 Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Jun 2007 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Jun 2007 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Jun 2007 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Jun 2007 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Jun 2007 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Jun 2007 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Jun 2007 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 07 Jun 2007 |
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| 07 Jun 2007 - Roland Garros, Paris - Eleanor Preston |  Related Audio |
| Jones starts from scratch |
 An Interview with Mariana Duque Marino (SPANISH) (MP3 format)
An Interview with Greg Jones (MP3 format)
An Interview with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (MP3 format)
 
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Australian Greg Jones admits he enjoyed less than perfect preparation for Junior Roland Garros but his lack of clay court play coming into the second Junior Grand Slam of the year does not seem to have held him back.
Jones, who beat Vladimir Karusevich 7-5, 6-3 on Thursday to set up a semi-final meeting with top seeded Italian Matteo Trevisan, arrived in Paris without a clay court match to his name all year but has been on a tear through the boys’ draw. “The last tournament I played on clay was Roland Garros last year,” said Jones, with a smile. “I only hit two or three times before this tournament at the Australian Institute of Sport’s Sutton Academy, so I wasn’t very experienced on it when I got here. These courts are good for my game though and especially on a hot day, they play pretty fast and they make life a little bit easier for me.”
Jones, who has established himself in the Top Ten of the ITF Junior Rankings this year, had to work hard against unseeded Russian to seal his place in the last four. “I was pretty surprised at how well he was playing,” said Jones. “I’d never seen him before but he came out swinging from the hip.” A tough match might provide him with the perfect preparation for his meeting with Trevisan, the current junior World No.1. “I played him twice in Australia on Rebound Ace and played quite well then but since then a lots changed and now that he’s World No.1 he must be striking the ball pretty well,” he said.
Jones credits much of his improvement this year to working with former Australian Davis Cup coach Wally Masur, who he has worked with since the end of 2005. “He was really positive,” said Jones. “At the beginning I had all the shots but I was struggling to put it together and he really helped.. I think I definitely expect more of myself now. This year I’ve played a lot of men’s events and that’s a whole different level. I’ve been trying to transfer that back to the juniors and I do feel like I’m a lot stronger mentally than I was before.”
American Kellen Damico will take on Belarussian Vladimir Ignatic in the other boys’ semi-final. Damico defeated Brazil’s Fernando Romboli in straight sets, whilst Ignatic saw off Recardas Berankis and was pleased with the way he played. “I played well today, he had 5 set points in the second set but I managed to stay focused and I saved them all, so I’m pretty happy with my game.”
The girls’ semi-finals will feature top seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia against unseeded Columbian Mariana Duque Marino and Belarussian Ksenia Milevskaya will play French favourite Alize Cornet in the bottom half of the draw.
Pavlyuchenkova appears to be something of a perfectionist and though she put in a gritty performance to beat Nikola Hofmanova 6-2, 7-5 and set up a meeting with Duque Marino, conqueror of this week’s www.ITFjuniors.com blogger Michelle Larcher De Brito of Portugal, she wasn’t entirely happy with her performance.
“Actually, to tell you the truth I didn’t like the match today. The first set was okay but the second set wasn’t so good,” said Pavlyuchenkova. “I was quite nervous, I don’t know what was happening to me. I tried to focus but I made some easy and stupid mistake, but the main thing is the result and I’m glad for that. I think experience helps. When it was pretty tough in the second set, she started to be more nervous and to do some mistakes, and I became the opposite. I got calmer. I hope my experience will be an advantage but I need to play better each match. I can’t focus on my experience because if I don’t play well it doesn’t matter how experienced I am, I will still lose and be disappointed.”
For previous days reports click below:
Day 4
Day 3.
Day 2.
Day 1.
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