The Hindu : Sport : Nadal sets a Roland Garros record

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Nadal sets a Roland Garros record

Venus Williams survives a second-set slump to advance to second round

— PHOTO: AP

HEAVY WEATHER: Third-seeded Venus Williams played a sloppy second set but recovered in time to close her match against Bethanie Mattek-Sands out in three.

PARIS: The modern day King of Clay eclipsed another mark on Monday, this time breaking the men’s record for consecutive wins at Roland Garros.

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal looked his usual dominant self in the first round, beating Marcos Daniel of Brazil 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 for his 29th straight win on the red clay at Roland Garros. The win bettered the mark held by Bjorn Borg, who won 28 straight from 1978-81. Nadal also equalled the overall tournament record, matching the 29 straight that Chris Evert won between 1974-75 and 1979-81. Evert did not play here between 1976 and ’78.

Second seeded Roger Federer defeated Alberto Martin 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 to advance.

Nadal was broken three times by Daniel, but the top-seeded Spaniard remained unbeaten on the red clay in Paris, as he tries to become the first player to win five straight titles at Roland Garros.

“You always start with some nerves,” Nadal said before walking off centre court. “I’m very happy with the win and to advance to the second round.”

Easy for Safina

Dinara Safina, the top-seeded player in the women’s draw, and No. 3 Venus Williams also advanced. Safina routed Anne Keothavong of Britain 6-0, 6-0 by spraying shots to all parts of the court.

“I was just playing point by point, game by game, and it ended up like this,” said Safina, half of the only brother-sister combination alongside Marat Safin to have served as the No. 1-ranked player in the world.

On the men’s side, 10th-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, No. 12 Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, No. 23 Robin Soderling of Sweden and No. 30 Victor Hanescu of Romania advanced.

Keothavong had a couple of chances against Safina, but she wasted two break points in the third game of the first set, and led 40-0 in the fourth game of the second but couldn’t hold on. “When that’s happening to you all you want to do is get on the scoreboard, but I wasn’t able to do that,” Keothavong said. “It just kept getting harder and harder.”

During the changeover for the final game, Keothavong sat in her chair with a towel draped over her head. She emerged from the short break and quickly trailed 0-40, giving Safina three match points.

Hanging on

But Keothavong saved them all, on unforced errors from Safina, and even held two game points.

Safina wasted a fourth match point by hitting long and converted the fifth with a forehand winner down the line.

“After I (shook) her hand, she said: ‘At least you could give me one game,”’ Safina said. “I could imagine it’s not nice to feel (like that) on the court, but I was just so into myself.”

Venus, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, survived a sudden second-set slump to beat Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-1, 4-6, 6-2. She won the match’s first five games, while Mattek asked for a medical time-out during the first set so a trainer could look at her right wrist.

Most wins

Venus has never won Roland Garros, but she did reach the final in 2002 when she lost to little sister Serena. Overall, she holds a 36-12 record here, giving her the most wins of any player in the women’s draw at the tournament.

Venus was upset in the third round in three of the last four years. In 2006, she reached the quarterfinals. — AP

THE RESULTS

Prefix denotes seeding

First round: Men: 2-Roger Federer (Sui) bt Alberto Martin (Esp) 6-4, 6-3, 6-2; 10-Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) bt Stefan Koubek (Aut) 6-2, 6-1, 6-4; Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt Gilles Muller (Lux) 7-6(2), 6-1, 6-4; 17-Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui) bt Nicolas Devilder (Fra) 6-3, 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; Potito Starace (Ita) bt Mischa Zverev (Ger) 6-7(5), 7-5, 1-0 retired; 23-Robin Soderling (Swe) bt Kevin Kim (USA) 7-6(4), 7-6(4), 6-2; Nicolas Massu (Chi) bt Daniel Koellerer (Aut) 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 2-6, 6-3.

Nicolas Kiefer (Ger) bt Ilia Bozoljac (Ser) 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4; Denis Istomin (Uzb) bt Santiago Giraldo (Col) 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(4); 30-Victor Hanescu (Rou) bt Steve Darcis (Bel) 7-6(8), 7-6(5), 7-6(3); 1-Rafael Nadal (Esp) bt Marcos Daniel (Bra) 7-5, 6-4, 6-3; 12-Fernando Gonzalez (Chi) bt Jiri Vanek (Cze) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3; 32-Paul Henri Mathieu (Fra) bt Laurent Recouderc (Fra) 6-4, 6-4, 6-1; 17-Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui) bt Nicolas Devilder (Fra) 6-3, 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

14-David Ferrer (Esp) bt Frederico Gil (Por) 6-2, 6-4, 6-4; 18-Radek Stepanek (Cze) bt Gaston Gaudio (Arg) 6-3, 6-4, 6-1; 3-Andy Murray (Gbr) bt Juan Ignacio Chela (Arg) 6-2, 6-2, 6-1; 7-Gilles Simon (Fra) bt Wayne Odesnik (USA) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

Women: Aravane Rezai (Fra) bt Ai Sugiyama (Jpn) 6-3, 6-2; 1-Dinara Safina (Rus) bt Anne Keothavong (GBr) 6-0, 6-0; 29-Agnes Szavay (Hun) bt Corinna Dentoni (Ita) 6-3, 6-4; Tamarine Tanasugarn (Tha) bt Camille Pin (Fra) 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.

Polona Hercog (Slo) bt 23-Alisa Kleybanova (Rus) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1; Kirsten Flipkens (Bel) bt Stephanie Foretz (Fra) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4; 3-Venus Williams (USA) bt Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2; Lucie Safarova (Cze) bt Sabine Lisicki (Ger) 6-2, 1-6, 6-1; Lucie Hradecka (Cze) bt Yvonne Meusburger (Aut) 6-1, 6-2; Michelle Larcher de Brito (Por) bt Melanie South (GBr) 0-6, 7-6(5), 7-5.

22-Carla Suarez Navarro (Esp) bt Edina Gallovits (Rou) 6-1, 6-4; 15-Zheng Jie (Chn) bt Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (Fra) 6-1, 6-3; 20-Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) bt Alona Bondarenko (Ukr) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

11-Nadia Petrova (Rus) bt Lauren Embree (USA) 6-1, 6-2; Arantxa Rus (Ned) bt Olivia Sanchez (Fra) 6-1, 6-1; Yaroslava Shvedova (Kaz) bt 19-Kaia Kanepi (Est) 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-2; 9-Victoria Azarenka (Blr) bt Roberta Vinci (Ita) 6-4, 6-2; Gisela Dulko (Arg) bt Tamira Paszek (Aut) 6-1, 6-3; Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Ger) bt 16-Amelie Mauresmo (Fra) 6-4, 6-3.

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