No lobs allowed

French Open Day 7

Robby Ginepri is the first U.S. man to reach the fourth round of the French Open since Andre Agassi in 2003. If that's not an amazing enough statement, how about the fact that Ginepri is the only native English speaking player remaining in either the men's or women's singles draw.

Ginepri. who defeated Florent Serra of France 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 Saturday, is no stranger to unexpected success in majors. He reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open in 2005 and used that bump to reach a career high of No. 15 ranking.

Ginepri, ranked No. 88, will meet No. 25 seed Fernando Gonzalez in the fourth round with the winner likely earning a matchup against Roger Federer, who cruised past Mario Ancic, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. Ginepri lost in the first round in each of his previous five French Open appearances and is 6-24 on clay.

Gonzalez came back from two sets down to beat No. 9 seed Stanislas Wawrinka, 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory. No. 4 seed Nikolay Davydenko blew a two-set lead to Ivan Ljubicic, who ralled to win the last three sets, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

In women's action,
Svetlana Kuznetsova faced only one break point and beat fellow Russian Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-1 in the third round, and top seed Maria Sharapova pulled out a close first set against Karin Knapp 7-6 (4), then played some of her best tennis of the tournament to win the second set 6-0. Sharapova, who is trying to complete the career Grand Slam of a French Open title, needed 81 minutes to win the opening set.

-- Rusty Hall

Photo credit: Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images

French Open Day 6

I'm a little late getting around to the French Open today because of the USTA tournament in Waco took up most of my morning. It's a great tournament in Waco, by the way. Wish I could have stayed longer.

Anyway, there were plenty of upsets in Paris with the Williams sisters falling by the wayside, and a scare or two, including Maria Sharapova's 6-2, 3-6 6-2 victory over a conservatively dressed (by her standards) Bethanie Mattek, who looked like a tennis player for a change in pink with black spider-web trim as opposed her typical knee socks and aluminum-foil attire. But I digress.

Some said the French Open was Serena Williams' to lose since the retirement of Justin Henin. Well, Serena lost it Friday. The 2002 French Open champion made far too many mistakes and No. 27 seed Katarina Srebotnik took advantage of them for a 6-4, 6-4 victory. It is only the second time Srebotnik has reached the third round and only the second victory over a player ranked in the top 5 for the 27 year old. Serena committed 25 unforced errorrs and blew six break-point opportunities. She makes her earliest exit in nine French Open appearances.

A little later in the day, Venus Williams suffered the same fate, falling to No. 25 seed Flavia Pennetta, 7-5, 6-3. The only difference here is that little was expected from Venus, who has played very little coming into the tournament. Venus lost serve six times and committing 29 unforced errors. That's called a lack of focus.

For the first time in the Open era there will be no American woman in the fourth round at Roland Garros. The only U.S. player left is Robby Ginepri.

In men's action, the surprising run of American Wayne Odesnik came to an end, but it took the No. 3 seed to finally stop the lefty. Novak Djokovic dispatched Odesnik 7-5, 6-4, 6-2. Djokovic will be joined in the fourth round by three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal, who made quick work of journeyman Jarkko Nieminen. While the top seeds cruised, No. 10 seed Andy Murray and No. 15 Mikhail Youzhny both lost in four sets. Murray going down to lost to No. 19 seed Nicolas Almagro, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-5, and No. 22 Fernando Verdasco beat Youzhny, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 7-5, 6-1.

On the women's side, No. 2 seed Ana Ivanovic defeated Caroline Woznlacki, 6-4, 6-1 and No. 10 seed Patty Schnyder defeated Emilie Loit, 7-6, 5-7, 6-2.

-- Rusty Hall

French Open, Day 5

Well, it was nice while it lasted. But as usual, American men began running into a clay wall in Paris on Thursday. After an optimistic start, James Blake's stay was again cut short. At least he and five other Americans reached the second round this year after going 0-9 last year.

Blake's tournament ended against Ernest Gulbis, 7-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 on Thursday, along with Mardy Fish, who dropped a 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 match to Lleyton Hewitt. American Bobby Reynolds' run in Paris also ended with a 7-5, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 loss to Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador.

Robby Ginepri was the lone bright spot among the American men, defeating Igor Andreev, who won the first set 6-4 before Ginepri bounced back to win 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Also making a surprising early exit was Southlake resident Mark Knowles and his doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi. Knowles is half of the defending men's doubles champions with former partner Daniel Nestor. Knowles and Bhupathi lost Thursday to Stephen Huss and Ross Hutchins, 6-4, 6-4, while Nestor and his partner Nenad Zimonjic defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Giles Simon, 6-3, 6-3. American's Bob and Mike Bryan defeated Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Hak Qureshi, 6-1, 6-4, and John Isner and Sam Querrey of the U.S. defeated Filippo Volandri and Potito Starace 6-3, 7-5.

Top seeds Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both advanced to the third round. No shock there, except for the fact that Federer dropped the first set to Albert Montanes, 7-6 (5), but came back to win the match 6-1, 6-0, 6-4. Nadal cruised to a 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 victory over Nicolas Devilder.

In women's action, Jelana Jankovic defeated Marina Erakovic 6-2, 7-6 (5), and Venus Willaims elminated Selima Sfar, 6-2, 6-4. Top seed Maria Sharapova's match against American Bethanie Mattek was suspended by darkness with Sharapova up a set, but trailing 3-2 in the second set.

-- Rusty Hall
Photo credit: Getty Images/Jacques Demarthon

French Open, Day 4

The sun finally can out in Paris on Wednesday and Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova finally got into the action, while several American men continued their upward trend. And, Serena Williams, right, reach the third round after having a little trouble dispatching 23-year-old Mathide Johansson of France on Wednesday.

After easily winning the first set 6-2, Serena found herself down 5-3 in the second set.

"Losing wasn't an option today, so I had to come up with another plan," Serena told Bud Collins after the match. Serena then broke to get back on serve at 5-4, broke again to lead 6-5 and served out the match 7-5.

For live results, go here.

Nadal cruised past Thomaz Bellucci, 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the second round two days after he was scheduled to defend his French Open title. Meanwhile, No. 3 ranked Novak Djokovic had an easy time in the second round, routing Miguel Ange Lopes Jaen, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.

No. 1 seed Sharapova started well, winning the first set against Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, but lost the second set 3-6 and came within two points of losing in the first round. However, Sharapova held on to win the third set 8-6. No. 2 seed Ana Ivanovic crushed Lucie Safarova, 6-1, 6-2.

The big surprises came from the American men, who lost at every turn last year. Five Americans have made it through to the second round, and surprising wild card Wayne Odesnik moved into the third round.

Odesnik continued his unexpected run by beating Hyung-Taik Lee. Odesnik won the first set, 6-2, but Lee came back to even the match at 6-4 in the second set. Odesnik then won the third set 6-4 and the fourth set 6-2. Odesnik lost only one serve during the match and moves on to face Djokovic in the third round.

Continuing the American trend was Mardy Fish, who dropped the first set to Agustin Calleri, but battled back to win 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, and American Bobby Reynolds also advanced by beating Thierry Ascione, 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Robby Ginepri eliminated fellow American Donald Young, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Two Americans weren't as fortunate. John Isner blew a two-set lead in a tough five-set loss to Juan Ignacio Chela, 2-6, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, and Scoville Jenkins came up short against Luis Horna, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0. Among the American women, Vania King beat wild card Violette Huck , 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, but Jill Craybas lost to Franscesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-2.

-- Rusty Hall
Photo credit: Getty Images

French Open, Day 3

Please let it quit raining in Paris. I'm getting tired of watching Roger Federer beat up on Sam Querrey. Both The Tennis Channel and ESPN2 keep rerunning it because they apparently have little else to fall back on.

Yes, rain once again spoiled the day. Only 13 of 72 matches were completed. Defending champion Rafael Nadal played two games before rain ran him off the court. And you thought Rafa, couldn't be run off the court, right. Maria Sharapova has yet to get her feet dirty.

Only 3 hours of play was turned in Tuesday. That was time enough for Amelie Mauresmo, above, and Svetlana Kuznetsova to move into the second round. Mauresmo overcame nine double-faults and 35 total unforced errors to beat Olga Savchuk 7-5, 4-6, 6-1. Kuznetsova beat 71st-ranked Aiko Nakamura 6-2, 6-3. Also moving on to the second round with victories Tuesday: No. 13 Dinara Safina, No. 14 Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 31 Ai Sugiyama.

Among the men, fourth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko stopped 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 and No. 9 Stanislas Wawrinka defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. No. 13 Juan Monaco lost to Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.

-- Rusty Hall

Photo credit: AP/David Vincent

French Open, Day 2

Rain and Roger Federer dominated on Day 2. At least the weather gods continue to favor Federer, who cruised to a 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 victory over young American Sam Querrey before the rains came.

Tomas Berdych also finished his match early, breezing past wild card Robert Smeets, 6-1, 6-0, 6-0, and Tommy Robredo beat Guillermo Coria, 7-5, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4. American wild card Wayne Odesnik had the biggest surprise of the day, beating Guillermo Canas by the unusual score of 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8). Three-set sweeps don't get much closer. No. 17 seed Marcos Baghdatis, who trains at the Paris tennis academy at Roland Garros, was defeated by Simone Bolelli of Italy in straight sets. So much for home-clay advantage.

On the women's side, Jelena Jankovic, above, Venus Williams and Patty Schnyder all advanced. Williams averted catastrophe against 93rd-ranked Tzipora Obziler of Israel. Williams won the first set 6-3 and led 4-1 in the second, but dropped the next six games. She righted the ship and won the third set 6-2 to avoid a first-round exit.

- Rusty Hall

French Open, Day 1

The highlights from the first day of the French Open included a nice start for American James Blake, a slow start for Novak Djokovic and no start for Nicole Vaidisova.

Blake looked like a clay-court player, showing defense, strength and above all patience in defeating Rainer Schuettler, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6. Aside from struggling to put the match away in the third set against a relative no-name, it was a nice start for Blake, who said the clay at Roland Garros was playing to his liking, smooth and fast.

No. 3 seed Djokovic, on the other hand, struggled to get started, dropping the first set to Denis Gremelmayr, 6-4. but once he got started he had only minor difficulty putting the match away 6-3, 7-5, 6-2.

Then there is Nicole Vaidisova, who should be one of the top-five players in the world. Vaidisova just can't seem to put it all together, and managed to get knocked out in the first round by qualifier Iveta Benesova, 7-6 (7-2), 6-1. Vaidisova's career has been marked by nagging injuries, unusual illnesses and questionable romances. But at 19, Vaidisova's still young enough to get her game and life together.

Other opening-day highlights included a convincing start by Serena Williams, who opened with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over fellow American Ashley Harkleroad and No. 2 seed Ana Ivanovic, who cruised past Sofia Arvidsson, 6-2, 7-5. Two French women, Nathalie Dechy and Alize Cornet got off to a good start. Dechy slipped past American Julie Ditty, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3). Cornet, who could be one of the big surprises of the tournament, beat Julia Vakulenko, 7-5, 6-4.

-- Rusty Hall

Shark that missed his calling

Being engaged to former tennis great Chris Evert, it’s evident that Greg Norman has found love — or is that luv? Norman, putting aside his many business interests to take part in this week’s Senior PGA Championship, acknowledged Wednesday that had things been different as a child, he might have taken up tennis rather than golf.

“I never played tennis up until about a year ago in my whole life,” said Norman, who plays with Evert about three times a week. “I actually wish I had taken up tennis instead of golf. I really do enjoy tennis.”

No fooling?

“Knowing what I know now, yes,” The Shark said, noting that tennis better suits his aggressive nature, something that’s both helped and hindered him on the golf course. “I get that way on the tennis court. I like to hit the ball hard. ... If you miss a point, you can win the next two points to win the game. Golf, you miss that one shot, you take a triple-bogey, see you later.”

That said, Norman has no regrets with what proved to be a very inspired choice to pursue golf. It’s a career that’s delivered him 78 tournament victories in 13 countries and allowed him to launch a very lucrative business career that runs the gamut from winemaking to fashion and even earning him a place on the Heinz board of directors.

Norman appeared a man contented, making a rare appearance in a golf tournament and, at 53, his first in the Senior PGA Championship. Avoiding the three steps at the side of the podium, a fit and spry Norman took the more immediate route by leaping on to the stage inside the media center.

Norman said he enjoys an occasional casual round with his son, and elects to play competitively only when there’s a break in his schedule.

Norman’s fine with that because he had prepared himself for pursuits beyond golf some four years ago.

“I didn’t have the desire to go out there and practice eight to 10 hours a day. I just didn’t have it. I was burned out,” he said. “That was my choice. And I think I made the right choice for myself, my lifestyle and for my business and for my family around me.”

Tennis, on the other hand, has proven intriguing. Norman noted he can hit 1,000 balls a day.
Not that he’s in Evert’s league.

“No, she doesn’t take it easy on me,” Norman said with a laugh. “We get into a halfway decent rally that I think is great and it’s probably boring to her. So she will just put it in or put a certain shot across the net and it’s all over.”

_ John Wawrow, the associated Press

Roddick pulls out of French Open

Andy Roddick, the highest-ranked American man, withdrew from the French Open on Monday because of a right shoulder injury. The sixth-ranked Roddick, who lost in the first round at Roland Garros the last two years, pulled out of the semifinals of the Rome Masters on May 10. He then skipped the Hamburg Masters last week, but had been expected to play this week at the World Team Cup in Duesseldorf, Germany.

"Andy is pulling out with an upper back shoulder injury, the same thing that he had in Rome,'' said John Roddick, Andy's brother and the U.S. captain at the World Team Cup. "He's pulling out of here and he's also going to miss the French Open, too.''

John Roddick said he hoped his brother would be ready for the grass-court tournament at Queen's Club, a key warmup for Wimbledon.

"The shoulder doctor we use is out of New York City so he was right there, and Andy had an MRI and there's some inflammation so he pulled him from here and the French,'' John Roddick said. "I don't think it's going to be anything that's terribly long and I would be surprised if he was not ready to go for Queens. But as for now he needs to take a good 10 days, 12 days, just rest.''

At the French Open, Roddick's best showing came in his debut in 2001 when he reached the third round. He reached the second round in 2004 and '05, but has lost in the first round four times. His success this year in Rome had given Roddick hope ahead of the French Open, which starts Sunday.

"He's been playing well all year and he was excited to be playing on the clay and really had a good frame of mind in practice and in his matches,'' John Roddick said. ``He felt really comfortable on the clay this year, so he really liked his chances of doing better than he has, and he did it in Rome. He was optimistic about his draw in France and wanted to come over and try to play well. So for him it's disappointing.''

Madrid to host Davis Cup semifinal

The United State Davis Cup team might have caught a break in its semifinal matchup with Spain this week when the Spanish tennis federation ignored pleas by its players and captain to not play in Madrid's bullring. The Spanish players had preferred a host city at a lower altitude than Madrid for the Sept. 19-21 matchup.

Rafael Nadal, the three-time French Open champion, was among eight Spanish players and captain Emilio Sanchez Vicario who signed an open letter this week denouncing the federation's process for choosing the host city. The team said Madrid's 2,100-foot altitude (roughly that of Las Vegas) will remove the team's home-court advantage and accused federation president Pedro Munoz of favoring the capital city because of sponsorship money.

The Spaniards are at their best on a slow clay surface, while the Americans -- led by hard-serving Andy Roddick -- are likely to benefit from the higher altitude speeding up play. It's the first time in 10 years that Madrid will host a Davis Cup match.

The players -- also including fifth-ranked David Ferrer and former French Open champion Carlos Moya -- have threatened to boycott all the promotional events for the federation and its sponsors as long as Munoz remains presidentt.

``The problem is not so much the altitude but ... at first he (Munoz) said he would adhere to the requests of the players and then he went back on his word. That is what hurt us, that he doesn't honor his promises,'' Sanchez Vicario told Radio Marca on Friday.

Madrid's selection came three months after the city's tourist office signed up as a key sponsor with the Davis Cup through 2010. Madrid also is bidding to host the 2016 Olympics.