By Mike McIntyre
The French Open is now three days underway and so far no major upsets to report. Here's a quick review of the action that transpired on Tuesday at Roland Garros.
39-year old veteran Kimiko Date Krumm knocked off former world number one Dinara Safina 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, proving she's still got it as she nears 40 or perhaps that Safina has a long way to go towards re-establishing her career after serious back issues. This now makes four consecutive first-round losses for Safina who recently parted ways with her longtime coach Zeljko Krajan.
“I’m really happy. I tried my best,” Date Krumm said after the French crowd gave her a standing ovation. “I don’t like so much the red clay, but today I beat Safina, so it will be great memories again.”
Date Krumm had not beaten a top-ten player in 14 years and the rusty Safina was the perfect opponent to end that streak against.
In other worthy WTA results, Justine Henin playing at the French Open for the first time since 2007 defeated Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 6-3. Despite being seeded 22nd in the tournament, Henin must be considered one of the true favorites. A potential quarter-final match against number-one Serena Williams should be a real treat for tennis fans to look forward to.
On the men's side, four-time champion Rafael Nadal defeated Gianni Mina 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in his first round match. You gotta feel for any opponent the Spaniard faces in the first few rounds as they are likely to get clobbered by similar scores.
American Andy Roddick's return to clay was almost a short one as he struggled through a five-set victory against tricky veteran Jarkko Nieminen of Finland by a score of 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3. Never one to be comfortable on clay, the lack of recent match-play hindered Roddick who is lucky to survive to fight another day.
Roddick's fortunes for the next few rounds may have improved with the upset loss of clay-court specialist Juan Monaco. The two were on course to collide in the third round until the Argentine's first round loss to unknown Grega Zemlja who won 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. Roddick should hopefully be able to correct-course until a likely fourth round match against David Ferrer.
Finally, American veteran Robby Ginepri stunned compatriot and 18th seed Sam Querrey 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-2. A tough loss for Querrey who had some momentum coming into the tournament and has been having a pretty solid year thus far.
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