Tennis News

PARIS, France – No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska raced through her first round match with Bojana Jovanovski, playing bright tennis under a gloomy sky to win, 6-0, 6-2, and set up a second round meeting with Caroline Garcia at the French Open.

Radwanska hadn’t played a match since losing in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open to Dominika Cibulkova, but it was an even longer lay-off for Jovanovski, who had been off the tour since St. Petersburg in February. As the Serb struggled to find her range, Radwanska soared, hitting 22 winners to just nine unforced errors, breaking serve five times and saving all three break points on her own serve to advance in straight sets on Philippe Chatrier Court.

“It was cold and windy,” she said in her post-match press conference, describing the less than idea conditions on the court. “That’s why it was a little bit slow and the ball is not going anywhere.

“I think we all kind of used to that after couple of days here. The conditions are same for both of us.”

Over on Court 1, Garcia fought off both the demons from her first round loss in 2015 and a surging Lesia Tsurenko to win, 6-3, 7-5.

“I had no specific expectations,” she said after the match. “However, when I made it on the court today I just wanted to do my best. I played with using my strengths.

“It wasn’t a super match, but I think we waged the tough battle. I think I’m quite happy, and I’m looking forward to the next round.”

Sporting a heavily strapped left thigh, Tsurenko nonetheless recovered from losing the opening set to take a 5-2 lead in the second, getting within points of a decider. With the crowd behind the young Frenchwoman, Garcia swept the final five games to win her fifth match in a row following her title run at the Internationaux de Strasbourg last week.

“In Strasbourg I played very well. I learned about myself. I have worked hard, day after day, week after week. It has been a long process. Takes a lot of time.

“But my game has improved, and this is a very important tournament. We’re in France. I wanted to do something. I think I was quite good at managing my stress. I managed to stay very focused, and each point counted.”

Radwanska and Garcia have played thrice before; though the Pole has won two of their three previous meetings, all have gone the distance.

“That’s for sure going to be different match. I guess she’s on fire winning last week. She’s a good hitter and we had couple of good matches, long ones.

“So, well, just looking forward. Going to be a good match, especially here where she’s playing at home.”

“I think I’m getting better. Of course I was doing everything in those last couple of weeks to move better. I think that’s the key on clay.”

Eliminée au 1er tour ces deux dernières années, Caroline Garcia a réussi à faire sauter le verrou ukrainien #RG16 https://t.co/47cZyIhz6o

— Roland Garros (@rolandgarros) May 23, 2016

Three-time Roland Garros champion Serena Williams leads the top half of the draw into the second round on Thursday in Paris. We preview all the action here at WTATennis.com.

Thursday, Second Round

[1] Serena Williams (USA #1) vs. Teliana Pereira (BRA #81)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Serena Williams improved to 62-1 in first-round matches at Grand Slams with her win on Tuesday.

Serena Williams’ potential road to the Roland Garros title got easier on paper when No.5 seed Victoria Azarenka, her rival and potential quarterfinal opponent, was knocked out of the draw on Day 3 by Karin Knapp of Italy. But the 21-time major champion was more concerned about working her way through the draw than monitoring other results on Tuesday. “In order to get the warm weather you have to last to the second week,” Williams joked after her 42-minute victory over Magdalena Rybarikova on a chilly afternoon in Paris. On Thursday the American will bid for her 56th career Roland Garros win against a very talented clay-courter in Brazil’s Teliana Pereira. The 27-year-old world No.81 has amassed 16 wins and two titles on clay over the last two years, but she’s gone 0-4 in that span against players in the Top 25. She’ll face the challenge of a lifetime when she faces the game’s greatest player on the world’s biggest showcourt. How will she respond?

Pick: Williams in two

[26] Kristina Mladenovic (FRA #30) vs. Timea Babos (HUN #45)
Head-to-head: Mladenovic leads, 3-1
Key Stat: Mladenovic and Babos won three doubles titles together in 2015 and qualified for the WTA Finals.

A pair great friends and former doubles partners will duke it out in a no-holds-barred battle for supremacy on the singles court on Thursday. 23-year-old Timea Babos is blossoming as a singles player in 2016, winning 21 matches to best her previous career high by nine, and reaching semifinals in Shenzhen and Rabat. Mladenovic has struggled to live up to expectations at times this season, but the Frenchwoman has demonstrated the ability to put bad patches behind her at Grand Slams in the recent past. She has been to at least the third round at the last four majors, a feat that Babos has never accomplished in her own budding career. Can rising Babos pull an upset and knock off her good friend on her home soil on Thursday? Or will it be big-match Mladenovic who seizes the energy of the moment to prevail?

Pick: Mladenovic in three

[8] Timea Bacsinszky (SUI #9) vs. Eugenie Bouchard (CAN #47)
Head-to-head: Bascinszky leads, 1-0
Key Stat: Bacsinszky is 11-2 on clay this season and has not lost to a player ranked outside the Top-10 on the surface.

Eugenie Bouchard snapped a long losing streak against the WTA’s elite in Rome when she knocked off Angelique Kerber to register her first Top 10 win on clay since the 2014 French Open. Will Bouchard’s renaissance continue in Paris against red-hot Bacsinszky on Day 5? Already having registered seven more wins in 2016 than she did in all of last season, the 22-year-old Canadian believes she is on the right track. “I feel like it’s kind of my first year on tour again,” Bouchard said on Tuesday after defeating Germany’s Laura Siegemund in straight sets. “I try to see it as a positive thing, like I’m going to try to prove to myself how well I can play and prove that I do belong at the top. Nobody’s going to hand it to you.” Bacsinszky, a semifinalist in Paris last year, will look to wear Bouchard down like she did when the pair met for the first time at Indian Wells this spring. Her world-class defense, variety on the clay and fighter’s mentality should give her chances to repeat that result.

Pick: Bacsinszky in three

[29] Daria Kasatkina (RUS #32) vs. Virginie Razzano (FRA #184)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Razzano is the lowest-ranked player left in the draw.

Opportunity knocks in a tiny section of the top half of the draw, where not a single seeded player stands between rising Russian Daria Kasatkina and her first round of 16 appearance at a major. 19-year-old Kasatkina has turned heads all season with her athleticism, maturity and court sense, now maybe it’s time for her to turn the corner at a Grand Slam? Standing in her way on Thursday her will be a heart-and-soul veteran that is the only player in history to have ever defeated Serena Williams in the first-round of a major. Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano accomplished that tremendous feat right here in Paris in 2012. In her 18th appearance at the French Open, does the 33-year-old have more magic to summon?

Pick: Kasatkina in three

Around the Grounds: Other than defending champion Serena Williams,14th-seeded Ana Ivanovic is the highest-seeded player remaining in top quarter of the draw. She’ll meet Japan’s Kurumi Nara in the day’s first match on Court 1. No.9 seed Venus Williams will bid to reach the third round at Roland Garros for the first time since 2010 when she meets American qualifier Louisa Chirico on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

By The Numbers

3 – Number of former Grand Slam champions in action on Day 5 (Serena and Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic).

70 – Venus Williams is playing in her 70th Grand Slam draw at Roland Garros, most among active players and second only to Amy Frazier’s 71 all-time.

5 – Number of former Roland Garros Girls’ Singles champions in action today (Mladenovic, Razzano, Cornet, Svitolina and Kasatkina).

-Chris Oddo, wtatennis.com contributor

BIEL/BIENNE, Switzerland – Kristyna Pliskova continued her steady climb up the rankings as she scored the first big upset of the Ladies Open Biel Bienne, knocking out No.4 seed Roberta Vinci, 6-4, 6-4 to advance into the second round.

“I’m happy I’m back indoors, because my serve works even better here than outside,” she said after the match. “I think this match was pretty solid from my side; I faced just one break point, which is kind of good. She’s not in her best form, so that helped me get it done in two sets.”

Pliskova recovered from a set down to defeat Vinci at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships just two months ago, but was far more decisive on Monday, striking 10 aces and getting a crucial break in each set to seal the win in one hour and 13 minutes.

What. A. Shot.@KrisPliskova gets the early break in the second set! #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/zhMPSGtdTS

— WTA (@WTA) April 10, 2017

“I learned a lot from our match in Dubai, and even more from the time before I’d played her and I’d lost like 6-1, 6-1 five years ago. I knew her slice is brilliant. She proved that again, but I learned a lot from both matches.”

Up next for Pliskova is either Donna Vekic or Sorana Cirstea; with her quick serve and fearsome groundstrokes, the unseeded Czech youngster will certainly be one to watch in the indoor courts of Biel/Bienne this week.

Delicate touch from @KrisPliskova! ? #WTABiel pic.twitter.com/J2IoOloHya

— WTA (@WTA) April 10, 2017

“The court is kind of different from others, but so far I like it.”

Earlier in the day, Elise Mertens caused another upset by defeating No.8 seed Monica Niculescu, 6-2, 6-2. The first winner in the tournament’s history was Germany’s Mona Barthel, who ousted Jana Cepelova, 6-3, 6-4.