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| 02 Jun 2003 | |
| Baghdatis finally breaks French Open duck |
By Eleanor Preston at Roland Garros
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) finally ended his losing run of matches at the French Open by romping through his first round match in the boys’ competition at Roland Garros. The reigning Australian Open champion has never won a match at Roland Garros in his two previous visits but looked in impressive form as he brushed Antoine Benneteau (FRA) aside 6-0 6-1 and moved through to a second round clash with America’s Alex Kuznetsov.
The Cypriot is the top seeded boy at this year’s French Open Junior Championships and his main rival, on paper at least, will be second seed Nicolas Almagro (ESP). The Spaniard scored a victory that was almost as emphatic as Baghadatis’ with his 6-0 6-3 drubbing of Rafael Arevalo.
Both boys can expect their route to the final to get far tougher, since the French Open is regarded by all those who set foot on the red clay as the biggest test of physical and mental endurance in tennis. Few players can be better prepared for the clay court grind than 14th seed Andrew Murray (GBR), who moved from his native Scotland last September to train at Emilio Sanchez’ academy in Barcelona, where he has been putting in hours of toil on the terre battue.
Murray needed all that experience to get past much hyped American Brendan Evans but in the end his clay court nous paid off.
“I’ve seen him play a few times and he’s a very aggressive player so I thought that if I could be consistent enough I would have a good chance,” said Murray after his 6-4 7-5 win. “It’s been excellent to be in Barcelona. I used to like clay when I was younger but I wasn’t so good because I didn’t know how to slide on it or to use the angles, but now I know how to move and where to play the ball and when to play my winners and drop shots.”
Murray’s biggest fan is his mum Judy, who will be courtside when he takes on Gael Monfils (FRA) in the second round.
“She helped me a lot when I was younger and it’s great that she understands tennis and she doesn’t get in the way. She was watching me today and making a lot of noise so I’ll have to tell her to stay a bit quieter in my next match. I think she gets a bit nervous.”
Baghdatis, Almagro and Murray were joined in the second round by Florin Mergea (ROM), third seed Dudi Sela (ISR) and seventh seed Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP), who beat Adam Fass 6-3 6-4.
In the girls’ competition top seed Vera Douchevina (RUS) was given a scare by Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) before holding out for a 6-7, 6-1, 6-3 win against the Belgian. But fifth seed Anais Laurendon (FRA) went out in the first round, beaten 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 by Israel’s Shahar Peer in the first in a series of upsets which hit the girls’ draw on day one. Laura Rocchi (FRA) ensured a home win for France by outlasting Virag Nemeth (HUN) 1-6 6-1 8-6 in a marathon match played in the full heat of a blistering spring day.
10th seed Viktoria Kutuzova (UKR) wilted in the afternoon sunshine as she was beaten 6-3 6-7 6-4 by Delia Sescioreanu (ROM)while 14th seed Sania Mirza (IND) went the same way, knocked out 6-1 6-4 by Heidi El Tabakh of Egypt.
Photos by Susan Mullane
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