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Day 4 of a Grand Slam is normally the time the first rounds are done and dusted with and the second round action is in full swing. But there is an aberration this time in Paris. For all players fighting it out at the French Open this year, the biggest opponent perhaps is off the court – the rain. Heavy downpour postponed many of the first round matches and pushed them to the fourth day and they are now clubbed with a few sizzling second round clashes on the schedule. Let us have a look at three of those exciting ladies second round encounters on Day 4.
Caroline Wozniacki (10) v Bojana Jovanovski (Head-to-head: Wozniacki leads 2-1)
Despite sitting at No. 10 in the rankings, each of Caroline Wozniacki’s matches will be scrutinized and watched with a lot of attention. Her first round match against British teenager Laura Robson had been earmarked as a potential upset by many experts but the Dane crushed all British hopes by steam-rolling Robson in straight sets. Coming off a miserable slump, will this win act as a springboard to help her shrug off the five straight losses on clay?
It is tough to say because Wozniacki now embarks on a more perilous road ahead. In her next match she stands opposite the woman who beat her two weeks back – the 47th ranked Bojana Jovanovski. It might present the prospect of Wozniacki all geared up to serve up a revenge or it just might inspire the Serb to continue her winning streak over her.
The 21-year-old Serb is an aggressive player who likes to go for her shots and isn’t fearless venturing near the net. An injured Jovanovski showed a lot of heroism in her last encounter against the Dane by coming back from 0-4 down in the final set to topple her in Rome. The tactic here is to shorten the points and not play into Wozniacki’s hands – a grave mistake which Laura Robson made in the French Open first round.
The last two times they faced off, they played each other tough, stretching their matches to the decider. There is no reason why the Serb would not try to do it especially when the tenth seed is yet to build a little rhythm on clay this year.
Prediction: Jovanovski wins in three sets.
Sara Errani (5) v Yulia Putintseva (Head-to-head: First meeting)
Yulia Putintseva
This match involves the notoriously famous Yulia Putintseva. One of the fastest rising teens on the WTA Tour, this Patrick Mouratoglou Academy-coached Russian-born Kazakh plays freely and talks boldly. Right from her junior days, she has displayed an audacious behaviour and was embroiled in a controversy even last week at Brussels.
Her results this year have been mixed as she has recently started playing a full schedule on the WTA circuit. But her performances on clay have definitely given her the required encouragement she needs for her match against her fellow diminutive player Sara Errani. She took Serena to a tie-break in Madrid and came into Paris fresh off a pre-quarter-final appearance at Brussels where she won four consecutive matches.
Does that give the girl who was a prolific junior a chance against the World No. 5 Sara Errani? She surely can trouble the Italian but the World No. 98 won’t be able to go past her. Sara is one of the most competent claycourters right now with a game loaded with heavy spin, exquisite movement and amazing angles. She has been coming off two semifinal appearances in the last two elite clay tournaments and because this is the French Open – a major where she had great memories last year – she will be able to pull the string when it matters the most. But do expect a lot of resistance from the Kazakh and perhaps some antics to liven up the proceedings!
Prediction: Errani wins in straight sets.
Monica Puig v Madison Keys (Head-to-head: First meeting)
Monica Puig
Nothing is more exciting than watching two Roland Garros main draw debutants and future stars playing against each other. An 18-year-old playing a 19-year-old, each of whom has recently been taking giant strides towards reaching the higher echelons should be one intriguing encounter. What’s even more interesting is that it will present a battle of two contrasting styles.
Madison Keys, who shows as much diligence in working out Algebra as she does on the court has been carving out a niche in the tennis world for some time now. One of America’s next big hopes, Madison received plaudits this season for reaching the Sydney quarter-finals, the Charleston quarter-finals and then inflicted a shock defeat on World No. 6 Li Na at Madrid.
The Puerto Rican Monica Puig, on the other hand, has had her own share of limelight by reaching her first WTA quarter-final on the claycourts of Oeiras. The 86th- ranked Puig made a sizzling run there by upsetting Julia Georges and former Roland Garros champion Francesca Schiavone and continued the momentum in Paris by scoring her first top 20 win over Nadia Petrova.
This will be a rollicking contest in which Puig’s counter-punching style and her recent confidence on clay might just prevent Keys from playing her naturally explosive game.
Prediction: Puig wins in three sets.
