French Open: 4th Round (Monday)

4th Round

[2] Serena Williams (USA) vs [24] Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN)

Wozniak leads Head-to-Head 1-0

(2008 Stanford: 6-2, 3-1 ret.)

1st Match Of The Day on Court Philippe Chatrier

Williams Sisters out in 3rd Rnd Doubles Thriller

Venus and Serena Williams lost a tightly contested 3rd Round Doubles Match to 10th seeded Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) and Nadia Petrova (RUS). The thrilling 3 set match lasted a little over 3 hours and included breaks of serve and 1st and 3rd set tie-breaks. The final score was 7-6(4), 5-7, 7-6(6). Now THAT was close!

French Open: (Drama) Deja Vu?

Serena has been on the receiving end of ball calls on more than one occasion but today's "episode" immediately reminded me of her 2003 French Open semifinal match against Justine "The Hand" Henin.

During the 5th game of the 1st set and with Serena facing a break point, Sanchez hit a drop volley and Serena rushed in and took a strong cut at a backhand which caught Sanchez on the arm and bounced back over the net. The replay showed that the ball did indeed hit Sanchez's wrist/arm but the umpire awarded the point (and game) to Sanchez. Martinez Sanchez went on to win the set. This did not sit well with Serena:

"I didn't think the ball touched her, it did hit her. I hit that ball rather hard. She knew that ball hit her. The rule of tennis is when the ball hits your body, then it's out of play.You lose a point automatically. So the ball hit her body, and therefore, she should have lost the point instead of cheating.

I would never have done that. I've never sunk [that] low. I would never do that to anyone on this tour. I said [to the chair], 'Did you ask her? He said, 'Well, she's saying that it didn't happen.' I looked at her dead in the eye... Just be honest, if the ball hit you or not. I mean, Hello, it totally hit her. she was just like -- she wouldn't even look at me. I have no respect for anyone who plays a professional game and doesn't play professionally."

Serena did shake her opponent's hand (at net) at the end of the match because she felt that her opponent played a great match and was a good player. Williams went on to say that it's not the first time such controversy has arisen during her matches. In 2003, Williams lost to Henin in the French Open semifinals after a dispute over whether Henin had raised her hand during one of Williams' first serves.

"There was an incident with Justine, and then there was another incident with Jennifer Capriati [at the 2004 U.S. Open, which featured several bad line calls and spurred the introduction of eletronic replay]. Always some drama. Even in Australia this year I had a bad call, and I was just like, 'Why?' I'm like one of those girls on a reality show that has all the drama, and everyone in the house hates them because no matter what they do, like, drama follows them. I don't want to be that girl."

French Open Doubles: 3rd Round (Sunday)

3rd Round

Venus/Serena [5] vs B. Mattek-Sands (USA)/N. Petrova (RUS)[10]

3rd Match of the day on Court 1

Serena stops Sanchez; Advances to 4th Round

PARIS (Reuters) - Serena Williams overcame a sluggish start to beat Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and reach the fourth round of the French Open on Saturday. The American second seed will next face Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak, seeded 24th, for a place in the last eight.

Martinez Sanchez bagged an ill-tempered opening set after breaking in the fifth game with a controversial shot which appeared to have bounced off her arm. Annoyed with the call, Williams went on to level the contest and her opponent eventually ran out of steam, bowing out after 2 hours and 11 minutes on the first match point.

French Open: 3rd Round (Saturday)

3rd Round
[2] Serena Williams (USA) vs Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)

Head-to-Head 0-0
4th Match Of The Day on Court Suzanne Lenglen

French Open Doubles: Williams Sisters Advance

Venus and Serena Williams have defeated Argentina's Gisela Dulko and Hungary's Agnes Szavay (in 2nd Round Doubles action) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. Earlier in the day, Agnes Szavay defeated Venus Williams in 3rd round singles action.

"Serena Now" beats "Other Serena"

By HOWARD FENDRICH
Associated Press Sports

PARIS (AP) -Good as she was while winning four consecutive Grand Slam titles in 2002-03, Serena Williams believes her game is better these days.
"The 'Serena Now' would definitely beat the 'Other Serena,' just in general. I'm older. I think I'm wiser. I think I'm just a more mature player,'' Williams said Thursday. "Back then, it was more nitty-gritty. And now it's more composed and planned-out playing.''

She moved into the third round at the French Open by beating 133rd-ranked Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain 6-2, 6-0. It was a far better performance for Williams than in the first round, when she needed nine match points to get through a three-setter.

"Everything clicked for me today, finally,'' she said. "It was just a better match. I'm not nearly as upset as I was the other day.'' Williams is eyeing her third major championship in a row and the 11th of her career. She has won two Wimbledons, three U.S. Opens and four Australian Opens, but only one French Open - in 2002 as part of her self-styled Serena Slam. She calls herself a fan of playing on clay.

"I grew up on the clay a lot. I'm totally fine on the clay. My results haven't been where I wanted them to be, but from, like, 9 to 14, I played nothing but clay-court tennis,'' Williams said. "I actually love it, and it's really one of my favorite surfaces, because I love to slide.''

French Open Doubles: 2nd Round (Friday)

2nd Round
Venus/Serena (USA)[5] vs Gisela Dulko (ARG)/Agnes Szavay (HUN)

4th Match of the day on Court 2

Williams Sisters win 1st Round Doubles Match

Venus and Serena have finally concluded their 1st round doubles match (which began Tuesday) by defeating the Czech Republic team of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

Serena defeats Pascual; Advances to 3rd Round

Serena demolished Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-2, 6-0 in 2nd round action at the French Open. The match lasted 57 minutes. Her 1st round match lasted 2 hours and 32 minutes. The Spaniard put up a decent fight in the opening set but Williams, the champion at Roland Garros in 2002, broke serve in games four and eight to open a one-set lead.

Williams needed three sets to dispatch Klara Zakapalova in the 1st round but was never in any danger of this match being extended to a third (set).
Ruano Pascual, a former world doubles number one, won just seven points in the second set. The American star will now play another Spaniard, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, for a place in the last 16. Serena's thoughts on today's match: "Everything clicked for me today, finally,'' she said. "It was just a better match. I'm not nearly as upset as I was the other day.''

French Open Doubles: 1st Round (Thursday)?

The 1st Round Doubles Match for the Williams Sisters has yet to be completed. Venus did not finish her match today (after losing the 1st set to Lucie Safarova in a tiebreak) and the Williams Sisters did not get a chance to get on the court to finish their doubles match (which started Tuesday). Here's the latest update:

Venus/Serena (USA)[5] vs Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka (CZE)

5th Match of the day on Court 2
* Williams Sisters are leading: 6-1, 3-6, 4-3 *
Hlavackova / Hradecka to serve

* Venus is also scheduled to conclude her 2nd Round Match on Thursday. She's 2nd up on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

French Open: 2nd Round (Thursday)

2nd Round

[2] Serena Williams (USA) vs Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP)

Virginia leads Head-to-Head 1-0

3rd Match Of The Day on Court Philippe Chatrier

INTERESTING FACT: Virginia defeated Serena in their only meeting (eleven years ago, Wimbledon 1998 - R32). Serena retired from the match 7-5, 4-1.

Father knows best...Richard on Serena

Richard Williams, father and coach of Serena Williams, gave his thoughts about his daughter's 1st round victory at the French Open: "What I see is a champion that found a way to win on a day that she didn't play good," Richard Williams said. "See, in order to be a champion, you have to win when you should lose."

Awesome insight Mr. Williams!!

1st Round Post Match Press Conference

F.O. Doubles: 1st Round continues Wednesday

1st Round

(Tuesday match was suspended Due to Darkness)

Venus/Serena (USA)[5] vs Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka (CZE)
5th Match of the day on Court 2

* Williams Sisters are leading: 6-1, 3-6, 4-3 *

Hlavackova / Hradecka to serve

Serena: 1st Round French Open pics

Serena Advances to 2nd Round of French Open

Serena moved into the second round of the French Open (letting eight match points slip while battling the wind) before beating Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4. Williams, the 2002 French Open champion, came into the match having lost her last four matches (a career record), three of them on clay (one to Zakopalova), with her last win coming back in April. One tends to overlook the fact that she was also battling injury in each of those losses. One thing that cannot be overlooked is the fact that Serena is a different player when it comes to majors.

It is truly exciting to see the type of tennis this lady can produce when her back is up against the wall or when she is playing for another Grand Slam title. The match lasted 2 hours and 32 minutes and at one point Serena won a superb 24 shot rally (on clay)! Even when things were not going her way, Serena kept her head, dug deep and battled to victory. Zakopalova really took it to Serena and would not relent. The amazing stat is that Zakopalova saved EIGHT match points! Serena remains perfect in 1st Round Major wins, 38-0. Congratulations Serena!

French Open Doubles: 1st Round (Tuesday)

1st Round

Venus/Serena (USA)[5] vs Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka (CZE)

4th Match of the day on Court 3