Radwanska sends Venus out of Roland Garros quickly and peacefully

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Wilson Blade 9

It was the most anticipated match-up of the French Open second round and it ended in just 60 minutes without drama, without competition, twists and turns. Venus Williams walked out of the Court Philippe Chatrier after falling at the hands of world No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 6-3.

Radwanska covered the court perfectly, her shots were varied and precise, and her unforced errors were down to a minimum (in the first set she committed just four, in the second just two). Venus, on the other hand, didn’t bring in much resistance and only helped Radwanska with 33 unforced errors.

Only late in the second set, trailing 1-5, Venus held her serve, then broke Radwanska when she was serving for the match and earned a game point at 40-15 on her own serve. At that moment I had a glimmer of hope that this match would bring some excitement and Venus would just maybe come back, but it didn’t happen. Radwanska earned a match point by a wonderful lob and capitalized when Venus sent a forehand long.

Venus’ defeat came within just 24 hours after her sister Serena, the hottest favorite for the title, became the biggest news of the tournament by losing in the first round after a nerve-wrecking three-hour match. It was Serena’s first ever exit in the first round of a Grand Slam, and she has played 47 first rounds.

Radwanska’s opponent in the third round will be seed No.26 and 2009 Roland Garros champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, who defeated Yung-Jan Chan 6-4 7-6(4). (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

10 COMMENTS

  1. I watched only the second set and have to say that Venus player very poorly,an unwatchable match. Good that it only lasted one hour.

  2. Marine, Radwanska would win anyway, I believe, but Venus’ poor play made her win even quicker and more devastating.

  3. Marine, oh I don’t think it was all Venus needed. Radwanska was very good, only 6 unforced errors, she wasn’t missing at all.

  4. Venus, thank goodness, is not Serena. They may be sisters but Venus is normal. She plays “without drama” and always “peacefully”. Venus is a wonderful role model for tennis and for all of us fans.

  5. Strangely enough, a big upset in a suspenseful match between Marion Bartoli and Petra Martić, taking place before crowded, loud audience, went almost unnoticed in the world media (as well as hier). Marion was perhaps not at her very best, but Petra played a magnificent game, drawing quite a few mini-ovations from the pro-Bartoli spectators, and, one had the impression, would have won even if her opponent had been in top form. Add her overall elegance, calm and dignity to her large, flowing, diversified, creative, all-court game and wonder some more at said lack of attention. Such combination of qualities has been missing ever since Steffi Graf and Amélie Mauresmo, and now we can look forward to two immensely talented young players who embody them: Petra Martić and Mona Barthel (their mutual resemblance is at times almost uncanny)! I can hardly wait for the two to meet on court in a celebration of tennis at its most sublime.
    P.S. For those wondering at Mona’s early exit, rumours have it that she’s coping with a nagging foot-problem.

  6. Tulp, oh don’t make it worse for me, I know I didn’t write about Bartoli vs. Martic, but I simply felt I had to cover Azarenka, and then Venus and Radwanska, so I skipped the Bartoli upset. I have a good online friend from Croatia, a junior tournament owner, who knows Martic personally and can’t wait for me to cover her more on my blog. 😛 So I’m sure I’ll dedicate her more space in the future.

  7. Marija, it was no reproach to you personally, rather a moody reflection on the state of things in tennis media and blogosphere that more and more resembles tabloids’ covering of Holly-/Bollywood “stars” while there are magnificent, artistic films and actors around. And while one is already used to it, this case was truly amazing: dead silence everywhere one turns, as if the match never took place!
    Anyway, I sure am another one looking forward to reading more about Petra, as well as (there I go again) Mona or any other player deserving attention from the true tennis-lovers’ point of view. Cheers.

  8. I agree that the media these days offer a very poor coverage and analysis of tennis. Tennis writers who write for the biggest webs are old and biased fans of MENS tennis,they do not appreciate WTA much.

    The reason why I started blogging was that I felt that there was so much to be covered and talked about than it was offered by the media. I think blogs make up for the void these days.

    Hi 5 Marija 🙂

  9. Hey, Virginia Wade just said (on Eurosport) she’s looking forward to watching more of Petra Martić’s game! A sound for sore ears, isn’t it.

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