Fri, May 29, 2009 page19

• Sharapova extends her Slam comeback, Safin loses

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  Former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova battled for more than two hours on Wednesday to see off compatriot Nadia Petrova 6-2, 1-6, 8-6 to reach the French Open last 32.

  Sharapova has now played two three-set matches at Roland Garros as she steps up her push to win the only Grand Slam title she has never won with a semi-final run in 2007 her best performance.

  Five times, Petrova was one point away from serving for the match. But Sharapova didn’t allow her to convert those chances.

  

  Marat Safin of Russia plays a shot during his match against Josselin Ouanna of France at the French Open on Wednesday at Roland Garros in Paris.

  PHOTO: REUTERS

  “She really showed, even though she has been out for a while, she’s willing to compete till the end,” Petrova said.

  Also on Wednesday reigning women’s singles champion Ana Ivanovic crushed Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-1 6-2.

  Meanwhile Marat Safin bowed out of his last French Open with typical flashes of brilliance and petulance in a 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 3-6, 10-8 defeat by wildcard Josselin Ouanna that the former world No. 1 was keen to forget.

  The hotheaded Russian, who will retire at the end of the year, clawed himself back from two sets down to force a decider where he saved two match points before bashing a wild forehand wide to send the 134th-ranked Frenchman into the third round.

  The 20th seed dug himself out of a hole with the type of exquisitely placed forehands that took him to two grand slam titles but then buried himself in deeper trouble with the sloppy shots that trigger displays of frustration.

  Not one to hold back, he found fault with all his shots.

  “[I had a] terrible first serve. And of course, backhand didn’t do anything,” he told a news conference.

  “I couldn’t find any angles to catch his backhand. Terrible approaches, and of course not covering the net the way I should,” Safin said.

  Launching into several monologues directed at his racket, he kicked a ball and punched his racket when he fluffed easy shots and cheered himself when he unleashed the occasional unstoppable shot.

  He was less emotional when asked about leaving Roland Garros for the last time.

  “Well, as you can see, I didn’t draw the heart, and I didn’t lay down and I didn’t cry and I didn’t all those things ... it’s not me,” he said referring to Gustavo Kuerten tracing a huge heart in the clay and flopping down in the middle of it after winning his third French Open in 2001.

  “[It’s] a terrible way to finish with the French Open but anyway ... it’s okay. It’s not so sad. [It] doesn’t get me emotional,” he said.

  Also on Wednesday Rafael Nadal won a record 30th consecutive match at Roland Garros by trampling Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.

  He eclipsed Chris Evert’s mark of 29 to set up a third round showdown with Lleyton Hewitt.

  ■TAIWANESE PROGRESS

  STAFF WRITER

  In the first round of the women’s doubles Taiwan’s Chuang Chia-jung teamed up with India’s Sania Mirza to beat Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium and Turkey’s Ipek Senoglu. The No. 14 seeds took a tight first set 7-5 before running away with the match in the second, which they won 6-1 in only 24 minutes.

  In another first round match, No. 9 seeds Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and China’s Peng Shuai swept aside Liga Dekmeijere of Latvia and Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 6-3, 6-1.
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