WTA: May 24-June 6 French Open Roland Garros, FRA Grand Slam 128 players - outdoor: red clay prize money: 5,678,100 euros (women's) tournament schedule IBM Real-Time Scoreboard - Netcam Matches: order - current - completed Draws: XD - WTA draws, .pdf Women's: qualifying - singles - doubles Men's: qualifying - singles - doubles photos - news - interviews - site map Yahoo! news photos: US - France Videos: interviews - highlights - finals, '90-'03 Paris: forecast - map - RG map # 1 J Henin-Hardenne, # 7 S Williams # 3 A Mauresmo, # 9 V Williams

tourney archive: previous tourney page     next tourney page Paris: #5 Anastasia Myskina  5'8½", 130½ lbs, RH, 2H-BH  Paris: 1st Russian woman to win  a Grand Slam singles title

Anastasia!: The strongest Russian woman currently on the WTA Tour might not win any arm wrestling contests. But her forehand and backhand are just fine. In the Women's Singles Final of the French Open at Roland Garros on Saturday, 22-year-old 6th-seeded # 5 Anastasia Myskina from Moscow, Russia defeated her her compatriot and childhood tennis classmate, 22-year-old 9th-seeded # 10 Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-2     Although Elena reportedly gets upset with her serving problems during practice, she looked fairly relaxed at the start. Anastasia, who served first, looked quite nervous at the beginning and in the opening game she hit an error at 30-30, then double faulted on break point. Things were thus looking good for Elena early, but she double faulted herself on her first service point, and 4 points later double faulted again, giving Anastasia the break back.     Anastasia had calmed down by this time, and held the third game at love, hitting a winner on game point to go up 2-1, on serve. Anastasia was playing conservatively, as she has been to get this far, but unlike her opponents in the previous 2 rounds (Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati), Elena was also playing conservatively. The first player to approach the net was Anastasia in the 4th game, where she hit a winner to go up a break 3-1.     The 5th game of the 1st set was pivotal, and it was the longest game of the match. Elena needed to break Anastasia to get back on serve. On the point at deuce Elena hit a towering lob that fell directly on the top of the net tape, then dropped on Anastasia's side, and she hit it into the net, to give Elena a break point.

    But Elena hit an error, and though this game went to the 5th deuce before Anastasia held, Elena would not have another break point until the last game of the match. After holding, Anastasia broke Elena at love to reach 5-1, and then held serve to take the 1st set 6-1, returning what looked like a winner by Elena to reach 40-15, then hitting a winner herself on set point.

    In the first game of the 2nd set Elena was again unable to hold serve; on break point Elena came to the net for the 1st time, and Anastasia lobbed the ball over her to take the break. Anastasia held, and by this time, although Elena held her next two service games, and hit some very nice shots, the match seemed to be decided. It was all over in the 7th game of the 2nd set, when Elena, at 30-30, hit 2 consecutive double faults, her 9th and 10th of the match, to go down 2 breaks, Anastasia leading 5-2. Although Elena held her 3rd break point of the match in the final game, Anastasia hit a big winner to bring it to deuce, then won the last two points on errors by Elena, taking the 2nd set 6-2. Anastasia's serve was broken only once, in the 1st game of the match when she looked quite nervous; Elena's serve was broken 5 times.

    Day 13 match highlight video: 56KB - 256KB

    Elena didn't look particularly nervous at the start, but Anastasia thought she was. Anastasia said: "Elena was really nervous, I think. I used some weakness that I knew. She not going to serve well when she nervous, and I knew that, so I used that. And I was serving pretty well today. I didn't do really lot of double faults. I knew her game really well. I knew that she's like to play fast tennis, and I took a pace off. I was just running a lot today. The whole weeks was for me great. Just maybe was a little bit of luck, as well. But I just am really happy." interview - fragment on RealVideo: 56KB - 256KB

    Elena agreed that the pressure got to her. Elena said: "I couldn't play my game at all. I was waiting for this moment all my life, just couldn't handle this pressure. I was maybe too excited today on the court. My concentration wasn't there. I couldn't even, you know, clearly see the ball. Just didn't apply my game at all... I was rushing all the time. I couldn't stop myself and say, 'Just stop, I have to change something.' I was just losing point after point. Couldn't change anything, you know. Just wasn't me on the court today." interview - fragment on RealVideo: 56KB - 256KB

    Both young ladies are moving up to the highest ranks of their careers: Anastasia will be # 3 when the WTA singles rankings come out on Monday; Elena will be # 6.

    Anastasia and Elena first met when they were 7 years old at Moscow's Spartak Academy, where they received their first serious tennis education along with Anna Kournikova, who has been off the WTA Tour for a year now with a chronic low back injury (earlier this year Anastasia credited Anna with making an important contribution to the advance of Russian tennis). Although Anastasia now leads 4-3 in WTA career matches (her 4 wins are the 4 times they have met on clay), after the SFs a very happy Elena told US TV viewers that she and Anastasia have played "millions of times" dating back to their early childhood.

    Born in Moscow on July 8, 1981, Anastasia still picks up her mail there. She has now won 8 of the 12 WTA singles finals she has played in, the largest of which was last years Tier I Kremlin Cup. Anastasia once wore Puma togs, but last year she became "Property of Nike," and she chops with a Head axe. She is coached by Jens Gerlach, who reportedly was once but is no longer her significant male other as well. She has also worked with Dutchman Robert Lansdorp, who coaches Maria Sharapova. Anastasia's form has a refreshing relaxed look to it, with just a little cringing, and not much grunting. Strong off both wings, Anastasia says she thinks her backhand is stronger. Her mobility is excellent, she observes and reacts to her opponents very well, and although she doesn't appear to be walloping the ball as much as some other players, it still leaves her racquet with plenty of pace on it at times. Although Anastasia's serve is not particularly powerful, she gets it in with something on it fairly consistently, and in their semi Jennifer Capriati had trouble even with Anastasia's as-low-as 72 mph 2nd serve, sending a number of them into the net. Anastasia's career record

    Elena was also born in Moscow, on October 15, 1981, and also still "resides" there during her few weeks a year off of the WTA Tour. Elena is now 3-9 in WTA singles finals; winning all 3 of her WTA singles titles last year (Amelia Island, Bali, and Shanghai). This was not exactly Elena's first Grand Slam final; she reached the US Open doubles final partnered with Janette Husarova in 2002 (they were defeated by the almost invincable Paola Suarez and Virginia Ruano Pascual). Like Maggie Maleeva, Shinobu Asagoe, and others, Elena's garb and her bat are both labeled "Yonex" (her racquet was the "MP Tour-1" model, but the WTA reports she now uses a "RDX 500"). Elena's mother Vera travels with her on the tour, and so does former Russian great Olga Morozova, her current coach, obviously providing Elena with an ontour environment somewhat different from Anastasia's. Also unlike Anastasia, Elena really slugs the ball, wallops it both from the forehand and backhand side. She prefers her forehand; says Elena: "I really like to be aggressive on my forehand side.". Her mobility is good, but her serve really lets her down. Her toss is ungainly, her first serve is unreliable and her 2nd generally weak, and she frequently double faults. It was obvious in her post-match press conference that Elena was emotionally upset about her poor serving in the match, and she does need to keep working at it, but she has nothing to be ashamed of. Elena defeated Lindsay Davenport and Amelie Mauresmo on her way to the Final of a Grand Slam, and in the past year she has defeated Venus Williams, Nadia Petrova, Chanda Rubin, Silvia Farina Elia, Francesca Schiavone, Maria Sharapova, Conchita Martinez, and, yes, Anastasia Myskina, to name the big ones (if you go just over a year, she also has a win over Justine Henin-Hardenne). She can play, and now she will be ranked # 6 in the world. Elena's career record

French Open news photo links: Yahoo! US - Yahoo! France

French Open:
    The main draw for Roland Garros had 32 seeds, and as with all modern Grand Slam tourneys, there were NO 1st-round byes. There were 12 qualifiers, 2 Lucky Losers (the highest-ranked players to lose in qualifying), and 8 wild cards in the main draw.
    Paris time is GMT (UCT, ZULU) + 2 hours (US Pacific Daylight Time +9, EDT +6). Early round play begins at 11am local time (2am PT, 5am ET in the US). The French Open has the very nice IBM live scoring by points, with statistics.
    Weekday TV coverage in the US began at 8am ET (5am PT) on ESPN2, moving to ESPN at 12:30pm or Noon ET. Unfortunately they followed the standard stunt of pretending the matches are live when they are on tape delay; thus they did not tell you the scores of many matches that had been completed because they were pretending they haven't been played yet. On the weekends, NBC telecast the French Open, beginning at Noon ET May 29, 10am ET May 30, 10am ET June 4, 9am ET June 5 (Women's Final), and 9am June 6 (Men's Final).

WTA SCOREBOARD: The French Open at Roland Garros, Paris s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? 16-year-old Tatiana Golovin practiced at Roland Garros on Sun May 23   Serena Williams modeled her latest Nike fashions on Sat May 22

French Open, 1st Round Mon-Tues May 24-25 11am loser's prize: $13,822.85 US; points: 2 May 24 match highlight video: 56KB - 256KB May 25 match highlight video: 56KB - 256KB #1 s1 Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL d #312 wc Sandrine Testud FRA 6-4, 6-4 Sandrine Testud & Justine Henin-Hardenne posed for photographers before playing the 1st match of the 2004 French Open on the Philippe Chartrier (center) Court #3 s3 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #75 Ludmila Cervanova SVK 6-3, 6-3 #4 s5 Lindsay Davenport USA d #125 wc Virginie Pichet FRA 6-4, 6-2 Lindsay Davenport     Both players had trouble holding serve in the 1st set. Lindsay said: "I played okay. I felt like I got better as the match went on. It's always tough to start off the tournament on a great foot. But I felt like I got better, you know, and hope to get better with each match now... I think it's always difficult to figure out how the courts are playing... I always struggle a little bit in my first round in tournaments. I always feel like that's the match where I'm not sure, then I get better and better." interview #5 s6 Anastasia Myskina RUS d #40 Alicia Molik AUS 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 Tues #6 s7 Jennifer Capriati USA d #116 Yulia Beygelzimer UKR 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 Tues Jennifer Capriati #7 s2 Serena Williams USA d #50 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-2, 6-2 Tues Serena Williams     Serena said: "I think I made a lot of mistakes today. I think I was a little nervous going into that. I'm happy to get that one under my belt and go on to the next round."     About her left knee, on which she had tendon repair surgery last August, Serena said: "It's feeling really good. After I'm done playing, I immediately go stretch. But it's been feeling pretty good, so I'm really, really excited." interview #8 s8 Nadia Petrova RUS d #97 Catalina Castano COL 6-2, 6-3 #9 s4 Venus Williams USA d #55 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA 6-2, 6-4 Tues     Venus lost the 1st 2 games before winning the next 6 to take the 1st set. Venus said: "I didn't start out sliding in the match really, especially off the backhand. You know, I was a little stressed out, too, starting out, got a slow start. But started to relax further into the match... I think my feet were slow. I was slow in general, making some errors. I had to kind of leave that behind in order for me to play the match." interview #10 s9 Elena Dementieva RUS d #103 Mervana Jugic-Salic BIH 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-4 #11 s10 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #202 q Zuzana Kucova SVK 6-0, 6-2 #12 s11 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #158 q Lubomira Bacheva BUL 6-0, 7-6(2) Tues #13 s12 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #70 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-4, 6-3 Tues Ai Sugiyama #15 s14 Paola Suarez ARG d #98 Milagros Sequera VEN 6-3, 6-4 #16 s15 Silvia Farina Elia ITA d #52 Jelena Jankovic SCG 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 #17 s16 Patty Schnyder SUI d #45 Aniko Kapros HUN 6-4, 6-1 Tues #18 s17 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #96 Stephanie Cohen Aloro FRA 6-1, 6-2 Tues #19 s18 Maria Sharapova RUS d #441 Barbara Schwartz AUT 6-3, 6-0 #20 s19 Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi ISR d #57 Flavia Pennetta ITA 6-1, 6-4 Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi #21 s20 Conchita Martinez ESP d #111 q Teryn Ashley USA 6-2, 6-4 Tues #22 s21 Magdalena Maleeva BUL d #48 Anca Barna GER 6-2, 6-2 *#93 Myriam Casanova SUI d #23 s22 Karolina Sprem CRO 7-5, 6-2 Tues #24 s23 Fabiola Zuluaga COL d #56 Martina Sucha SVK 6-2, 6-1 Tues *#105 Tatiana Perebiynis UKR d #25 s24 Jelena Dokic SCG 6-4, 6-1 #26 s25 Elena Bovina RUS d #113 q Roberta Vinci ITA 7-5, 6-1 Tues *#124 wc Stephanie Foretz FRA d #27 s26 Nathalie Dechy FRA 1-6, 5-7, 6-1 Tues *#108 Marlene Weingartner GER d #28 s27 Eleni Daniilidou GRE 6-3, 6-3 #29 s28 Lisa Raymond USA d #69 Lubomira Kurhajcova SVK 0-6. 7-5, 6-3     After dropping the 1st set 0-6, Lisa trailed 0-5 in the 2nd set before recovering to win. #30 s29 Petra Mandula HUN d #155 q Kelly McCain USA 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 Tues #31 s30 Mary Pierce FRA d #66 Claudine Schaul LUX 6-2, 6-3 Tues Mary Pierce     Mary said: "I was ready for a battle. I hadn't ever seen [Claudine] play, had never played her, obviously. She definitely had a great week last week, winning [the tourney at Strasbourg], beating some great players... I'm feeling pretty good, just happy with the way I came out, especially in the beginning, in the first set. I'm really happy with that... I think also Claudine was probably a little bit tired. It's difficult to come and play a tournament the week right after you win a tournament - especially for her, winning the way she did. Physically, I guess she was not a hundred percent, as well. Probably didn't play as well today as she had last week. I guess that's a good thing for me." interview #32 s31 Emilie Loit FRA d #106 Sandra Kleinova CZE 6-4, 6-4 #33 s32 Dinara Safina RUS d #117 q Julia Schruff GER 7-5, 6(4)-7, 6-3 #34 Maria Vento-Kabchi VEN d #92 Lindsay Lee-Waters USA 6-4, 6-2 Tues #35 Maria Sanchez Lorenzo ESP d #172 q Sanda Mamic CRO 6-4, 7-5 *#46 Nicole Pratt AUS d #36 Tina Pisnik SLO 6-4, 6-2 #37 Meghann Shaughnessy USA d #85 Samantha Reeves USA 6-4, 6-3 Meghann Shaughnessy *#74 Maria Elena Camerin ITA d #38 Amy Frazier USA 6-3, 6-2 #41 Jelena Kostanic CRO d #119 wc Camille Pin FRA 6-4, 6-3 Tues #42 Elena Likhovtseva RUS d #84 Alina Jidkova RUS 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 Tues *#121 wc Virginie Razzano FRA d #43 Kristina Brandi PUR 6-3, 7-6(4) Tues #44 Magui Serna ESP d #64 Akiko Morigami JPN 6-3, 3-6, 8-6 *#80 Vera Douchevina RUS d #47 Saori Obata JPN 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 *#51 Shinobu Asagoe JPN d #49 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-1, 6-3 Tues *#107 Gala Leon Garcia ESP d #53 Laura Granville USA 6-4, 6-1 Tues *#156 q Barbara Rittner GER d #54 Barbara Schett AUT 6-3, 6-3 Tues *#68 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #58 Jill Craybas USA 6-2, 6-1 *#62 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #59 Cara Black ZIM 6-3, 6-3 Tues #60 Marta Marrero ESP d #211 wc Cristina Wheeler AUS 6-2, 4-6, 9-7 #61 Gisela Dulko ARG d NR wc Martina Navratilova USA 6-1, 6-3 Tues Gisela Dulko #63 Jie Zheng CHN d #81 Dally Randriantefy MAD 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 *#78 Klara Koukalova CZE d #65 Tatiana Golovin FRA 7-6(4), 7-6(2) started Mon, finished Tues Klara Koukalova     Tatiana said: "...it's not that I wasn't playing well, it's more that I wasn't attacking the ball. So I don't think there's anything technical that I need to change, it's more attacking the ball... [Klara] took me by surprise because she was playing very fast, and I was playing too much in the center, and then I was going backward rather than forward. I think that the score was getting closer and closer, I was getting more tense." interview #67 Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP d #77 Julia Vakulenko UKR 7-5, 6-2 #86 Tathiana Garbin ITA d #120 Con. Martinez Granados ESP 6-1, 6-2 *#88 Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP d #71 Melinda Czink HUN 6-4, 6-2 Tues #72 Denisa Chladkova CZE d #94 wc Severine Beltrame FRA 6-4, 6-3 Tues #73 Ashley Harkleroad USA d #144 Mariana Diaz-Oliva ARG 6-2, 6-1 #76 Barbora Strycova CZE d #83 Els Callens BEL 6-3, 6-2 Tues *#123 q Yuliana Fedak UKR d #79 Mara Santangelo ITA 6-3, 6-1 #82 Rita Grande ITA d #99 Henrieta Nagyova SVK 7-6(7), 6-1 *#102 Maria Kirilenko RUS d #89 Marie-Gayane Mikaelian SUI 7-5, 7-6(5) Tues *#110 Silvija Talaja CRO d #91 Emmanuelle Gagliardi SUI 6-3, 6-4 Tues #95 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER d #100 Samantha Stosur AUS 6-2, 6-0 Tues *#104 q Marissa Irvin USA d #101 Tara Snyder USA 6-2, 6-0 Marissa Irvin #109 q Shenay Perry USA d LL #131 Tzipora Obziler ISR 6-4, 6-3 Tues *NR q Kveta (Hrdlickova) Peschke CZE d #115 LL Eva Birnerova CZE 7-6(5), 6-0 Tues

French Open, 2nd Round Weds-Thurs May 26-27 11am loser's prize: $23,002.08 US; points: 32 May 26 match highlight video: 56KB - 256KB May 27 match highlight video: 56KB - 256KB *#86 Tathiana Garbin ITA d #1 s1 Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL 7-5, 6-4 Tathiana Garbin     Justine had said earlier that she was only at about 75% of her capability for this tourney. The match stats comfirm this. Justine's average 1st serve speed was 98 mph, not bad for many players, but below Justine's norm. She only won the point on 55% of her 1st serves, and she had 30 unforced errors, including 10 double faults, while hitting only 23 winners. match stats     Justine said: "I know that I still need a little bit more time to be hundred percent. It's not easy to recover... I was feeling good, but on the court it's for sure different... But I don't want to find any excuse. It's hard to come back, for sure, after this kind of problem that I got. But it's not the main reason, you know. I was really nervous, I wasn't moving well, I was late all the time. I couldn't play my game... Tathiana played a very good match. What could I say? It was my bad day and it was her great day. There's nothing else to say. She took her chances, and I wasn't the player I have been for 12 months now. But it's okay, it's life." interview     This is a huge win for Tathiana, whose career-high rank was # 38 (in 2000). In addition to reaching the 3rd round, Tatiana will receive 200 ranking bonus points for defeating the # 1 player in a Grand Slam. She might well be back up in the top 50 after this tourney is over, and that will mean she will get directly into the main draw for some other tourneys where she would have had to otherwise go through qualifying, giving her a better chance to earn even more ranking points. Tathiana was not afraid of Justine: she had defeated Justine 6-3, 6-1 in Miami in 2001, and now holds a 2-1 advantage in their career matches.     Tathiana said: "I am just so happy. I really can't believe I have just beaten the defending champion. But it was very tough because she is the world number one... My philosophy was to go on court and play easily. At the start she missed a lot and I got some easy balls. I was playing well and then I tried harder." story #3 s3 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #68 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 #4 s5 Lindsay Davenport USA d #35 Maria Sanchez Lorenzo ESP 6-4, 6-1 #5 s6 Anastasia Myskina RUS d #76 Barbora Strycova CZE 6-0, 6-4 Thurs Anastasia Myskina #6 s7 Jennifer Capriati USA d NR q Kveta (Hrdlickova) Peschke CZE 7-5, 6-3 Thurs     Kveta was Kveta Hrdlickova until she married her coach, Torsten Peschke. Although currently unranked because she was off the Tour last year, Kveta has been ranked as high as #33 (in 2000).     Jennifer said: "I did what I had to do to basically win the match. A little slow start in the beginning... Maybe it took me a little while to get going and wake up there a little bit. [Kveta] didn't give me a lot of rhythm... kind of tough to get into a rhythm the whole time. But I feel like I served well. interview #7 s2 Serena Williams USA v #102 Maria Kirilenko RUS 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 Thurs     Serena said: "Maria played really well and has a well-rounded game, but it was all down to me making lots of errors... I couldn't keep a ball in. I think I made a thousand mistakes [the stats give Serena 26 unforced errors]. I don't have time to tell you everything that went wrong today... I told myself to keep fighting but I felt I was down all the time."     Maria said: "I think [Serena] was very nervous today. She played maybe not good." story #8 s8 Nadia Petrova RUS d #123 q Yuliana Fedak UKR 6-0, 6-1 #9 s4 Venus Williams USA d #41 Jelena Kostanic CRO 6-3, 6-3 Thurs Venus Williams #10 s9 Elena Dementieva RUS d #46 Nicole Pratt AUS 6-2, 6-2 Elena Dementieva #11 s10 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #44 Magui Serna ESP 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 Vera Zvonareva #12 s11 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS v #156 q Barbara Rittner GER 6-1, 6-4 Thurs *#88 Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP d #13 s12 Ai Sugiyama JPN 6(4)-7, 6-2, 6-1 Thurs Virginia Ruano Pascual #15 s14 Paola Suarez ARG d #80 Vera Douchevina RUS 6-1, 6-4 *#37 Meghann Shaughnessy USA d #16 s15 Silvia Farina Elia ITA 6-3, 3-6, 9-7 Meghann Shaughnessy *#51 Shinobu Asagoe JPN d #17 s16 Patty Schnyder SUI 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 Thurs Shinobu Asagoe #18 s17 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #121 wc Virginie Razzano FRA 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 Thurs #19 s18 Maria Sharapova RUS d #82 Rita Grande ITA 6-2, 6-0 Maria Sharapova #20 s19 Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi ISR d #78 Klara Koukalova CZE 6-1, 7-5 *#61 Gisela Dulko ARG d #21 s20 Conchita Martinez ESP 6-4, 7-5 Thurs Gisela Dulko #22 s21 Magdalena Maleeva BUL v #60 Marta Marrero ESP 7-5, 6(3)-7, 7-5 #24 s23 Fabiola Zuluaga COL d #42 Elena Likhovtseva RUS 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 Thurs #26 s25 Elena Bovina RUS d #95 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER 3-2 retired Thurs *#67 Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP d #29 s28 Lisa Raymond USA 6-4, 6-0 *#72 Denisa Chladkova CZE d #30 s29 Petra Mandula HUN 6-2, 6-3 Thurs #31 s30 Mary Pierce FRA d #107 Gala Leon Garcia ESP 6-1, 6-1 Thurs Mary Pierce     Mary said: "This match I was feeling better than the last. I wasn't too tense except for one game at 6-1, 5-0, for some reason. So I'm definitely doing better. I think I played the right tactics, rather than just hit the ball." story *#63 Jie Zheng CHN d #32 s31 Emilie Loit FRA 6-4, 6-1 *#104 q Marissa Irvin USA d #33 s32 Dinara Safina RUS 7-6(5), 6-2 *#93 Myriam Casanova SUI d #34 Maria Vento-Kabchi VEN 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 Thurs #62 Katarina Srebotnik SLO v #109 q Shenay Perry USA 6-4, 6-3 Thurs *#105 Tatiana Perebiynis UKR d #73 Ashley Harkleroad USA 6-1, 6-3 *#108 Marlene Weingartner GER d #74 Maria Elena Camerin ITA 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 #110 Silvija Talaja CRO d #124 wc Stephanie Foretz FRA 2-6, 7-6(8), 6-2Thurs

French Open, 3rd Round Fri-Sat May 28-29 story loser's prize: $38,144.82 US; points: 56 May 28 match highlight video: 56KB - 256KB #3 s3 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #67 Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP 6-3, 6-2     Amelie said: "It was a tough beginning to the match. I was a little bit slow in the first three games. I didn't really know [Arantxa's] game. But then I found my rhythm and I played better and better. In the second set I was really good." story #4 s5 Lindsay Davenport USA d #104 q Marissa Irvin USA 6-1, 6-4 #5 s6 Anastasia Myskina RUS d #72 Denisa Chladkova CZE 6-3, 7-6(3) Sat     Anastasia said: "I think I didn't play my best, for sure. And, I mean, I'm happy that I won and I passed a round. I mean, I'd prefer not lose today. But I hope next match is gonna be better because if I will play the same level that I played today, I'm not gonna win." #6 s7 Jennifer Capriati USA d #26 s25 Elena Bovina RUS 6-2, 3-6, 6-4Sat Jennifer Capriati     Jennifer said: You have to be fit anywhere to play any Grand Slam. But I think it's just the whole mindset is different here because... you can't just blast anyone off the court. You really have to kind of work the point, work the rally, you know, just be physically fit and have a lot of patience out there. interview #7 s2 Serena Williams USA d #110 Silvija Talaja CRO 6-0, 6-4 Sat *#108 Marlene Weingartner GER d #8 s8 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-3, 6-2 Marlene Weingartner     Marlene said: "I think that I was a little bit nervous in the beginning, but I surprisingly calmed myself down. I was very, very calm during the whole match. Even at the end, I was focused very much on my game.  I think that was the key. If I play my tennis, I can beat players like this."     Nadia said: "I’m very disappointed because this French Open draw is screwed up and everyone could reach the final. I wasn’t there today. I rushed through everything." #9 s4 Venus Williams USA d #31 s30 Mary Pierce FRA 6-3, 6-1 Sat     Venus said: "It was a good match. Not necessarily a lot of long rallies, but there were some close games, I think about three or four of them went back and forth to deuce, that were really important games, as far as possible swings in momentum. interview     Mary said: "I wanted this match badly, and I wanted to have a very good match, so it was a lot of pressure for me. I was not relaxed enough, I was not playing freely, I was not moving well on the court either. It's a great pity, because I had the feeling that my game was improving in the tournament. Once again, it's proof that when I have certain pressure on me. When I'm thinking too hard that I should win, it's the worst tennis that comes out of me. So I have to be careful what I do and avoid that sort of pressure. But it's not easy because you want to win. Venus played very solid tennis as well, very steady, so it was difficult, very deep shots. It was very difficult." interview #10 s9 Elena Dementieva RUS d #20 s19 Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi ISR 0-6, 7-6(2), 0-1 retired-- body cramping *#19 s18 Maria Sharapova RUS d #11 s10 Vera Zvonareva RUS 6-3, 7-6(3) Maria Sharapova     Maria said: "This match was definitely a little breakthrough for me. [Vera is] definitely a great player, and I have so much respect for her.  And the fact that I played her at the beginning of the year and lost [in Memphis] made me want to go out there and challenge myself and beat her. So I did that, and I was quite successful at it... The first set I was totally in control. I felt great. And in the second set, expecting something great from a top player, she all of a sudden came up and hit some, you know, amazing shots, started hitting deep, and I just kept myself cool. And throughout the match I was just thinking positive." #12 s11 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #93 Myriam Casanova SUI 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 Sat #15 s14 Paola Suarez ARG d #105 Tatiana Perebiynis UKR 6-3, 6-3 Paola Suarez #18 s17 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #88 Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP 6-2, 6-3 Sat #22 s21 Magdalena Maleeva BUL d #37 Meghann Shaughnessy USA 6-3, 7-6(2) Maggie Maleeva #24 s23 Fabiola Zuluaga COL d #62 Katarina Srebotnik SLO 5-7, 2-6, 3-6 Sat Fabiola Zuluaga #51 Shinobu Asagoe JPN d #61 Gisela Dulko ARG 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 Sat Shinobu Asagoe #63 Jie Zheng CHN d #86 Tathiana Garbin ITA 5-7, 7-6(1), 6-2 Jie Zheng     Jie is the first Chinese woman ever to reach the 4th round of a Grand Slam tourney.     Jie said "I think the difference today was endurance. I work on my conditioning at home for an hour a day." story     Jie will have to turn over most of her prize money to the Chinese Tennis Association. Jie said: "I can keep some percent. The Chinese tennis association spends a lot of money on the players to let them travel abroad. All the expenses are covered."

French Open, 4th Round, Sun May 30 11am loser's prize: $65,478.54 US; points: 90 #3 s3 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #22 s21 Magdalena Maleeva BUL 6-2, 6-1     About her QF Tuesday against Elena Dementieva, Amelie said: "...this is a player I know quite well. In fact, we've played each other a number of times before, particularly last year. I think it's up to me to impose my strong points, my game, and not let her take the initiative." interview *#10 s9 Elena Dementieva RUS d #4 s5 Lindsay Davenport USA 6-1, 6-3 Elena Dementieva     Lindsay was slowed by some knee trouble, which was described as "an aggravation of patella femoral joint irritation." Lindsay said: "In the beginning it felt fine. I lost the first set 6-1 because I didn't play well, it wasn't even that. But early in the second, I just felt this like click that I get in there where I just kind of land funny on my knee. From then on, it was really sore. I don't know exactly what I did. I'm pretty sure I didn't fracture the cartilage like I did the bad time before. I don't know if maybe I have a small bone bruise again or what. It was just a huge irritant in the second set."     About her QF Tuesday against Amelie Mauresmo, Elena said: "I play a lot of times against Amelie . It's going to be a very difficult match to play against her here in Paris. She has a great support from the public. But I had some good experience against her. You know, maybe for the first time I'm going to play on center court, I never play here before, so I'm very exciting about it...she just won two tournaments. She's in great shape. It's going to be very difficult for me." interview #5 s6 Anastasia Myskina RUS d #12 s11 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 1-6, 6-4, 8-6 Anastasia Myskina #6 s7 Jennifer Capriati USA d #18 s17 Francesca Schiavone ITA 7-5, 6-1 #7 s2 Serena Williams USA d #51 Shinobu Asagoe JPN 6-3, 6-1 Serena Williams     About her QF Tuesday against Jennifer Capriati, Serena said: "...I did play her a few weeks ago. She won. So it will be a good match... We always go three sets - it seems like it. It's always intense. The score line is really close. It can go one way or the other. I think regardless, it's really going to be an exciting match. I'll make sure that I'm up for it. interview #9 s4 Venus Williams USA d #24 s23 Fabiola Zuluaga COL 6-1, 7-6(3) #15 s14 Paola Suarez ARG d #63 Jie Zheng CHN 6-4, 7-5 Paola Suarez #19 s18 Maria Sharapova RUS d #108 Marlene Weingartner GER 6-3, 6-1 Maria Sharapova     Maria, who turned 17 on April 19th, has reached her 1st Grand Slam tourney quarterfinals. Maria said: "I'm so happy to be here and be in the quarters. It's an amazing accomplishment and I know that. But I've got to look ahead. I'll keep the emotions after the tournament because I know that I still have three rounds to go to win a tournament, and I'm really looking forward to playing some great tennis in the next round, just like I've been doing this whole week... Nothing is out of reach for me. Every tournament I come into, I want to win it, and I know that I can do that, especially with the way I've been playing this past week. I've been feeling very good and very confident.  I have nothing to lose." story

French Open, QFs, Tues Jun 1 loser's prize: $129,469.21 US; points: 162 *#10 s9 Elena Dementieva RUS d #3 s3 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 6-4, 6-3 stats     career matches: Amelie leads 5-3 Elena Dementieva     Elena said: "I had absolutely no pressure by playing with [Amelie]. She was the favorite of our match, and I had a great result so far, so I had nothing to lose. I just came on the court, I was trying to play, you know, as hard as possible, as deep as possible, because I know she doesn't like this kind of game. I think my match against Smashnova gave me a lot of experience because I think Amelie is playing same game - maybe a little bit more aggressive, but it's kind of lobs and all this without speed balls." interview #5 s6 Anastasia Myskina RUS d #9 s4 Venus Williams USA 6-3, 6-4 stats     career matches: Venus leads 2-1 Anastasia Myskina     Anastasia said: "I never beat Venus before, and I think it was a good match. I really fought, and I really, really want to win today... I think Venus not really right now in her best level, and I knew that I can beat her. And the game was like - usually Venus like to make winners. Today was like more unforced errors. And I just tried to keep the ball in play today... I was trying to open the corner for the forehand, but then she was missing also the backhand today, maybe because she was nervous as well. But today, like I said, it was not her best tennis. I used this today. I'm really, really happy. But, you know, it's not end of the tournament so I have to keep going. I know the next match is gonna be really tough because Jennifer is great player and I know how much she wants to win right now. She beat Serena. That shows as well that she's really good. I just have to keep calm." interview #6 s7 Jennifer Capriati USA d #7 s2 Serena Williams USA 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 stats     career matches: Serena leads 9-6 Jennifer Capriati     Jennifer said: "I looked up to my parents there, and I was just like, 'Finally, it's about time one of these went my way for once.' So I felt like I really earned it. I had to earn it. I feel like I really played better out there and just deserved the win." interview #15 s14 Paola Suarez ARG d #19 s18 Maria Sharapova RUS 6-1, 6-3 stats     career matches: Paola leads 1-0 Paola Suarez     Paola said: "I think [Maria] was a little bit tight and nervous... I play most of the balls to the middle of the court because she likes when I play angles. And I think she couldn't get the key to try to play winners from there. I think the most important thing, I think she was tight, like really tight, like tough for her, too much nervous. I think because of this reason, it's tough for both of us, because she hit very fast and I have to run. I mean, she doesn't move a lot, because already aggressive. And me, I have to run. But I think the conditions was better for me because the court was heavy, and she doesn't like to play many balls... it was better for me, because is slippery, because was heavy the court." interview

French Open, SFs, Thurs Jun 3 2pm loser's prize: $245,679.52 US; points: 292 #5 s6 Anastasia Myskina RUS d #6 s7 Jennifer Capriati USA 6-2, 6-2 stats     career matches: Jennifer leads 5-2 Anastasia Myskina     Anastasia started the match looking a bit tentative, while Jennifer was aggressive, but hitting errors. Anastasia barely held serve in the first game, but then settled down and broke Jennifer in the second, then confidently held her serve at love in the third. On many points Anastasia was not hitting outright winners, but her shots were difficult enough to force Jennifer into errors. Although Jennifer broke Anastasia to get back on serve trailing 3-2, Anastasia immediately broke Jennifer again to go up 4-2, and held to 5-2 with an impressive drop shot winner. Jennifer was then broken again when she missed a drop shot on set point.     In the 2nd set, both ladies held serve to 2-2, and it looked like the momentum might swing to Jennifer in the 5th game. But Anastasia held off 3 break points, and then, playing more aggressively, broke Jennifer in the 6th game to take a 4-2 lead. Anastasia then held at love again to go up 5-2, and broke Jennifer with a strong return winner on match point.     Anastasia said: "Jennifer was not play her best today. I really used that, and I play good tennis. I think I play smart today and I won... She was doing lot of unforced errors, and I wasn't rushing. So I was let her do that. Was move her around a lot today. You know, just played my best, I think... when you up 6-2, 5-2, you should take a risk. I took that. Because I didn't really want to play like three sets today. So I just thought, 'All right, I do or I miss.' Was in." interview     Jennifer said: "[Anastasia] can hit the ball really hard, and then sometimes she'll just hit the ball with no pace, nothing. You don't know what she's going to do. But she's very, very fast, and a lot of people don't think she's so fast, but she's really fast... she played good, solid tennis. I didn't make it difficult for her at all. But she's got a consistent game, and she's a smart player, too." interview #10 s9 Elena Dementieva RUS d #15 s14 Paola Suarez ARG 6-0, 7-5 stats     career matches: Elena leads 3-1 Elena Dementieva     Although Paola took a 6-0 shellacking in the 1st set, she was in every game, and the 2nd set looked like it could be anybody's match. But Paola looked very tired while serving trailing 6-5 to try to force a tiebreaker, and she seemed to have no concentration as she double faulted on Elena's match point.     Elena said: "I was trying to be very patient today on the court. I know [Paola is] very tough opponent on clay courts. She playing everything back, she play runs well, she moves very well. I was trying to be patient and, you know, just go forward... I wasn't trying to be perfect on the court today. I was trying to win, no matter what. And I did it... We did some mistakes today on the court. But I think it's normal because it's the end of the second week, and it was very, very difficult to play here, very difficult to play physically and to be under the stress all these days. So I think that it was not a bad match today. But, of course, it was nervous for both of us." interview     Paola said: "[Elena] moved very well. I really had to send back 15 shots before I could score... obviously, if I served better, I maybe would have been able to run better to the net. Unfortunately, I couldn't change the situation, and sometimes you've got to play with what you've got at that point in time. Today, I didn't serve very well. Also the way I played wasn't really very aggressive." interview

Friends since age 7, Anastasia & Elena joined in a photo-op at the Roland Garros Tennis Museum on Friday, June 4th French Open, Final, Sat Jun 5 3pm loser's prize: $503,058.07 US; points: 456 winner's prize: $1,006,116.10 US; points: 650 #5 s6 Anastasia Myskina RUS d #10 s9 Elena Dementieva RUS 6-1, 6-2 stats career matches: Anastasia leads 4-3 Anastasia Myskina

French Open, Qualifying Finals Fri-Sat May 21-22 #104 Marissa Irvin USA d #140 Stephanie Gehrlein GER 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-4 #109 Shenay Perry USA d #162 Nuria Llagostera Vives ESP 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 #111 Teryn Ashley USA d #197 Nicole Vaidisova CZE 7-6(6), 6-3 #113 Roberta Vinci ITA d #216 Miho Saeki JPN 6-1, 6-1 #202 Zuzana Kucova SVK d #115 Eva Birnerova CZE 6(6)-7, 7-5, 8-6 #117 Julia Schruff GER d #142 Shuai Peng CHN 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 #123 Yuliana Fedak UKR d #188 Jessica Lehnhoff USA 6-0, 6-2 *#158 Lubomira Bacheva BUL d #131 Tzipora Obziler ISR 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 #156 Barbara Rittner GER d #187 Zsofia Gubacsi HUN 6-3, 7-5 #155 Kelly McCain USA d #163 Edina Gallovits ROM 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 *#172 Sanda Mamic CRO d #170 Clarisa Fernandez ARG 4-6, 6-2, 2-0 retired *NR Kveta (Hrdlickova) Peschke CZE d #194 Rossana Neffa-De Los Rios PAR 6-2, 6-4 French Open, Doubles Final, Sun Jun 6 loser's prize: $153,887.17 US winner's prize: $307,774.35 US s1 Virginia Ruano Pascual & Paola Suarez d s2 Svetlana Kuznetsova & Elena Likhovtseva 6-0, 6-3 Runners up Elena Likhovtseva (left) & Svetlana Kuznetsova, and winners Paola Suarez & Virginia Ruano Pascual (right) This was the the 6th Grand Slam tourney doubles title for the team of Paola & "Vivi". They also won the French Open in 2001 & 2002, the US Open in 2002 & 2003, and the Australian Open earlier this year. French Open, Mixed Doubles Final, Sat Jun 5 loser's prize: $41,756.52 US winner's prize: $69,594.20 US *wc Tatiana Golovin & Richard Gasquet d s4 Cara Black & Wayne Black 6-3, 6-4 Richard Gasquet & Tatiana Golovin French Open, Withdrawals/Non-entries #2 Kim Clijsters BEL left wrist tendonitis #14 s13 Chanda Rubin USA continuing left knee injury #39 Lina Krasnoroutskaya RUS illness #87 Maja Matevzic SLO #90 Amanda Coetzer RSA rest and recovery #137 Iroda Tulyaganova UZB right elbow-- injured in August 2003 NR Monica Seles USA left foot stress fracture French Open, Girls Singles Final, Sun Jun 6 Sesil Karatancheva BUL d Madalina Gojnea ROM 6-4, 6-0 Runner up Madalina Gojnea (left) and winner Sesil Karatancheva (right) French Open, Girls Doubles Final, Sat Jun 5 s1 Katerina Bohmova CZE & Michaella Krajicek NED d Irina Kotkina RUS & Yaroslava Shvedova RUS 6-3, 6-2 Michaella Krajicek (left) & Katerina Bohmova (right)

    (May 24) 13th-seeded # 14 Chanda Rubin, who was to play on Tuesday, withdrew from the French Open on Monday, still struggling with a knee injury that has kept her sidelined for many weeks. Chanda attempted to return to play last week in Vienna, but was upset in her 1st match by # 84 Alina Jidkova of Russia. Lucky Loser # 131 Tzipora Obziler of Israel took Chanda's place in the draw, and will play qualifier #109 Shenay Perry of the US on Tuesday.

    (May 18) # 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne has announced she has recovered from the viral infection that kept her out of play the past few weeks, and she will defend her title at Roland Garros this year.
    Justine said: "I made my decision on Monday, I feel ready. I am not at 100% of my form, this is understandable considering the illness I have just had, but I want to enjoy myself... There were still traces of the virus in my body just a few days ago but now I believe it's definitely gone. The problems are behind me... There is no need to over-dramatise things. I bowed out in the first round in 2002 and I won last year - I know both sides of the coin. The world kept going round after that. At some point this year I had little chance of going to Roland Garros, now I am so I am going to make the most of it. The huge fatigue and the virus were like an alert for me, I took advantage of the situation to go back home and rest. And it did me a lot of good."
    Justine's coach Carlos Rodriguez said: "[Justine] is in the unknown. She has only played four matches on clay this season. Now I don't know how she will react, I want to remain positive and I am sure she will be focused right from the start. Concentration will be very important, we have worked a lot on that aspect of the game. She made the decision to go, she has her fate in her own hands. She also knows she can win the tournament again as well as being defeated in the first round."

    (May 15) 47-year-old Martina Navratilova has been granted a wild card to play in the singles draw at the 2004 French Open, which begins May 24. Martina has been playing well at doubles this year, which she has said will definitely be her last on the tour. Martina won the French Open in 1982 and 1984, and last played in the singles draw there in 1994. According to her ITF career record, Martina's 1st pro tourney was the French Open-- in 1973. She has won 1271 singles matches, losing only 151.

---