Serena buries Paris misery, Fedex wins
Serena Williams buried the ghosts of her 2012 Roland Garros horror show to storm into the French Open second round Sunday as Roger Federer enjoyed an untroubled start to his 54th consecutive Grand Slam.
The 31-year-old Williams, bidding for a 16th Grand Slam title, suffered her worst defeat at a major in Paris 12 months ago when she was dumped out of the first round by Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano.
But on Sunday, Williams extended her current winning streak to 25, the best of her career, with a 6-0, 6-1 demolition of Georgia’s Anna Tatishvili, the world number 80.
It took Williams just 51 minutes to complete victory on a chilly Court Philippe Chatrier, where the temperature hovered just above the 10-degree mark, firing 27 aces to her opponent’s four.
Williams, who won over the usual hard-faced Paris crowd by delivering an on-court television interview in French, admitted that the French Open is a tournament which has caused her the most problems.
Federer, the 2009 champion and hunting an 18th major, saw off Spanish qualifier Pablo Carreno-Busta, the world number 166, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. The 21-year-old Spaniard had started the year at 654 before winning seven Futures events and claiming an astonishing record of 53 wins in 57 matches on the circuit’s third tier.
But Federer, playing in his 15th Roland Garros, was too strong, building the foundation for victory with a break in the opening game of all three sets.
The Swiss star, who bitterly attacked organisers for forcing him to play on a Sunday when the tournament extended its programme in 2006, said he was now happy to have the extra day’s rest that the early start affords.
Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer also cruised through with a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win over Australia’s Marinko Matosevic whose Grand Slam record now reads nine matches played, nine matches lost.
Lleyton Hewitt, like Federer a former world number one, but now down at 85 in the world, put in a trademark gut-busting performance before losing a five-set thriller to French 15th seed Gilles Simon.
Hewitt had been 5-0 down in the decider and saved two match points to claw back to 5-5, but Simon just had enough stamina to achieve a 3-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 win, his first triumph from two sets to love down.
Ana Ivanovic, the 2008 champion and 14th seed, clinched a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win over Croatia’s Petra Martic. Italian fifth seed Sara Erran had the honour of being the first player to reach the second round, breezing past Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus 6-1, 6-2.
Russian 11th seed Nadia Petrova, a semi-finalist in 2003 and 2005, was the day’s biggest casualty, losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Puerto Rica’s Monica Puig, one of 15 teenagers in the main draw and who is making her Grand Slam debut.
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