THE PREVIEW
Marat Safin gets a second consecutive Court Philippe Chatrier appearance today. He plays French wild card Josselin Ouanna. Meanwhile, his sister and world No.1, Dinara Safina, is relegated to the second stadium, Court Suzanne Lenglin, for a match with qualifier and fellow Russian, Vitalia Diatchenko, 18.
Meanwhile, Venus Williams could be tested by tenacious Czech Lucie Safarova, while Maria Sharapova is in tough against Russian compatriot Nadia Petrova.
THE PASSING SHOT
Upon her recent return from a shoulder ailment and subsequent surgery, Maria Sharapova said, “In these nine months, the only thing I’ve accomplished is probably a good pasta carbonara. At the end of the day, that’s not my specialty. My specialty is to go out and compete and win Grand Slams.”
BY THE NUMBERS
4
The number of Argentines in the second round who all come from the same tennis school in Tandil – Juan Martin del Potro, Juan Monaco, Maximo Gonzalez and Diego Junqueira.
6
Number of years between first-round wins at the French Open for Yugoslavian-born Jelena Dokic, 26. The former world No. 4 defeated Karolina Sprem of Slovenia 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 yesterday, but hadn’t advanced beyond the opening round at Roland Garros since 2003.
THE QUOTE
I like the colour. I’ve always liked red, or whatever it is.
Bernard Tomic, a 16-year-old Australian, when asked if there’s anything he likes about the ochre-hued clay at Roland Garros. Considered the great hope of Australian tennis, he lost in the first round at the French Open yesterday and later said he much prefers hard courts to clay.
THE TYPICALLY FRENCH
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 2008 Australian Open runner-up, is a Frenchman with flair. To celebrate his first win at Roland Garros, he showed up at his media conference yesterday in a classic, black, adidas shirt – and a black tie. “They do it in other sports for the media, so why not tennis,” he said. “I asked my team if I could wear a tuxedo but they said it was out of the question.”
