Son born May 23 to Mr. and Mrs. George Grutt, town of Red Cedar... Dresses made by the junior girls of the Dunn County Agricultural School will be on display in the upper Farmers Store window from May 26-29... Stout Institute seniors will present their class play, “Square Crooks,” a comedy-mystery drama, Friday evening in the Stout auditorium...Impressions of the 10th District Rotary conference held at Eagle River given today by five club members who attended the event — M. A. Mattison, J. E. Smith, W. S. Smith, B. E. Nelson and president John Carter... Williams Bros. Hardware & Food Market is selling a two-pound jar of peanut butter for 19 cents; two large heads of lettuce are 13 cents; 24-ounce loaf of white bread is six cents; pound can of Alaska Red Sockeye salmon is 17 cents; large bottle of catsup is 10 cents; Schwahn’s bologna is 10 cents a pound... In a stirring patriotic program, Menomonie will pay tribute to war dead with a special observance on Tuesday, May 30. Hosford-Chase Post is heading plans for the program...Jack Bongey, a new entry, is leading the race with 1,150 votes in Lee’s Drug Store popularity contest for the two speedboats. Bill Bailey is second with 1025 and Billy Ofstie third with 975. In the race for the two dolls, Arla Mae Curtis still leads with 1100 votes. Phoebe Pierce, a new entry, is second with 400 and Gwendolyn Kohnke is tied for third with Alice Folstad with 375 votes. Customers at Lee’s are insisting on their votes with purchases so that competition is expected to increase as the contest progresses. Twenty-five votes are given with each 25-cent cash purchase or paid on account... Miss Ada Hosford, J. W. Macauley and Ole Bradseth attend a banquet given by Orrin Russell Post No. 121, American Legion, of Colfax, and the village’s Commercial Club in honor of the Legion’s department department.Thursday, May 21, 1908The big bridge, just completed, was accepted by the city last evening. In adopting the resolution, introduced by Alderman Averill, chairman of the street and bridge committee, at its meeting last evening, the council signified unanimous acceptance. The resolution also carried an order for payment of $5,435 to the Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Co., builders of the bridge, which leaves $1,800 due the company. The contract for laying the brick walk down Wilson Avenue from Broadway to its intersection with the depot hill street was awarded to Berman Oestreich, his bid being the lowest, $275.75. A petition of 15 property owners on Broadway, between 11th and 16th avenues, asking the council to lower the grade of the street, was referred to the street committee...Joe Konkel, editor of the Superior Leader-Clarion and devout advocate of reform spelling, wins the $100 cash prize, offered by the business men of Menomonie, for the best newspaper writeup of the city by a member of the Wisconsin Press Association, who attended the state convention here in March... C. E. Mcbee of Waterloo, Iowa, will open the Fair Store about June 1 in the French building, formerly occupied by C. W. Gunnison’s Bazar. Mr. Mabee will carry a full line of notions... This year’s graduating class at the County Normal will number about 35, being the usual size of the classes of recent years. Their commencement will be on Friday, June 19. The annual reception of the junior class will be held at the Memorial Thursday evening, June 18. Following the usual costume, a fee of 10 cents will be charged for admission to the graduation exercises...Old Glory was unfurled at half mast Sunday at the Grand Army post — another old soldier had been called to the final muster. With a suddenness that was a shock to his family and many friends, Newell Burch died at his home in this city Sunday morning. Death was due to heart failure. He had attended the meeting of Wm. Evans Post the night before and appeared in exceptionally good spirit. At the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion, Mr. Burch was one of the first to enlist, joining Co. E, 154th New York Volunteers. He was captured at the Battle of Gettysburg and was assigned to the Andersonville prison. He spent 600 days in prison and the horrors of the experience remained with him so vividly through the rest of his life that it was always with reluctance that he even mentioned the experience...A. E. Hofland made a business trip to Chicago last evening in the interest of the Menomonie Milling Co. The company is preparing to put barley groats, a delightful breakfast food, on the market... The Weston Baseball and Dancing Club will give a social dance Saturday evening, May 30, at the M. W. A. hall in Weston. Refreshments will be served and the best of music furnished... Inability to hit at the proper time on the part of the Blue Caps, coupled with some rotten base running and a number of very sad mistakes of the umpire, allowed Ellsworth to walk away with the game at the fair grounds Sunday by a score of 3 to 0. The work of Krueger, the umpire, was very, very poor. Both sides came in for rotten deals, but Menomonie sure got the little end.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

French Open: Bartoli wants a rest


Marion Bartoli

Bartoli lost to unseeded Casey Dellacqua. (Action Images/Vincent Kessler)

Thursday May 29, 2008
PARIS - Last year's Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli admitted she needs some time away from tennis after crashing out of the French Open in the first round.

The Frenchwoman, seeded ninth at Roland Garros, has endured a miserable 2008 season, failing to replicate the form that took her to the brink of a shock win at SW19 last July, when she lost to Venus Williams in the final.

Bartoli's best performance since then came with a run to the final four of the Open Gaz de France in February, and Wednesday's 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 6-2 loss to the unseeded Casey Dellacqua appears to have convinced the 23-year-old that it is time for a rest.

"I'm just fed up," the French number one revealed after the match on Suzanne Lenglen Court. "I'm going to turn off my mobile phone, turn off my TV set, and forget about Roland Garros.

"I'm going to try not to think about it. I'll go far away, very far away. Why not take a short break, some holidays?"

Bartoli has won successive matches on just two occasions in 2008 and now hopes to regroup in time for the start of the grasscourt season, which will culminate with the third grand slam of the year at Wimbledon at the end of June.

"Since the start of this year I've been playing and I felt tired," Bartoli continued.

"I'll probably start practising for the season on grass, but I first want to think about myself."

On her defeat to unfancied Australian Dellacqua, Bartoli conceded that she did not have enough in her locker to see out the match despite winning the first set.

"She hit harder than me and took more initiatives," said Bartoli.

"I managed to win the first set, but I wasn't good enough in the two others. I was making too many errors and double faults and she was playing very well."

World number one Maria Sharapova was also downbeat after her performance on the Parisian clay yesterday - although she at least emerged with a victory over fellow Russian Evgeniya Rodina.

The 21-year-old was made to work for the win due to her off-key service game and a swirling wind in Paris, but she dug deep when it mattered most to claim an arduous 6-1 3-6 8-6 triumph.

World number 104 Rodina should have been dispatched with consummate ease, however, and Sharapova admitted that her performance was a cause for concern.

"I won the first set pretty comfortably and I kind of went downhill after that," she said. "I was quite tentative, giving her opportunities to take control of the points.

"I was trying to maybe be somebody that I'm not and that can get you in trouble. When you are out there playing under-14 tennis and pushing balls, you create your own problems.

"Realistically, I don't know if there's any way down from here."


French Open: Nadal breezes through





PARIS- Rafael Nadal chipped away at history when he took his place in the second round of the French Open with his 22nd consecutive winning match at Roland Garros.
The king of clay and defending champion was given a solid workout by Thomaz Bellucci, a 20-year-old Brazilian qualifier making his Grand Slam debut, before triumphing 7-5 6-3 6-1 in two hours and 34 minutes.
And while there were one or two small chinks in Nadal's game, especially in the first set with timing tricky on a windy day, there was also an ominous power.
If Nadal holds aloft the French men's singles trophy again a week on Sunday he will become the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1981 to win four in a row.
The champion admitted to some tension, however, after waiting for the best part of two days in the rain of Roland Garros to start a match on a surface made much quicker than usual by the high winds.
He also insisted it was "not logical" that some second-round matches began before the first round had been completed, although he denied he was complaining about his schedule in what has been a tricky first few days weather-wise for the tournament organisers.
He said: "These were difficult days because you get more nervous and you can't practise, so I probably lost the rhythm I acquired before this tournament. I hope this won't be a problem.
"It's always a bit worrying going through the first round. The conditions were very bad today. The winds were terrible.
"I was practising very well but in the last two days I practised only 20 minutes. It is difficult to go to the court and have a good rhythm.
"I also played against a very good opponent. He is a player with great potential to be a great player. But the most important thing is I won."
The statistics propping up Nadal's growing legend are mightily impressive.
He has never lost at Roland Garros, winning on his three appearances here. In his clay-court career, during which he has won 21 titles, he has suffered just five defeats.
And for the fourth consecutive year, this season he has won three clay court titles prior to the tournament beginning.
Something of a daunting assignment then for the left-handed qualifier who must have wondered whether to laugh or pack his bags when he heard the draw.
That Bellucci broke Nadal's first serve of the day - the match was postponed at 1-1 in the first set due to rain last night - was to his credit. When he broke it again in the ninth game he announced his credentials as more than a half-decent competitor on the surface.
Unfortunately his own serve betrayed him just when he needed it, perhaps nerves getting the better of him as he double-faulted to hand Nadal the first set.
The champion needs no such encouragement but for large parts of the second set Bellucci held his own until Nadal suddenly clicked into that efficient groove which simply overpowers opponents.
In the third set, three breaks of serve by Nadal told their own story.
Nadal, who now plays another left-hander, French qualifier Nicolas Devilder, in the second round, said: "He is a lefty too so it is going to be tough.
"I just hope to play better. I'm confident if I'm playing well I have a chance."

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

french open






Russia's Maria Sharapova clenches her fist after defeating fellow Russian Evgeniya Rodina, a teenager making her Grand Slam debut, 6-1, 3-6, 8-6 in a first-round match at Roland Garros. ( Christophe Ena, The Associated Press )
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PARIS — Start with this statistic on a busy, blustery day at Roland Garros: Maria Sharapova hit 17 double-faults.
It bears repeating: 17.
She hammered hard serves, and they sailed long. She tapped soft serves, and they landed in the bottom of the net. And she played poorly enough overall to come within two points of becoming the only No. 1-seeded woman in French Open history to lose in the first round.
Sharapova regrouped in time to barely piece together a 6-1, 3-6, 8-6 victory over Evgeniya Rodina, a Russian teen making her Grand Slam debut Wednesday.
"I don't think I'd be able to get away with not playing and not serving that well with maybe a different opponent and somebody that has more experience, a top player,"
Multimedia
View slide show of the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris said Sharapova, who placed part of the blame for her woes on swirling wind that kicked up clouds of dust on court. "But I'll work on it, and it will be better."
The awful serving and generally sub-par showing by someone who's supposed to be the best in the world at what she does shared top billing with the dry weather as Wednesday's most noteworthy developments. After three days of rain, not a drop fell at the clay-court major. That meant match after match after match, if not much in the way of stunning results:
• Serena Williams made it to the third round for the 33rd time in 34 career Grand Slam tournaments. After trailing 5-3 in the second set against Mathilde Johansson, a French wild-card entry, Williams took the next four games to end it 6-2, 7-5.
• Rafael Nadal improved to 22-0 at the French Open. The Spaniard ousted qualifier Thomaz Bellucci 7-5, 6-3, 6-1.
• A year after U.S. men went 0-9 in Paris, five reached the second round, and one, Wayne Odesnik, already moved into the third. Odesnik beat Lee Hyung-taik 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and next will face No. 3 Novak Djokovic.
At a glance
A look at the French Open on Wednesday:
Men's upset losers: First round — No. 20 Ivo Karlovic, No. 23 Juan Carlos Ferrero. Second round — No. 11 Tomas Berdych
Women's upset losers: First round — No. 9 Marion Bartoli, No. 17 Shahar Peer, No. 20 Sybille Bammer
Stat of the day: 1 — Games lost by Maria Kirilenko in her 6-1, 6-0 victory over Maria Elena Camerin.
Quote of the day: "Everyone seems to want to beat me." — Serena Williams, after her 6-2, 7-5 victory over Mathilde Johansson
On court today: Men — No. 1 Roger Federer vs. Albert Montanes, No. 2 Rafael Nadal vs. Nicolas Devilder, No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko vs. Marat Safin. Women — No. 1 Maria Sharapova vs. Bethanie Mattek, No. 3 Jelena Jankovic vs. Marina Erakovic, No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Vania King, No. 8 Venus Williams vs. Selima Sfar.

french open






Russia's Maria Sharapova clenches her fist after defeating fellow Russian Evgeniya Rodina, a teenager making her Grand Slam debut, 6-1, 3-6, 8-6 in a first-round match at Roland Garros. ( Christophe Ena, The Associated Press )
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PARIS — Start with this statistic on a busy, blustery day at Roland Garros: Maria Sharapova hit 17 double-faults.
It bears repeating: 17.
She hammered hard serves, and they sailed long. She tapped soft serves, and they landed in the bottom of the net. And she played poorly enough overall to come within two points of becoming the only No. 1-seeded woman in French Open history to lose in the first round.
Sharapova regrouped in time to barely piece together a 6-1, 3-6, 8-6 victory over Evgeniya Rodina, a Russian teen making her Grand Slam debut Wednesday.
"I don't think I'd be able to get away with not playing and not serving that well with maybe a different opponent and somebody that has more experience, a top player,"
Multimedia
View slide show of the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris said Sharapova, who placed part of the blame for her woes on swirling wind that kicked up clouds of dust on court. "But I'll work on it, and it will be better."
The awful serving and generally sub-par showing by someone who's supposed to be the best in the world at what she does shared top billing with the dry weather as Wednesday's most noteworthy developments. After three days of rain, not a drop fell at the clay-court major. That meant match after match after match, if not much in the way of stunning results:
• Serena Williams made it to the third round for the 33rd time in 34 career Grand Slam tournaments. After trailing 5-3 in the second set against Mathilde Johansson, a French wild-card entry, Williams took the next four games to end it 6-2, 7-5.
• Rafael Nadal improved to 22-0 at the French Open. The Spaniard ousted qualifier Thomaz Bellucci 7-5, 6-3, 6-1.
• A year after U.S. men went 0-9 in Paris, five reached the second round, and one, Wayne Odesnik, already moved into the third. Odesnik beat Lee Hyung-taik 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and next will face No. 3 Novak Djokovic.
At a glance
A look at the French Open on Wednesday:
Men's upset losers: First round — No. 20 Ivo Karlovic, No. 23 Juan Carlos Ferrero. Second round — No. 11 Tomas Berdych
Women's upset losers: First round — No. 9 Marion Bartoli, No. 17 Shahar Peer, No. 20 Sybille Bammer
Stat of the day: 1 — Games lost by Maria Kirilenko in her 6-1, 6-0 victory over Maria Elena Camerin.
Quote of the day: "Everyone seems to want to beat me." — Serena Williams, after her 6-2, 7-5 victory over Mathilde Johansson
On court today: Men — No. 1 Roger Federer vs. Albert Montanes, No. 2 Rafael Nadal vs. Nicolas Devilder, No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko vs. Marat Safin. Women — No. 1 Maria Sharapova vs. Bethanie Mattek, No. 3 Jelena Jankovic vs. Marina Erakovic, No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova vs. Vania King, No. 8 Venus Williams vs. Selima Sfar.

how to use tennisball another way





Is there a way to be green and play tennis? Can we recycle these yellow orbs in some useful way?
One way many of us recycle tennis balls is as toys for our dogs, but one Internet article ("50 Great Things You Never Knew You Could Do With Tennis Balls", easily accessible by typing the title into a search engine) says that tennis balls should not be used as dog toys since the felt covering can wear down a dog's teeth and larger dogs can choke on tennis balls.
Other standard uses include putting them on chair legs to cut down on noise and scuffs, putting them on walkers to make them easier to push, using them as a trailer hitch cover on trucks and placing them in the garage as a stop indicator (hang one on string from the garage roof to help you park without running into things).
My top 10 favorite uses for tennis balls listed on that site are more non-standard:
1. Athletes can improve their hand-eye coordination, visual reaction time and keep brains sharp by learning to juggle tennis balls.
2. Most tennis players have sore feet. We play through the pain, but tennis balls make wonderful foot massagers. When seated, put a tennis ball on the floor under each foot and then roll your feet around on them for relief from aching feet.
3. Tennis balls make a great safe or hiding place. Place money, keys or jewelry you want to hide inside a slit in the tennis ball.
4. A tennis ball on the end of a broomstick can clean cobwebs from the ceiling.
5. Many janitors use tennis balls to remove scuffs on floors.
6. Keep patio chairs from getting stuck between the slats of your deck by putting tennis balls on the bottoms of chair legs.
7. It has been said that some gnats or flies can be kept away while outdoors if you'll cover a tennis ball in petroleum jelly and hang it from a tree or bush.
8. Tennis balls can be used as cushioning when packing something for shipping in a box that's too large.
9. In the laundry they have many uses. To assist your dryer throw a few into the dryer to fluff comforters, coats, pillows, or anything else needing fluffing. Two or three in the dryer can also help a load dry faster.
They can act as scrubbers for shower curtains. Put your mildewed curtain, a tennis ball and one-half cup of vinegar into your washing machine and wash on hot. The vinegar kills the mildew and the tennis ball helps scrub the mildew off.
10. Tennis balls absorb body oils from people who swim in the water. A few floated on the water and replaced every few weeks can make cleaning easier.
Clarification
I need to make a clarification regarding my last column about the new Florida tennis license plate. My friend Bill Hebrock wanted me to make sure that tennis enthusiasts were not disappointed if they went to the tag office looking for the tennis tag on Oct. 1.
He correctly pointed out that although the law allowing the sale of tennis plates would be effective that date, many steps need to be completed before the first sale including final approval of the design required action by the governor and the cabinet. He advises tennis lovers to not look for a tag before February.

After Loss, Kuerten Calls an End to Career



The former top-ranked Brazilian won three French Open titles.
"Here, it is my life, my passion and my love," Kuerten said in French. "It's great to have my family here, my coach. But more important was the love you gave me."
Kuerten, 31, has been bothered by a hip injury since 2001. Since having surgery in 2004, he has played in only 19 tournaments and won five matches. This year's French Open was his first appearance in a Grand Slam tournament since the 2005 U.S. Open -- and he said beforehand it would be his last event at any level.
"It's incredible how fast it all went," said Kuerten, who won 20 titles during a pro career that began in 1995. In 2000, he became the first South American to finish the year at the top of the ATP rankings.
Kuerten plans to play in the doubles tournament in Paris.
Third-seeded Novak Djokovic, No. 6 David Nalbandian, No. 10 Andy Murray and No. 7 James Blake advanced to the second round, but 1998 French Open champion Carlos Moya lost to Eduardo Schwank, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-7 (7-1), 4-6, 6-3.
Blake's 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) victory over Rainer Schuettler made him the first American man to win a match at Roland Garros since 2006. At last year's French Open, American men went 0-9 in the first round, with Blake losing to Ivo Karlovic.
"We all feel like, you know, last year was an aberration that should never happen again," Blake said, "and this year we're definitely looking for better results."
Blake is 9-6 on clay this year, but he struggled to finally beat Schuettler, who has lost in the first round at Roland Garros in seven of his nine appearances.
In the women's draw, eight-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams beat Ashley Harkleroad, 6-2, 6-1, and last year's French Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic struggled before beating Sofia Arvidsson, 6-2, 7-5. The first seeded player to lose was No. 15 Nicole Vaidisova. She reached the French Open semifinals in 2006 and the quarterfinals last year, but was upset by Iveta Benesova, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1.
Kuerten saved one match point before sending a weak shot into the net. Then he sat back in his chair and pulled a towel over his head.
Shaking, he emerged with his eyes red and finally shook hands with Mathieu.
Kuerten was then led to the center of the court, where he was given a glass trophy showing a slice of a clay court.
Kuerten -- the last top-seeded man to win the title in Paris in 2001 -- entered the tournament as the lowest-ranked man in the field at No. 1,141. He got his spot in the draw as a wild card.

French Open: Djokovic puts progress made to lessons learned


PARIS- Third seed Novak Djokovic believes his tough baptism at this year's French Open was the reason why he was able to cruise through his second-round match at Roland Garros on Wednesday.
The Serbian put in a below-par display in beating Denis Gremelmayr in four sets in his opening match but he upped his game considerably against Spain's Miguel Angel Lopez Jaen.
His 80-minute, 6-1 6-1 6-3 thrashing of the Spaniard demonstrated why he has been tipped to challenge the likes of champion Rafael Nadal and world number one Roger Federer for the title this year.
The 21-year-old became the first player through to the third round in the men's draw on Wednesday and will face either Wayne Odesnik or Hyung-Taik Lee next.
And he reckons his battle against Gremelmayr earlier in the week could have been a blessing in disguise.
"I'm a perfectionist in life," the Australian Open champion said.
"I like everything to go the best way possible and sometimes it cannot be that way in the first round.
"I didn't play my best tennis and I was struggling but it was good in some ways to have the longer match so you can get used to the conditions, the balls and try to find yourself.
"Today I had something totally opposite. I had an opponent who made a lot of unforced errors. I juts played as much as I needed to.
"It's always good to have easy matches in tournaments like these. If you have the chance to play an easy, short match to save energy for the rest of the tournament, that's great."
Wednesday saw the completion of the first-round schedule that had been behind owing to the constant rain in the French capital for past two days.
Two seeded players bit the dust, but for different reasons.
The big-serving Ivo Karlovic, the 20th seed, lost in five sets to Colombia's Alejandro Falla, while 23rd seed Juan Carlos Ferrero was forced to quit midway through his match with Brazilian Marcos Daniel.
The Spaniard, the winner here in 2003, had won the opening set on a tie-break and was level at 2-2 in the second when he withdrew with a leg injury.
"I've suffered this pain for quite a while but it's a bit of a strange problem because scans and x-rays don't show anything," said Ferrero, who started feeling the injury towards the end of first set.
"At the moment, I don't exactly know what the problem is. Doctors tell me they know and they told me they could cure it but it still hurts - they use words I don't understand.
"It's a bit of a shame because I feel good with my tennis."
Elsewhere, three-time champion Nadal maintained his unbeaten streak at Roland Garros in easing past Thomaz Bellucci 7-5 6-3 6-1 and fifth seed David Ferrer claimed a straightforward 6-3 6-4 6-3 win over Belgium's Steve Darcis.
Earlier on, in windy conditions in Paris, there were straight-sets victories for 21st seed Radek Stepanek, who beat France's Gilles Simon, and 25th seed Lleyton Hewitt, who saw off another home favourite Nicolas Mahut.
Hewitt, a two-time major winner, has never gone beyond the quarter-finals at the French Open but the Australian remains a dark horse in most grand-slam events he appears in.
"I really stepped up when I needed to, especially on my return of serve," said the former world number one after his 6-4 6-2 6-4 success.
"It is good to get through in tough conditions out there."
Russian duo Mikhail Youzhny, the 15th seed, and Dmitry Tursunov (30) also had few problems as they both won in three sets against German pair Benjamin Becker and Daniel Brands respectively.
The other seeds to advance into the first round were Finland's Jarkko Nieminen (26), Russia's Igor Andreev (27) and Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic (28).
Among the unseeded players, Marat Safin, a former Australian Open winner and a semi-finalist here in 2002, recovered from losing the first set against Monaco's Jean-Rene Lisnard to prevail 6-7 (5/7) 6-1 6-3 6-2.
Safin is a crowd favourite at Roland Garros but his ranking has slipped to 73rd in the world after a couple of lean seasons.
"I'm still playing, still enjoying it, even though I'm in a tough position," said the 28-year-old Russian, who has threatened to quit tennis before.
"A couple of months ago, I was almost out of the top 100. But why retire when everything is functioning. I don't think I will be retiring any time soon."
Safin meets fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko next in a potentially mouthwatering tie.
In other second-round matches, 19th seed Nicolas Almagro, of Spain, was a 7-6 (7/2) 6-2 6-1 winner over Sebastian Decoud.
Almagro will next play Great Britain's Andy Murray, the 10th seed who was in impressive form as he swept aside a below-par Jose Acasuso 6-4 6-0 6-4.
Odesnik sealed a third-round match with Djokovic by beating Lee in four sets.
Eduardo Schwank followed up his first-round win over 16th seed Carlos Moya by beating Marcel Granollers in four sets to set up a clash with 18th seed Paul-Henri Mathieu, who came from two sets down to defeat Oscar Hernandez 2-6 1-6 6-4 6-3 6-2.
Tomas Berdych, the 11th seed, was surprised in five sets by Frenchman Michael Llodra, who will now play Simone Bolelli, a winner against Juan Martin Del Potro.

French Open: Djokovic puts progress made to lessons learned


PARIS- Third seed Novak Djokovic believes his tough baptism at this year's French Open was the reason why he was able to cruise through his second-round match at Roland Garros on Wednesday.
The Serbian put in a below-par display in beating Denis Gremelmayr in four sets in his opening match but he upped his game considerably against Spain's Miguel Angel Lopez Jaen.
His 80-minute, 6-1 6-1 6-3 thrashing of the Spaniard demonstrated why he has been tipped to challenge the likes of champion Rafael Nadal and world number one Roger Federer for the title this year.
The 21-year-old became the first player through to the third round in the men's draw on Wednesday and will face either Wayne Odesnik or Hyung-Taik Lee next.
And he reckons his battle against Gremelmayr earlier in the week could have been a blessing in disguise.
"I'm a perfectionist in life," the Australian Open champion said.
"I like everything to go the best way possible and sometimes it cannot be that way in the first round.
"I didn't play my best tennis and I was struggling but it was good in some ways to have the longer match so you can get used to the conditions, the balls and try to find yourself.
"Today I had something totally opposite. I had an opponent who made a lot of unforced errors. I juts played as much as I needed to.
"It's always good to have easy matches in tournaments like these. If you have the chance to play an easy, short match to save energy for the rest of the tournament, that's great."
Wednesday saw the completion of the first-round schedule that had been behind owing to the constant rain in the French capital for past two days.
Two seeded players bit the dust, but for different reasons.
The big-serving Ivo Karlovic, the 20th seed, lost in five sets to Colombia's Alejandro Falla, while 23rd seed Juan Carlos Ferrero was forced to quit midway through his match with Brazilian Marcos Daniel.
The Spaniard, the winner here in 2003, had won the opening set on a tie-break and was level at 2-2 in the second when he withdrew with a leg injury.
"I've suffered this pain for quite a while but it's a bit of a strange problem because scans and x-rays don't show anything," said Ferrero, who started feeling the injury towards the end of first set.
"At the moment, I don't exactly know what the problem is. Doctors tell me they know and they told me they could cure it but it still hurts - they use words I don't understand.
"It's a bit of a shame because I feel good with my tennis."
Elsewhere, three-time champion Nadal maintained his unbeaten streak at Roland Garros in easing past Thomaz Bellucci 7-5 6-3 6-1 and fifth seed David Ferrer claimed a straightforward 6-3 6-4 6-3 win over Belgium's Steve Darcis.
Earlier on, in windy conditions in Paris, there were straight-sets victories for 21st seed Radek Stepanek, who beat France's Gilles Simon, and 25th seed Lleyton Hewitt, who saw off another home favourite Nicolas Mahut.
Hewitt, a two-time major winner, has never gone beyond the quarter-finals at the French Open but the Australian remains a dark horse in most grand-slam events he appears in.
"I really stepped up when I needed to, especially on my return of serve," said the former world number one after his 6-4 6-2 6-4 success.
"It is good to get through in tough conditions out there."
Russian duo Mikhail Youzhny, the 15th seed, and Dmitry Tursunov (30) also had few problems as they both won in three sets against German pair Benjamin Becker and Daniel Brands respectively.
The other seeds to advance into the first round were Finland's Jarkko Nieminen (26), Russia's Igor Andreev (27) and Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic (28).
Among the unseeded players, Marat Safin, a former Australian Open winner and a semi-finalist here in 2002, recovered from losing the first set against Monaco's Jean-Rene Lisnard to prevail 6-7 (5/7) 6-1 6-3 6-2.
Safin is a crowd favourite at Roland Garros but his ranking has slipped to 73rd in the world after a couple of lean seasons.
"I'm still playing, still enjoying it, even though I'm in a tough position," said the 28-year-old Russian, who has threatened to quit tennis before.
"A couple of months ago, I was almost out of the top 100. But why retire when everything is functioning. I don't think I will be retiring any time soon."
Safin meets fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko next in a potentially mouthwatering tie.
In other second-round matches, 19th seed Nicolas Almagro, of Spain, was a 7-6 (7/2) 6-2 6-1 winner over Sebastian Decoud.
Almagro will next play Great Britain's Andy Murray, the 10th seed who was in impressive form as he swept aside a below-par Jose Acasuso 6-4 6-0 6-4.
Odesnik sealed a third-round match with Djokovic by beating Lee in four sets.
Eduardo Schwank followed up his first-round win over 16th seed Carlos Moya by beating Marcel Granollers in four sets to set up a clash with 18th seed Paul-Henri Mathieu, who came from two sets down to defeat Oscar Hernandez 2-6 1-6 6-4 6-3 6-2.
Tomas Berdych, the 11th seed, was surprised in five sets by Frenchman Michael Llodra, who will now play Simone Bolelli, a winner against Juan Martin Del Potro.

Top seed Maria Sharapova was given an almighty scare before edging past rookie Evgeniya Rodina and into the second round of the French Open.





Never before has the women's number one seed exited in the first round at Roland Garros, but Rodina threatened to inflict that ignominy on her Russian compatriot before succumbing to a 6-1 3-6 8-6 defeat.
Sharapova looked set for a routine victory as she breezed through the first set, but her teenage opponent - playing her first Grand Slam match - fought back in tremendous style.
One break of serve was good enough to earn Rodina the second set and force a decider.
In it Sharapova twice served to stay in the match at 4-5 and 5-6 but held her nerve to finally get the better of her tiring rival, victory arriving when Rodina sent a backhand long.
Sharapova, who inherited the world number one spot when Justine Henin announced her retirement earlier in the month, cut a relieved figure after the match, stating: "I just hung in there.
"It was far from my best tennis but you just learn from your mistakes. I was very close to losing this match. Not many things were working for me today after that first set."
While never at her best, she looked to have far too much for her opponent - ranked 104 in the world - after a one-sided opening set.
Sharapova broke in the very first game of the match and, although Rodina returned the compliment to make the scoreline 1-1, then proceeded to reel off five straight games to move a set up.
However, numerous unforced errors began to creep into her game in the second and Rodina secured an immediate break to edge 2-0 ahead.
Struggling on her own delivery Sharapova, who produced 17 double-faults during the match, could not break Rodina's serve as she sprayed ground-strokes wide and long with regularity.
Growing in confidence, the teenager levelled the match with her second break of the set and showed no signs of cracking as she more than matched her more illustrious rival in the opening exchanges of the third.
Indeed, a major upset looked a distinct possibility as she brought up break points on the Sharapova serve at 4-3 only for the Australian Open champion to respond just when she needed it most.
With Rodina suffering from cramp, Sharapova finally got the break she needed to move 7-6 ahead and then dug deep to serve out the match at the first time of asking. She will now play American Bethanie Mattek for a place in the third round.

French Open: Rain hampers Nadal's title defence





FRANCE - Reigning champion Rafael Nadal's return to action at Roland Garros lasted just nine minutes on Tuesday as rain forced his first-round match at the French Open to be suspended.
The Spaniard, bidding to win his fourth title on the trot here, was level at 1-1 with Brazilian opponent Thomaz Bellucci when the rain that had ruined most of the third day's play came down again.
Nadal, 21, was second on on the Philippe Chatrier court, behind Amelie Mauresmo, but ended up kicking his heels for most of the day owing to constant drizzle in the French capital, and will now resume his match on Wednesday.
The opening two-and-a-half hours were rained off and then after 90 minutes' action, the heavens opened again and play was suspended for three hours. Nadal was eventually able to swing his racket in anger at 7.38pm local time but was soon trotting back to his dressing room.
Earlier, Nikolay Davydenko and Stanislas Wawrinka had maintained their focus after the lengthy rain delay to clinch comfortable straight-sets wins.
Both players had been two sets up when the rain came down midway through the afternoon but on returning to action, neither had any trouble sealing their passages to the second round.
Fourth seed Davydenko defeated Sweden's Thomas Johansson 6-3 6-3 6-3 to set up a clash with either Marat Safin or Jean-Rene Lisnard, while ninth seed Wawrinka beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 6-4 6-3 and will face Robin Haase or Marin Cilic next.
Elsewhere, only three other matches in the men's draw were completed - and two of them saw seeds dumped out of the tournament in straight sets.
Argentina's Juan Monaco (13), seeded for the first time at Roland Garros, was thrashed 6-2 6-3 6-1 by Robin Soderling on Court Two. And Andreas Seppi (31) was dispatched 6-2 7-6 (7/1) 6-2 by the big-serving Mario Ancic, who has not appeared at a Grand Slam since the 2007 Australian Open because of a melange of illness and injuries.
The other player to reach the second round on Tuesday was Chile's Paul Capdeville, a winner in three sets over Mischa Zverev.

French Open: Rain hampers Nadal's title defence



Rafael Nadal

Defending champions Rafael Nadal was not a happy man as he walks off the court as rain stops play at the French Open. (Action Images / Jason O'Brien)

Wednesday May 28, 2008
FRANCE - Reigning champion Rafael Nadal's return to action at Roland Garros lasted just nine minutes on Tuesday as rain forced his first-round match at the French Open to be suspended.

The Spaniard, bidding to win his fourth title on the trot here, was level at 1-1 with Brazilian opponent Thomaz Bellucci when the rain that had ruined most of the third day's play came down again.

Nadal, 21, was second on on the Philippe Chatrier court, behind Amelie Mauresmo, but ended up kicking his heels for most of the day owing to constant drizzle in the French capital, and will now resume his match on Wednesday.

The opening two-and-a-half hours were rained off and then after 90 minutes' action, the heavens opened again and play was suspended for three hours. Nadal was eventually able to swing his racket in anger at 7.38pm local time but was soon trotting back to his dressing room.

Earlier, Nikolay Davydenko and Stanislas Wawrinka had maintained their focus after the lengthy rain delay to clinch comfortable straight-sets wins.

Both players had been two sets up when the rain came down midway through the afternoon but on returning to action, neither had any trouble sealing their passages to the second round.

Fourth seed Davydenko defeated Sweden's Thomas Johansson 6-3 6-3 6-3 to set up a clash with either Marat Safin or Jean-Rene Lisnard, while ninth seed Wawrinka beat Philipp Kohlsc

Monday, May 26, 2008

Tennis, ESPN2 Serve Up French Fare

Tennis fans can settle in for two week of grunts, groans and dirty socks as ESPN2, Tennis Channel and NBC serve up coverage of Roland Garros.

Rafael Nada: Roland Garros royaltyBetter known as the French Open, the sport’s second Grand Slam tournament, begins May 25 from Paris.

ESPN2 and Tennis will provide some 51 and 100 live hours of coverage from the red clay event, while NBC will bring matters to their championship conclusions with its café and croissant coverage of the women’s and men’s finals, live at 9 a.m. (ET) on June 7 and 8, respectively.

Rafael Nadal, the three-time defending champion and the sport’s dominant presence on clay, returns to Paris, where he will try to stave off the fast-rising Novak Djokovic and again deny Roger Federer’s career Grand Slam dream.

However, the women’s side opened up considerably with the recent retirement of world No. 1 aMaria Sharapova in Tiffany earrings and Nike Paris Dressnd defending French Open champion Justine Henin. Maria Sharapova, draped in her Tiffany designer Elsa Peretti's Wave earrings in 18K gold and pearl buttons from the jeweler that accessorize her "Paris dress" from Nike, is now the top seed.

The 2008 tournament marks the second time Tennis Channel and ESPN are teaming in the City of Lights. After securing the rights to Roland Garros, Tennis formed an alliance with ESPN, whereby ESPN2 received coverage rights from the French Open, in exchange for passing Australian Open rights to the smaller network, which celebrated its fifth birthday on May 15. Tennis produces the French, while ESPN2 handles those responsibilities Down Under.

The networks reached another accord earlier this month, whereby they will join CBS as the exclusive carriers of the U.S. Open tennis championships, starting in 2009. As such, both will be able to justifiably wield the moniker of Grand Slam Network: both also hold Wimbledon rights.

ESPN2 begins its Roland Garros coverage at noon (ET) on May 25. Skipping Memorial Day and the weekend of May 31-June 1, the network’s coverage will generally start at midday -- directly following Tennis Channel’s morning programming -- and continue unitl 6:30 p.m. ESPN2 crowns its coverage with live presentations of the women’s semifinals from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 5.

Spanish-language network ESPN Deportes mirrors ESPN2’s coverag, while broadband service ESPN360 is expected to provide 250 live hours of coverage from three primary courts.

Dick Enberg will call his 22nd French Open, along with Cliff Drysdale and analysts Darren Cahill, Mary Carillo, Mary Joe Fernandez, Luke Jensen, Patrick McEnroe and Pam Shriver. Chris Fowler is the on-site host and legendary tennis columnist Bud Collins is scheduled to make his French Open debut for ESPN2.

As for Tennis, the dedicated racquet sports service initiated its live coverage at 5 a.m. on May 25. The network’s daily match telecasts typically finish at noon, at which point ESPN2’s afternoon coverage begins. All told, Tennis will present close to 100 hours of live match coverage over the fortnight, including same-day repeats for all men’s and women’s singles semifinals.

Additionally from May 25-June 7, Tennis will showcase its nightly primetime show French Open Tonight, anchored by Bill Macatee. The three-and-half-hour program presents the day’s best tennis, previously unseen matches, original features and coverage from in and around the city.

The network’s French Open on-air team once again includes tennis legends John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova, fresh off her charitable work in New Orleans in conjunction with the 2008 Cable Show.

Lead on-air commentators Ted Robinson and Ian Eagle return, along with Tennis veterans Leif Shiras, Barry MacKay and Katrina Adams. Former and current players Justin Gimelstob, Rennae Stubbs and Corina Morariu will also assist as on-air analysts.

These personalities will appear on French Open Tonight, where Macatee will be joined by former MSNBC news personality Dana Kennedy, who will work on lifestyle segments.

Online, tennis fans can check out up to four live matches daily at TennisChannel.com., where the action will be supplemented with additional on-demand video clips, including daily highlights, archived matches, live scores and original content. The network is also working with Yahoo! Sports again to make highlights available to visitors of the site’s main tennis page.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Back at Roland Garros, retired Henin rules out comeback

Former Belgian tennis ace Justine Henin smiles during a press conference Saturday May 24, 2008 at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris. Henin retired from tennis two weeks ago, ending to a short and successful career in which she won seven Grand Slam singles titles and leaves while ranked No. 1. (AP Photo/Bertrand Combaldieu)

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PARIS (AP) — Justine Henin is certain that she's done playing tennis.

"I don't think I will ever come back. I think that it's important to just move on," Henin said at Roland Garros on Saturday, the day before the French Open starts.

Earlier this month, she became the first woman to retire while No. 1 in the WTA rankings, opting not to try for a fourth consecutive French Open championship.

The 25-year-old Belgian said Saturday that she didn't retire because of any health issues — she just does not feel the passion for playing tennis that carried her to seven Grand Slam singles titles.

"Now I don't need the competition to be happy. I don't need this adrenaline being in front of thousands of people to really be happy," Henin said. "I just need to be myself. I'm a simple person. I can live very easily."

She said it took her months to decide to walk away from the sport she dominated for stretches of the past few years.

Henin won a total of four French Open titles, prompting French tennis federation president Christian Bimes to say Saturday: "Justine will be one of the great names of tennis forever here in Roland Garros."

She also won the Australian Open in 2004, and the U.S. Open in 2003 and 2007. She was ranked No. 1 for more than 100 weeks and won nearly $20 million in prize money.

Henin was struggling by her standards this season, but still stunned the tennis world with her announcement — particularly because it came right before the French Open.

"It's sad. It's a pity for tennis: The very top player quits tennis. She certainly has her own reasons. I hope she has good reasons, because it's an extreme decision," Roger Federer said Friday at Roland Garros. "What I'm surprised about is her timing, because it was so sudden."

Henin's explanation? If she didn't feel up to giving her all, she didn't feel up to giving her all, no matter where.

Even at what she called her favorite event.

"If I feel I'm at the end of my way, there is no reason why I should play this tournament," she said.

"I don't need this anymore," she continued. "I know what I did here in the past, and I don't need to live this again. I'm fine with my career. I'm really happy and proud of what I did, and I don't need to live these moments anymore."