PARIS, (Reuters) – World number ones Rafael Nadal and Dinara Safina dazzled their opponents in the Parisian sun on Monday to blaze into the second round of the French Open.
Brazil’s Marcos Daniel fought valiantly for almost 2-1/2 hours before suffering the same fate as four-times champion Nadal’s previous 28 opponents at the claycourt grand slam, going down 7-5 6-4 6-3.
Roland Garros also caught a brief glimpse of Safina — although if you blinked you might have missed her — as the Russian white-washed Britain’s Anne Keothavong 6-0 6-0.
Roger Federer would have preferred to have got even more hot and bothered but that did not stop him from hotfooting into the last 64 with a 6-4 6-3 6-2 victory over Spaniard Alberto Martin.
“In America and Australia we play at 40, 45 degrees so it’s still pretty mild for my liking,” said the Swiss referring to the court temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius.
The crowd had barely had time to file into Centre Court and settle into their baking-hot plastic seats before Safina, who looks poised to improve on her 2008 runner-up finish, had dashed back into the cooler confines of the locker room.
So ferocious were Safina’s groundstrokes that a linesman was lucky to dodge one of her missiles. Keothavong might have won 33 points but 24 of these came from Safina’s unforced errors.
Despite being on the receiving end of the 61-minute hammering, Keothavong at least saw the funny side.
“I’m not going to walk out here and slit my wrists or anything,” said Keothavong, who last week became the first British woman in 26 years to reach the semis of a Tour event on clay in Warsaw.
“In the end, you just kind of have to find ways to laugh about it. What else is there to do? I’m sure there will be a few jokes about it but I can take it.”
NOT AMUSED
Safina’s coach, however, was not amused.
“(He felt) I could serve a little bit better and hit the balls a little harder, especially in that love game, 5-0 (in second set), when I pushed a few shots he was angry,” said Safina, who has been beaten on clay just once this season.
“He said: ‘What’s this at 5-0? You have to hit the ball.’“
It is a message Venus Williams could also take on board after her mind went walkabout in the second set during a 6-1 4-6 6-2 win over fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
The third-seeded Williams, who owns seven singles grand slam trophies but has never triumphed at Roland Garros, will next face Czech Lucie Safarova.
Nadal has ruled Roland Garros since 2005 and, as he began his pursuit of a record fifth consecutive title, there was little to suggest that anyone would be able to wrest the title away from him.
Instead of quizzing him about his on-court tactics, the burning question on everyone’s lips was what had possessed the Spaniard to turn up in a pink shirt?
“I don’t know. Why was I in white and yellow two weeks ago?” the 22-year-old retorted. “It’s better than to dress in the same colour every week, no?” Perhaps temporarily blinded by his Brazilian opponent’s fluorescent yellow shirt, Nadal trailed 3-1 in the second set and also got broken while serving for the match.
But Nadal responded in the only way he knows how, unleashing the knockout blow quickly and mercilessly.
The last time Federer had stepped on Philippe Chatrier Court, he was on the receiving end of a 6-1 6-3 6-0 mauling by his nemesis Nadal in the final 12 months ago.
Yesterday, the world number two drew gasps of admiration from the capacity crowd as he stroked an exquisite drop shot to conclude a straightforward victory over another Spanish opponent.
“I’m happy to be through without a fright,” said Federer, who is chasing an elusive French Open crown to complete his collection of grand slam titles.
Roland Garros has never been a happy hunting ground for Maria Sharapova or Andy Roddick but they kept alive their chances with contrasting victories.
Twelve months after Sharapova competed in Paris as the world number one, the Russian turned up ranked 102nd as she is on a comeback trail following a nine-month injury layoff.
Some things, however, never change as Sharapova shrieked and screeched her way to a 3-6 6-1 6-2 victory over Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus.
Roddick reached the second round for the first time since 2005 by smothering French wildcard Romain Jouan 6-2 6-4 6-2.
Asia enjoyed a successful day at the expense of French hopes. Wimbledon semi-finalist Zheng Jie of China beat Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-1 6-3 and Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn cast aside Camille Pin 6-3 5-7 7-5.
