Andy Murray relied on brains and Dinara Safina banked on brawn to reach the third round of the French Open yesterday.
But two decades of experience could not prevent French favorite Fabrice Santoro taking his final singles bow at Roland Garros.
World No. 1 Safina followed up her 6-0, 6-0 walloping of Britain’s Anne Keothavong in the first round with a 6-1, 6-1 demolition of luckless fellow Russian Vitalia Diatchenko.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Diatchenko carried a stuffed pink and blue toy on court as a mascot but the only luck it provided was to ensure she did not suffer the humiliation of a whitewash.
Despite the ruthless performance, Safina’s coach Zeljko Krajan is proving to be a hard man to please.
“If one day he’s going to be happy, I think I will finish my career. He is never happy. Even today, he is not happy,” said the 23-year-old Russian, who won 17 consecutive games at these championships before finally allowing an opponent to take a game off her.
Like Safina, Murray is also chasing a maiden grand slam title but the third seed’s hopes of equaling his best performance in Paris blew hot and cold on a chilly day on Philippe Chatrier Court.
Murray overcame a mid-match wobble by changing tactics to eventually tame Italian Potito Starace 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 6-4.
After losing the second set, Murray ran around aimlessly chasing shadows and looked in danger of going two-sets-to-one down as Starace streaked 5-1 ahead.
A combination of guile and deft shot-making allowed the Briton to save two set points as he dug himself out of a hole.
For Santoro, however, there would be no great escape.
The Frenchman took just eight minutes to perform his final vanishing act yesterday.
Santoro’s 20th and final Roland Garros singles appearance ended in an emotional 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 first round defeat by Belgium’s Christophe Rochus.
The match had been suspended on Tuesday due to bad light at 5-3 to Rochus in the fourth set but upon resumption Santoro bowed out after just two games.
French seventh seed Gilles Simon gave home fans something to cheer about as he overwhelmed American Robert Kendrick 7-5, 6-0, 6-1 to reach the third round, while Spanish eighth seed Fernando Verdasco beat Germany’s Philipp Petzschner 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.
Champagne corks often pop and loud, boisterous cheers are usually heard around Constitution Dock when the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race line honors winner finishes in the Tasmanian state capital. There were no such celebrations this year when the defending champions on board LawConnect won the race in the early hours of yesterday morning, as it came about 24 hours after two sailors died on separate boats in sail boom accidents two hours apart on a storm-ravaged first night of the race. LawConnect, a 100-foot super maxi skippered by Australian tech millionaire Christian Beck, sailed up the River Derwent at just after 2:30am.
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