May 25, 2010

Arturo Velazquez- Tennis Canada

The 2010 French Open began on Sunday morning with the players ready to go after a long string of warm-up events during the clay court season.

In first round matches on opening day, both Fernando Verdasco and Jurgen Melzer breezed through their matches in straights sets. Verdasco beat Igor Kunitsyn from Russia 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, while Melzer defeated Dudi Sela 7-5, 6-2, 6-4.

Americans Robby Ginepri and Sam Querry went head-to-head in the first round with Ginepri finishing on top 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-2. World No. 14 Mikhail Youzny of Russia overthrew Michal Przysienzny 6-1, 6-0, 6-4 while Albert Montanes, whose ranking has steadily been improving this year, made quick work of Italy's Stefano Galvani.

On Day Two of the French Open, defending champion Roger Federer took Centre Court against Australian Peter Luczak and secured a straight sets win with a final score of 6-4, 6-1, 6-2. This is the second time Federer has arrived in Paris without having won a title during the clay court season. However, the 16-time Grand Slam champ showed no mercy in his debut.

On the other side of the draw, No. 2 Rafael Nadal quickly wrapped up his first match in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. His fellow Spaniards, Juan Carlos Ferrero and David Ferrer joined him as they too defeated their opponents easily. Nicolas Almagro, on the other hand, was in a first round brawl against Robin Haase. He finally took control in the fifth set, with a final tally of 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Other top players, Gael Monfils, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Fernando Gonzalez spent a little more time out on court as their opponents made them work for the win. All men were forced to play four sets in their first round matches.

Andy Roddick had a tight match against Jarkko Nieminen of Finland as the two battled it out in a five-set match. Roddick was able to pull out a fourth-set tiebreaker, which pushed him to take the lead in the fifth-set, with a final score of 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3. Roddick is returning to clay after missing most of the warm-up events due to personal reasons and a stomach virus.

The women's draw has gone mostly to plan thus far with all of the big names advancing including defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova who won her first round match in straight sets 6-3, 6-1. In addition to Kuznetsova, six other Russian players in the Top 30 have won their first round matches in straight sets, including Maria Sharapova.

Justine Henin also won her first round, which means that it is likely she will face Sharapova in the third round and then a potential quarter-final match-up against Serena Williams. The French Open will carry on with players beginning their second round matches on Wednesday and Thursday.