Tsonga and Mahut makes French fans happy as Roddick ousted in first round; Venus advances.
By ALLON SINAIShahar Pe'er returns shot to Dubois_370(photo credit: Reuters)
Shahar Pe’er will face former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic in the second round at Roland Garros after crushing Stephanie Dubois 6-2, 6-2 on Sunday.The 25-year-old Israeli, ranked No. 55 in the world, hit 28 winners while committing 17 unforced errors, breaking Dubois’s serve five times.Pe’er has actually won all three of her previous career meetings against Ivanovic, ranked No. 14 in the world and seeded 13, although the two haven’t met since 2010 when the Serb was suffering from a dramatic slump.Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open winner, has since recovered, beating Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino 6-1, 6-1 in Paris on Sunday, while Pe’er hasn’t progressed past a second round in her last nine tournaments.Dudi Sela will begin his participation in the French Open on Monday when he faces No. 7 seed Tomas Berdych in the first round.Sela has won just two of the six matches he has played on clay this year, plummeting 24 places in the ATP rankings over the last two weeks and will have to record the biggest win of his life to advance to the second round.Meanwhile, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made the Paris spectators happy when he recovered from a first-set loss to move into the second round on Sunday’s first day.Minutes later, Nicolas Mahut doubled the home fans’ delight when he joined his fellow Frenchman in the next round after a four-set defeat of American Andy Roddick.In the women’s draw, Venus Williams, continuing her comeback after being diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Sjogren’s Syndrome, battled into the second round with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Argentine opponent Paula Ormaechea.Seven-time grand-slam champion Williams, who returned to the tour in March, looked to be struggling early in the match but found the resources to win.
The American former world No. 1 could now meet third-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska, who plays Serbian Bojana Jovanovski on Monday.World No. 5 Tsonga, the highest seed in action on the opening day, beat Russian qualifier Andrey Kuznetsov 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, waking up after a slow start on the Philippe Chatrier court to earn a standing ovation at the end.Mahut, who had lost eight times in the Roland Garros first round before this year, looked vulnerable again when, having strapped up his left knee, he dropped the third set, but he came back to take the match 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.Argentine Juan Martin del Potro also overcame a knee injury in beating Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-2, 6- 7, 6-2, 6-1.The ninth-seeded Del Potro, who won the Estoril Open on clay three weeks ago, said problems with his knee had started after his semifinal defeat at the Madrid Open two weeks ago.Former champion Juan Carlos Ferrero knocked out battling local player, and Roland Garros debutant, Jonathan Dasnieres de Veigy 6-1, 6- 4, 6-3 in bright sunshine on the Suzanne Lenglen Court.Ferrero will now play Marin Cilic after the Croatian defeated Spain’s Daniel Munoz 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.Australian Samantha Stosur, seeded sixth on the women’s side, was also in a hurry, taking just over an hour to dismiss Britain’s Elena Baltacha 6-4, 6-0.Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Victoria Azarenka will be in action on Monday, along with Roger Federer, starting his quest for a 17th grand-slam title.Reuters contributed to this report
