TENNIS in DEPTH.

Ana produced her best performance to date to power past 32nd seed Iveta Benesova 6-0, 6-2 in the third round of the French Open. The 21-year-old smacked 20 winners during a 61-minute rout to extend her winning streak at Roland Garros to 10 matches. She will meet the winner of the Azarenka/Suarez Navarro match which was suspended late today tied at one set each. If Azarenka goes on to win, she will present the toughest test Ana has faced in a while.

Benesova was on the back foot almost from the very start. She carved out two break points in the opening game of the match, but Ana saved them both. Thereafter, Ana dominated with her forehand and demonstrated excellent court craft: she hit stop volleys, drop shots and heavy backhand slice.

Ana broke in the second game of the match. She added further breaks in games four and six as she whitewashed the Czech in an opening set that lasted just 23 minutes.

It was more of the same in the second set, although Benesova fought gamely and took a 2-1 lead by breaking Ana in the third game.

Normal service was resumed in the following game as Ana again overwhelmed her opponent, winning the remaining five games of the match to extend her head-to-head record over the Czech to 5-0. After winning the final point of the match she clenched her fist in recognition of a highly accomplished performance.

“It was a pretty good match,” said Ana modestly. “I was really happy. The score doesn’t indicate how hard I had to work for some points.

“She started playing much, much better in the second set, and started hitting the ball much heavier. I just played really good and stayed in the moment and did what I had to do out there. I’m really happy about my match today.”

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When Maria Sharapove entered the French Open she was quoted as saying that she had no expectations for herself, that she was playing one match at a time in an effort to gain more match play experience. Sometimes a person gets more than they wish for, and Maria’s case she has received more match play than even she would have wanted. In her 3 matches she has logged almost 7 hours of on-court time, and has had to fight from being behind in games and sets. She moves on to the final 16 where she will meet Li Na, a player she has beaten every time they have played. Maybe before she goes to bed tonight she offer up a prayer for a rain delay.

 Maria Sharapova recovered from a dreadful start to advance into round four with a three-set victory over Yaroslava Shvedova.

The Russian, ranked 102 in the world after having shoulder problems for the past year, looked impressive in beating Nadia Petrova in round two but was broken twice in the first set as she ceded it 6-1 to her Kazakh opponent.

But a crucial break in the eighth game of set two saw Sharapova level it up and she broke for 4-3 in the decider as she ran out a 1-6 6-3 6-4 winner.

Sharapova will next play 25th seed Na Li, who defeated Olga Govortsova 7-5 6-1.

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Ana Ivanovic dominated another opponent at the French Open on Friday, this time beating Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-2 to advance to the fourth round.

The defending champion from Serbia has lost only eight games since being taken to a tiebreaker in her opening match.

“(The) score doesn’t indicate how hard I had to work for some points,” Ivanovic said. “She started playing much, much better in the second set, and started hitting the ball much heavier. I just played really good and stayed in the moment and did what I had to do out there.”

Ivanovic, a former No. 1-ranked player, won her only Grand Slam title at last year’s French Open. She lost in the final at Roland Garros in 2007.

Without checking the record books I would hazard a guess that no one can remember Venus Williams losing a set 6-0! But she did today against Hungarian Agnes Szavay, who went on to take the second set 6-4 and to send Venus home.

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Caroline Wozniacki was already a star in her native Denmark before entering the WTA top 10 two weeks ago.

So is tennis the most popular sport in her home country? “Not yet,” says the smiling 18 year-old. Blessed with beauty and talent, Caroline Wozniacki is a popular figure in her home country, regularly gracing the covers of women’s magazines. Friendly and always willing to give of her time, it is easy to see why Wozniacki is so admired. She is thru to the final 32 players, and is on a course to meet Jelena Jankovic if she wants to get to the quarter finals. Both players are at their peaks, and one of them will most likely make it all the way to the final. The Wozniacki/Jankovic match might be the best of the tournament.

The young Dane is also about to launch her own line of cosmetics and even writes a popular blog for a television channel. “Caroline is a unique role-model for female athletes in Denmark. Just ask anyone in the street, young or old, and they’ll know who she is. She has made a name for herself fast and become a fantastic ambassador for our country,” comments a Danish journalist. “It’s thanks to her that we were able to have the new WTA tour event in Odense last November.”

With a mother and father active in football and volleyball, the Wozniacki family is no stranger to sports. Nonetheless, Caroline had to work at convincing her father that she was worthy of the tennis courts.

“I was so bad when I started that I had to spend three years practicing against a wall for three hours a day before my father would let me play in a club,” the Madrid finalist confesses. The fairytale that followed could have been written by Hans Christian Andersen himself.

“I’ve always set my sights on one goal at a time. At first I just concentrated on beating my parents, then my brother. Then I aimed at being champion of Denmark. Once I had won everything at national level, it was time to move on to the international circuit,” explains the 2005 Orange Bowl champion.

At the age of ten, Caroline appeared on television for the first time. She has had time, then, to get used to being in the spotlight.

“I love my life, it’s important to do all that I can to promote tennis in Denmark. I worked hard to get where I am. Years of hard work are paying off now and I like to share it with people. Recently I took a three day break from tennis when I went home, but I spent those three days doing interviews and photo shoots.”

The 2006 Australian Open Juniors finalist shared with us the secret to her permanent smile, “I’m positive. If I lose a match it’s not the end of the world.” That realistic outlook does not mean she does not harbour big dreams. “I want to be world No1 and a Grand Slam winner,” she asserts.

Wozniacki intends to draw inspiration from the game of former stars Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis. “They played with their head. That’s how I want to play as well.” A solid baseline player with a good service, Caroline is able to change rhythm both in terms of speed and placement of the ball.

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Rafael Nadal is the outright favourite, he has won 96% of his last 50 matches on clay, has only lost eight matches in the last year and is desperate to bag his fifth successive French Open title. However, we must not forget that Rafael Nadal is human, which he proved recently when he was handed his first defeat in 34 matches on clay to Roger Federer in the final of the Madrid Masters. He also came very close to going down to Novak Djokovic in the previous round – so Rafa can be broken down. However, can a man outside the top four challenge him? We know Fed, Djokovic and Muzza have the proven ability to overcome the world No.1 but does world No.48 Lleyton Hewitt have the weapons?

Lleyton Hewitt has the advantage of being a tour veteran with heaps of experience at the top of the game. He has won two Grand Slams (2002 Wimbledon and 2001 US Open), reigned as world No.1 for a lengthy period and has won 29 tour titles but he now stands at world No.48 and maintains a slightly flimsy 26-14 match record for the last year. He does know how to deal with pressure though and has all this embedded memory to draw upon when performing on the big stages. The Aussie has even beaten Rafa four times with his biggest triumph coming in 2005 at Melbourne Park, but that was four years ago and Rafa is a different player now.

Often the lower-ranked guys can match Nadal for the first half of a set and even have break-point chances, but they rarely capitalise and take charge on the big points. Hewitt knows he has the mental strength to do this, but does he have the physical endurance and power to do this in the third round at Roland Garros, where Rafa will undoubtedly be in a furiously ferocious and energised mood. Just to top it off, Nadal has in fact won every meeting with Lleyton on clay. Lleyton can challenge Rafa but will need to take charge early on.

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Hello everyone,

Had a nice day today. I like the fact to play the match the day before and today simply wake up thinking I have to go to the tournament site to practice and work on some specific things. I say this since yesterday with the rain there we could have not finished the match. I said it yesterday and I repeat it today. It is very inconvenient at a tournament like this to have to play everyday. Like this, with no play today, things are easier since I just got to the courts in the morning, practiced at 11am, ate, and attended a promotional activity with the Balearic Islands people and government.

You all know, the ones who follow me, that I am always referring to the Balearic Island as my favourite place for holidays. I really like the place, and I am lucky to have been born there since I have it right there. Sure that there are a lot of places out there in the world that are really nice and interesting, but I am honest, very honest when I say that my favorite place are the Balearic Islands. I find it a place where you can find almost everything. Nice weather, nice locations like beaches, cities, culture, food, nice people… in the end this is it. So believe me I am honest when I say this. And I went to their gig today since I am also collaborating with them in the promotion of the islands. Tourism is very important there, the main industry, so it just makes sense.

Well, tomorrow more competition for me and a great match for the fans. I play Lleyton Hewitt who by the way I like a lot as a person. I have had the chance to know him these years I have been playing and he has always been very nice to me, and I am very thankful. Maybe the only exception is when we played golf last year in Miami and he literally killed me… Since them we haven’t played again and I am really looking forward to that. But seriously now, tomorrow it will be a great match, I am sure, and I am really excited about this one.

Thanks all.

Rafa

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