TENNIS – Sloane Stephens currently ranked 40 in the world, upset Venus Williams (16) with a 7-6 6-1 score line to advance to the 2nd round of the Roland Garros on the Suzanne Lenglen Court. Venus has been knocked out in the first round of the French Open for the 2nd time in three years. Diego Sampaolo
Both players traded breaks in the early games before holding serve until 6-all. The first set came down to the tie-break where Stephens pulled away to 6-4 en route to sealing the win with 7-5 points. Stephens got a double break in the 2nd set to take the match 7-6 6-1, setting up a meeting with Heather Watson in the 2nd round. If Stephens continues to win, she could possible meet the other Williams sister, Serena, in the 4th round .
German Annika Beck pulled off the upset beating Agniezska Radwanska 6-2 3-6 6-1. Radwanska lost in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since the 2009 Australian Open.
“Clay season is not my favourite one and I guess it’s not getting better. I just want to forget about that and focus on grass. I will do everything in my power to play better there,” said Radwanska
Roland Garros defending champion Maria Sharapova (2), who won two of her last five titles in Paris and won this year’s Internazionali d’Italia in Roma, beat five-time major quarterfinalist Kaia Kanepi 6-2 6-4. After breaking serve with to take the opening set, 6-2, Sharapova faced a tougher opposition in the second set in which Kanepi kept the pace with Sharapova until 4-4. Kanepi went up 0-30 and came close to breaking serve but Sharapova held her serve before winning the final game to win 6-2 6-4.
“It was such a big occasion for me to be back out on center court and I had a tough opponent ahead of me. The conditions were pretty difficult as well,” said Sharapova.
Sharapova will take on Vitalia Diatchenko who rallied from a set down to battle past Stefanie Voegele with 4-6 6-3 6-2. Vika Azarenka (27) cruised past Maria Teresa Torro Flor with 6-2 6-1 setting up a 2nd round match against Zheng Saisai. Azarenka could meet Serena Williams in the third round.
