TENNIS in DEPTH.

Robin Soderling and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga both wasted little time in winning their second-round matches at the French Open on Wednesday.

Last year’s beaten finalist Soderling was most impressive in dispatching a bewildered Taylor Dent 6-0 6-1 6-1.

Dent’s big serve was totally ineffective as Soderling broke it eight times.

A series of Dent double faults in the first set – which was over in just 17 minutes – set the tone and he was totally outclassed by his Swedish foe.

The match lasted just 71 minutes as Soderling progressed to the last 32.

Eighth seed Tsonga needed eight minutes more to see off his French compatriot Josselin Ouanna and join Soderling in round three.

The 2008 Australian Open runner-up blasted 41 winners during his 6-0 6-1 6-4 demolition of the wild card.

Seeds Marin Cilic (10) and Mikhail Youzhny (11) also progressed early on Wednesday.

Cilic was a straight-sets winner over Daniel Gimeno-Traver, while Youzhny fought back from a set down to beat Lukas Lacko in four.

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So it’s Day 4 at Roland Garros. The second round is underway. Does this mean that we will finally see some interesting quality tennis? I don’t know about you, but so far, as with all Grand Slams, this is a challenge to my boredom level. And I’m a tennis fanatic!

In the first 3 days we have seen only one quality match, Gasquet v. Murray, and a lengthy 5 setter from Roddick who was playing his first clay court match of the year. It would be a stretch to describe this as a quality match. The top players use this first week to warm up against players nobody has heard of, many outside the top 200, many who have no business being on the same court as Federer, Nadal, Serena or Justine.

This tried and true tradition has to change, the format for Grand Slams is outdated and boring. It’s great to be in Paris, but the first week of tennis is secondary to the other enjoyments the city has to offer.

The ITF should consider a restructure of the Slams, a 32 man or woman grouping with the top two in each group going up while the bottom 2 go down. The prize money would be more equitable, and more importantly the fans would see better competitive tennis at all levels.

As James Hird, the man who has conceived the idea of a Tennis World Cup said: “In the new world order, sports must compete with Hollywood blockbusters, video games, the worldwide web, television and music for a slice of the global consumers’ attention.

“We are conscious for the need for tennis to bring in an entirely new breed of followers — the youngster who doesn’t have the attention span for a five-set match.”

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Andy Roddick booked his place in the French Open second round with a gruelling 6-2 4-6 4-6 7-6 6-3 win over Finn Jarkko Nieminen.

American Roddick, who has not played an ATP match on clay this season, took the first set before the world number 69 bounced back to take the next two.

But Roddick broke in the fifth and final game of the final set to take victory in three hours and 19 minutes.

Rafael Nadal returned to winning ways at the French Open on Tuesday but the story of his first-round match was arguably his opponent.

The 18-year-old Gianni Mina may have lost 6-2 6-2 6-2 but the French wild card showed that he is almost certain to be a star of the future with a highly impressive display.

Mina may have won only six games but the fact the match lasted two hours and 23 minutes told a different story as he didn’t make it easy for the red-hot title favourite.

Seventh seed Fernando Verdasco beat Igor Kunitsyn 6-4 6-2 6-2.

But there was no luck for 26th seed Juan Monaco who fell 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 7-5 6-3 to qualifier Grega Zemlja.

Last week, Spaniard Verdasco lost his temper during his 6-3 5-7 7-6 (7-5) loss to Richard Gasquet in the final of the Nice Open and shouted back at the crowd who were booing him.

But there was no vitriolic response from the crowd at Roland Garros.

“It was no problem for me today,” said Verdasco.

“Of course, you expect the worst all the time. If it’s the worst you’re not going to be disappointed, not too surprised.”

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Dinara Safina, finalist in each of the last two years, lost to 39-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm in the first round of the French Open on Tuesday.

The Japanese veteran, who came out of a 12-year period of retirement in 2008, came from a set down to add to Safina’s miserable 2010, winning 3-6 6-4 7-5.

The former world number one, seeded ninth this year after slipping down the rankings due to injury and poor form, had seemed on course to break a three-match losing streak on clay when she took the first set.

And despite losing the second, Safina was still able to grab an early break of serve in the decider.

She led 4-2 before letting her advantage slip and was made to pay in full when serving in the 12th game.

Safina was broken to love as her hopes of a third consecutive final at Roland Garros ended in ignominious fashion after two hours and 34 minutes on court.

For Date Krumm, who struggled with a calf injury during the match, victory was sweet and she immediately burst into tears. Safina, meanwhile, was left to reflect that she has now lost six of her 11 matches this season.

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Justine Henin celebrated her French Open comeback with a straight-sets win after coming through a tricky first-round match against Tsvetana Pironkova. She did not display the form she will need to capture her fifth French Open title, and will have problems reaching the second week’s rounds.

Playing at Roland Garros for the first time since completing a hat-trick of singles title wins in 2007, the four-time champion showed only glimpses of her scintillating best on Philippe Chatrier Court and struggled on serve throughout.

But she did enough to seal a 6-4 6-3 victory in one hour 29 minutes and set up a second-round meeting with Katarina Srebotnik or Klara Zakopalova.

Former world number one Henin, who decided to end her 16-month retirement in September last year, was technically on a 21-match winning streak at Roland Garros, having not lost there since 2004.

The Belgian 22nd seed had also won her last 35 sets in the tournament, a statistic she had more than a little difficulty extending to 37 on Tuesday.

Bulgaria’s world number 81 was far from overawed by her esteemed opponent, who she had actually taken a set from the last time they had met in 2008.

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Andy Murray battled back from two sets down to beat Richard Gasquet in the first round of the French Open.

Gasquet proved every bit as tough an opening opponent as predicted but as the Frenchman tired, the Scot got stronger, sealing a 4-6 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-2 6-1 victory in four hours and four minutes.

Murray must now recover sufficiently to take on old foe Juan Igancio Chela of Argentina in the second round, but the manner of his win on Court Suzanne Lenglen should aid the recovery process.

Gasquet had arrived in Paris on the back of a 10-match unbeaten run on clay and he picked up where he had left off when beating world number nine Fernando Verdasco in Nice on Saturday. His request to the Tournament Director for an additional day of rest was declined, and it probably cost him the match.

Three break points went begging as early as game four, one wasted with a poor drop shot, but when Gasquet fended off a break point himself with an ace in game seven and followed up with a gorgeous backhand down the line it was clear he was the man in charge.

Murray was outplayed in the first 2 sets and should take very little satisfaction from his performance today. He cut a frustrated figure for much of the opening set and a poor volley and a double-fault saw him facing set point in game 10 – at which point he chose to serve-volley for the first time in the match, the volley ending up in the net.

Gasquet had the first opportunity in the second set but played a bizarre forehand slice that floated long at break point in game four, while Murray could only watch as yet another blistering backhand flew past him when the Scot had his chance in the following game.

Murray’s frustration with himself deepened considerably when he double-faulted to hand Gasquet break point in game five but he got out of trouble with a succession of rasping forehands.

Gasquet retained the initiative, however, and came desperately close to a two-set lead when a running forehand pass went just long on set point at 6-5, but after twice letting two-point leads slip in the ensuing tie-break he wrapped it up with a cross-court forehand and a sharp half-volley.

Gasquet required treatment at both the start and end of a fourth set that would not be such a battle – Murray rattling through it in half an hour with two breaks as the Gasquet backhands began to miss their target, while the physically stronger Briton started to dictate matters from inside the baseline.

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Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki and Elena Dementieva were a trio of first-round winners Monday at the French Open.

The 2002 champion Williams was tested in the first set by Stefanie Voegele before settling down for a 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 victory over her Swiss counterpart. Williams tallied three service winners late in the first-set tiebreak and finished the match with 10 aces.

Williams, who headed to Paris having lost two of her last three matches, is the reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion and owns 12 career major titles.

The 28-year-old Williams reached her lone French Open final here eight years ago, and beat her older sister Venus that day.

Up next for Serena will be German Julia Goerges.

The third-seeded 2009 U.S. Open runner-up Wozniacki cruised to a 6-0, 6-3 win over Russia’s Alla Kudryavtseva, while the fifth-seeded Dementieva had little trouble in a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Croatia’s Petra Martic. The two-time Grand Slam finalist Dementieva was a French Open runner-up in 2004.

The 19-year-old Wozniacki will meet Italian Tathiana Garbin in the second round, while Dementieva will take on Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues.

Eighth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska bested Brit Elena Baltacha 6-0, 7-5, while China’s Li Na, the 11th seed, notched a 7-5, 6-3 triumph over French wild card Kristina Mladenovic on a second straight cloudless day in Paris.

In other action involving seeds, No. 17 Italian Francesca Schiavone overcame Russian Regina Kulikova 5-7, 6-3, 6-4; No. 24 Czech Lucie Safarova drilled Aussie Jelena Dokic 6-2, 6-2; No. 27 Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko blitzed Russian Vera Dushevina 6-1, 6-2; No. 31 Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru held off Czech Lucie Hradecka 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 6-3; and No. 32 Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko dismantled France’s Julie Coin 6-1, 6-2. Dulgheru is fresh off her clay-court title in Warsaw.

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A couple of years ago Alize Cornet received a reprimand from the chair umpire during a match at the Hopman Cup in Perth Australia, for wearing unsuitable inappropiate clothing on court. She had worn a white low-cut top that became rather revealing when she perspired. It was a minor storm in a teacup! Cornet was a teenager at the time, had burst onto the scene and was partnering Giles Simon in the Cup.

There have been other dubious dress incidents in the past, most originating at Wimbledon which has a stricter dress code than most tournaments. Frilly panties, one piece form fitting sheaths etc.

I have to wonder what Venus will wear next month? Maybe nothing at all? She is an aging, established, highly respected, wealthy star of the WTA tour, and does not need to wear such tacky outfits. Except to promote her “Eleven’ brand on the courts of Roland Garros!

It’s in bad taste, a bad choice that needs to be curtailed!

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