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It was a good day for the ladies in the French Open, as the likes of Maria Sharapova(7), Kim Clijsters(2), Na Li(6) and Victoria Azarenka(4) all secured their place in the second round of the French Open with comfortable victories.
Sharapova was in the second match held today at Court Philippe Chatrier and comfortably demolished her opponent with a resounding 6-3 6-0 victory over the Mirjana Lucic from Croatia in their first over meeting. Coming from a title win at Rome, not two weeks ago, Sharapova carried her form into this event taking less than an hour to oust her opponent from the event. She next faces local wildcard entry Caroline Garcia who had a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 victory against Czech Zuzana Ondraskova in her first round match.
Kim Clijsters had it even easier as she brushed aside her opponent Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus 6-2, 6-3 in the first round. Twice a runner up at this particular Grand Slam, Kim was playing here for the first time since 2006. After having made a comeback in 2009 after the birth of her daughter, she has won three of the four Grand Slams, and is one of the favorites to win the Slam which has always eluded her. Returning from an ankle injury she suffered while dancing, her performance didn’t show any trace of it.
The Chinese Na Li had a tough job as she defeated Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in three sets , 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3. The veteran, who is seeded 6th this year, has a best record on reaching the 2nd round in the french open, and will surely want to improve on that. She had a comfortable first set, before her opponent from the Czech Republic took her to the tiebreak of the second set, and won it. Na Li gathered her confidence back, as she took the third set easily to wind up a tough day on court for her.
Victoria Azarenka has been many people’s bet to take this year’s French Open. If she keeps performing like she did today, her opponents will have a tough time knocking her out. She displayed some very good shots as she overcame Andrea Hlavackova, 6-3 6-3. Azarenka avenged last season’s first-round exit in little more than an hour.
So, the entire top seven of the women’s draw moves into the second round. This year the title has no firm favorite, and we will have some quality tennis to watch over the period of two weeks.
