Victoria Azarenka, Dominika Cibulkova, Alona Bondarenko and Anna Chakvetadze appear in this month’s French edition of FHM, an international monthly men's lifestyle magazine.

Read more »

Third seed Venus Williams saved one match point in the deciding set and soon after converted her first to defeat 46th-ranked Lucie Safarova 6-7(5) 6-2 7-5 in the second round of the 2009 French Open.

The match between Williams and Safarova began yesterday, but after the world No.3 Williams lost a first-set tiebreaker the chair umpire called it a night.

The match point Williams faced was while trailing 5-4 in the final set, but the seven-time Grand Slam champion managed to hold serve, break the Czech and hold again for the win.

Williams was runner-up at Roland Garros in 2002, but since then she hasn’t gone further than the quarterfinals. Moreover, the American exited in the third round in three of the last four years.

Williams will next play Agnes Szavay, who moved into the third round on Wednesday, beating Elena Vesnina 6-2 6-0. Notice, Szavay is winning again.

No.13 seed Marion Bartoli was upset today by Tathiana Garbin 6-3 7-5. Jelena Jankovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Svetlana Kuznetsova all advanced to the third round in straight sets. Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva will play their matches later today. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

China’s Li Na, seeded 25th, is the only representative of Asia still alive in the singles draw of Roland Garros 2009 after the fourth day of play.

Li defeated Swiss Timea Bacsinszky 6-1 6-4 to advance to the third round, while compatriot Zheng Jie, seeded 15th, was upset by Grand Slam debutant Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal 6-4 6-3 in the second round. China’s No.31 seed Peng Shuai lost in the first round to Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

Japan's Ai Sugiyama, who extended her record for consecutive appearances in Grand Slam main draws to 60, and her compatriot Ayumi Morita both lost in the first round, along with India's Sania Mirza.

Defending champion Ana Ivanovic made a much more convincing score than in her first-round match and beat Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-1 6-2.

Li is now the only Asian women’s tennis player left out of the seven who entered the tournament. (source: Reuters, photo via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

The most interesting match-up of the day lived up to the expectations with Maria Sharapova defeating No.11 seed Nadia Petrova 6-2 1-6 8-6 in the second round of the 2009 French Open. World No.1 and top seed Dinara Safina eased into the third round with a 6-1 6-1 victory over fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko, ranked 151st.

I had given Petrova a slight edge over Sharapova, having in mind Sharapova’s lack of match play (she returned to tennis only last week, after a nine-month long layoff). But as I said, just a slight edge, because of Sharapova’s fighting spirit which will always remain part of her.

The world No.102 Sharapova took the opening set 6-2, before Nadia Petrova, two-time semifinalist at Roland Garros, won the second 6-1. The third set lasted 71 minutes and I believe it’s a testimony that Sharapova is definitely back: she’s able to come from behind, play long matches, and is in full possession of her championship spirit.

Next for the three-time Grand Slam winner is Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan.

Safina, by far the most dominant player of the claycourt season, has lost only two games in her first two matches at this year’s Roland Garros, and spent less than two hours on court.

Safina, who is now on a 17-match winning streak, will face another Russian in the third round, 27th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who beat France's Julie Coin 6-2 7-6(2). (photo: Stephane Martinache)

I can say I’m pleased with Chinese brand ANTA at the 2009 French Open. They have finally made a dress worthy of Jelena Jankovic, and Zheng Jie looks super cute in the lavender/purple outfit.

Jankovic’s French Open dress has much more details in design and print than her previous ANTA ones. Also, the color is lively. Plus, they made the shorts match the dress – I hated those white shorts underneath the orange dress.

Zheng Jie, who became the highest-ranked female Chinese player recently by reaching the No.15 spot (beating Li Na’s No.16 back in 2007), is wearing a blouse trimmed with pleats and a cloud-like print on the collar. Read more »