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Serena, Azarenka, Federer advance at French Open
PARIS (AP) — Victoria Azarenka waited until the fourth day of the French Open for her opening match, then showed she’s eager to continue.
Serena Williams of the USA chases down a forehand during her 6-1, 6-2 victory Wednesday against Caroline Garcia of France.(Photo: Kenzo Tribouillard, AFP/Getty Images)
Filling a mostly empty stadium court with her familiar shrieks yesterday, the world’s former No. 1 player beat Elena Vesnina of Russia 6-1, 6-4 in a match postponed one day because of rain. That meant Azarenka reached the second round 72 hours after some players.
The Australian Open champion in each of the past two years, the No. 3-seeded Azarenka is hoping for a breakthrough at Roland Garros, the only major where she has yet to reach a semifinal.
Serena Williams, the 2002 champion who lost in the first round a year ago, also had an easy day, defeating French teenager Caroline Garcia 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the third round.
Playing the day’s final match on center court, Williams committed only nine unforced errors never faced a break point. Through two rounds she has lost only four games.
Williams has won 26 consecutive matches.
No. 2 seed Roger Federer breezed easily into the third round, defeating Somdev Devvarman of India 6-2, 6-1, 6-1.
Federer moved ahead of Budge Patty into third place on the men’s list for match victories at Roland Garros with 56. Guillermo Vilas and Nicola Pietrangeli share the record of 58.
American Sam Querrey, seeded 18th, reached the third round at Roland Garros for the first time by sweeping Jan Hajek 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.
American women went 10-5 in the first round, including Jamie Hampton’s first career French Open victory, an upset of No. 25 Lucie Safarova 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 9-7. Hampton hit seven aces and overcame 50 unforced errors to outlast Safarova in the 2½-hour match.
Also part of the resurgence in U.S. fortunes was No. 29 Varvara Lepchenko, who reached the third round by whacking 22 forehand winners to defeat Elina Svitolina 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.
Stumbling in the second round was American Mallory Burdette, who lost to No. 4-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-2. Burdette committed 28 unforced errors to five four Radwanska, last year’s Wimbledon runner-up.
Radwanska’s sister, Urszula, flopped in the follow-up to her victory over Venus Williams, losing 6-3, 6-3 against German qualifier Dinah Pfizenmaier
Victoria Azarenka of Belarus lines up a backhand during her 6-1, 6-4 victory Wednesday against Elena Vesnina of Russia.(Photo Susan Mullane, USA TODAY Sports)
On the men’s side, No. 24 Benoit Paire of France delighted a partisan crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen by rallying past Marcos Baghdatis in a rain-interrupted first-round match, 3-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, 6-4.
Paire, 24, acknowledged the pressure of being seeded at Roland Garros, where no Frenchman has won the title since 1983.
Another Frenchman, Gael Monfils, also wowed the home crowd, defeating Ernests Gulbis of Lativa 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2. Monfils knocked out No. 5 seed Tomas Berdych in the first round.
In second-round play, No. 4 David Ferrer broke serve eight times and beat fellow Spaniard Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-1, 6-3. No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France eliminated Jarkko Nieminen 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-3. No. 10 Marin Cilic defeated 18-year-old Australian Nick Kyrgios 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.
Azarenka waited in vain to play for much of the day on a rainy Tuesday, but said she wasn’t flustered by the delay.
Fans might say the same thing about Azarenka, who wore down Vesnina with her noisy but steady baseline game, committing only 13 unforced errors. Vesnina, ranked 38th, fell to 1-19 against top-five players and has yet to take a set in five matches against Azarenka.
Azarenka needed only half an hour to win the first set, fell behind in the second, then finished with several booming strokes and a fist pump. Addressing the crowd afterward, she tried to match rival Serena Williams’ feat of speaking French to the spectators, but stumbled.
In other first-round matches, No. 7 Petra Kvitova outlasted wild card Aravane Rezai of France, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, and No. 12 Maria Kirilenko beat fellow Russian Nina Bratchikova 6-0, 6-1. No. 23 Klara Zakopalova lost to Kaia Kanepi 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.
The struggles continued for former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, who lost to Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.
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