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| 02 Jun 2003 | |
| Krajicek’s sister act draws rave reviews |
By Eleanor Preston
Dutch third seed Michaela Krajicek(NED) made a stunning debut at Roland Garros, romping through her first ever match at the French Open with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Anastasia Yakimova of Belarus.
Krajicek, whose brother is 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, has to cope with the spotlight that inevitably comes with having such an illustrious surname.
She had enough on her plate just dealing with Yakimova. “In the first set I played very well and in the second I made too many mistakes, especially when the other girl started to play better,” said Krajicek, looking a little nonplussed by all the attention
The shy 14-year-old had to give a press conference in both Dutch and English and had two television crews hanging on her every word after her first round match, but didn’t let it phase her.
“Having a name like mine doesn’t bother me because it makes me proud and I like it,” said Krajicek. “I think I can play pretty hard, I like to make winners and I have a good serve but I hope people don’t expect me to win just because I have a famous name. My first goal was to win the first round here because it is my first Grand Slam and I was pretty nervous,” said Krajicek, who has won her last three tournaments coming into Roland Garros. “I am just relieved to get the first match over and now I have a goal to win my second match. I don’t expect anything more than that.”
Despite having a brother who won Wimbledon, and admitting that her aggressive style of play is better suited to fast courts than clay, Krajicek will expect even less at Wimbledon in a few weeks’ time.
“I have never played on grass before so I think that’s going to be a shock when I get on there,” she smiled. “I already have my grass court shoes though and they look pretty funny.”
Krajicek isn’t the only player attracting attention at Roland Garros. Tatiana Golovin is one of twelve French girls entered in the girls’ draw but as fourth seed Golovin is widely regarded as France’s best hope for a home victory in the girls’ competition. Golovin cleared her first hurdle comfortably, beating Ukrainian Alyona Tsutskova 6-1, 6-4.
Australian Open semi-finalist Emma Laine also progressed to round two. Laine, from Finland, beat Vanja Corovic 6-2, 6-1.
After struggling in her opening match, top seed Vera Douchevina (RUS) moved through to the third round at Roland Garros with an emphatic 6-3, 6-4 win over Marta Fraga of Spain.
In the boys’ competition, last year’s Orange Bowl champion Brian Baker, seeded six at Roland Garros, overcame a second set dip in form against Sergiy Stakhovsky to beat the Ukrainian 6-2, 6-7, 6-1. The American will now play the Czech Republic’s Roman Kutac in the next round.
Five boys all went one better on Monday by sealing third round berths. Third seeded Israeli Dudi Sela lead the charge into the last 16 with a 6-1, 6-1 drubbing of Devin Mullins (BAH). French boys Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Julien Gely joined Sela, while second seed Nicolas Almagro (ESP) and Mexico’s Luis Flores also scored second round wins.
Photos by Susan Mullane
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