Venus Williams cruises to easy victory over Santonja at French Open

Venus Williams of the USA advanced easily to round 3 with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over unseeded No. 59 ranked Arantxa Parra Santonja of Spain at the French Open in Paris.

The match pitted two of the older players on tour against each other – Venus, age 29 versus Arantxa, age 27.

Wozniacki breezes into round 3 with easy win over Garbin

No. 3 seed, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, had an easy victory over unseeded, No. 56 ranked Tathiana Garbin of Italy. Caroline took the match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1.

Caroline had little trouble against Tathiana, relying on her forehand to break five times in a one-sided contest. She wrapped up the win after just 68 minutes when Garbin fired a forehand long.

Caroline will now face No. 31 seed, Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania.

Kuznetsova squeaks by Petkovic at French Open

No. 6 seed, Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia had a scare today, and barely squeaked by unseeded No. 41 ranked Andrea Petkovic of Germany in round 2 of the French Open in Paris. Final score: 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.

In a match interrupted by a 1 1/2 hour rain delay, Andrea won the first set, and was up 5-2 in the second set. Svetlana came back, but Andrea served for the match at 5-4. Andrea got up 40-love, but sent a backhand into the net, a forehand long, and a backhand wide to waste three match points. On her fourth match point, she put another backhand into the net.

Sharapova survives 1st round at French Open

Maria Sharapova is relieved today after winning her 1st round match against Ksenia Pervak, 6-3, 6-2 during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris.

It was an all-Russian match, pitting No. 12 seed Maria of Nyagan, Russia against unseeded Ksenia of Chelyabinsk, Russia. Ksenia came out determined, and Maria came out a little shaky, resulting in Maria losing her first service game. Ksenia then held to go up 2-0, but Maria began hitting out on her shots and got grooved in, looking more like her old self.

Safina bounced out of French Open in 1st round

Ninth seed and former World No. 1 Dinara Safina of Russia came to a crashing halt in the French Open Tuesday as she was defeated by Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Safina, a beaten finalist here in 2008 and 2009, took the first set but Date Krumm stuck to her task and claimed victory on her first match point when the Russian sent a lazy backhand well beyond the baseline.

Date Krumm, 39, became the second oldest winner of a Roland Garros match after Virginia Wade and will face Australian wild card Jarmila Groth
Jarmila Groth in the second round.

Henin wins 1st French Open match since 2007

Justine Henin took a big step in her return from retirement Tuesday, winning her first French Open match since 2007 when she won the tournament for the fourth time. Her unwilling accomplice in the 6-4, 6-3 win was Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria.

Henin was retired for 20 months, and while she’s seeded only 22nd, she’s considered one of the favorites for the title.

“She has all of the chances to win this tournament,” said Pironkova, who had played _ and lost to _ Henin three times before. “She still plays great. I don’t think she lost (anything) with that rest that she had. I think she is playing even better. She’s faster, and her strokes are more secure.”

Ivanovic moves to round 2 at French Open

No. 42 ranked Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, has made her way into the 2nd round of the French Open at Paris, with a victory over No. 89 ranked Kai-Chen Chang of Chinese Taipei. The former World No. 1, whose ranking has dropped steadily since achieving her No. 1 ranking after winning the French Open in 2008, won the match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.

Ivanovic had 12 double-faults and 21 unforced errors in the match and Kai-Chen actually had more winners than the Serb but the 2008 French Open champion managed to collect five break points to keep her title hopes alive. After a disappointing Australian Open in which she was bounced out in the second round Ivanovic is hoping to make a deeper run on a surface that has proven favorable in the past.

Serena Williams downs Voegele at French Open

World No. 1, Serena Williams of the USA, had a shaky start, but managed a straight-sets victory over Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland. No. 76 ranked Stefanie took the No. 1 seed to a tie-break in the 1st set, which Serena won 7-2. Serena then put the match away with a more convincing second set, 6-2.

Serena managed 28 winners with 22 unforced errors, while Stefanie hit 13 winners, but had only 12 errors. Serena reached break point against Stefanie only 3 times in the match, but converted on all three. Stefanie scored on only 1 of 4 break points she held against Serena.

Wozniacki advances over Kudryavtseva at French Open

No. 3 seed, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark easily advanced to the second round today in Paris at the French Open. She handily defeated Alla Kudryavtseva from Russia in straight sets, 6-0, 6-3.

Caroline is playing with her right ankle taped after spraining it in the semifinals in Charleston on April 17. After returning to play, she lost 3 of her next 5 matches, then retired from her quarterfinal match in Warsaw last week. After her match today, Caroline had this to say about her ankle: “[My ankle] feels much better today. Yeah, I felt really good, actually… I’ve had good support in the tape, so I was really happy about that.”

Dulko upsets No. 10 seed Azarenka at French Open

Unseeded, No. 45 ranked Gisela Dulko from Argentina embarrassed No. 10 seed, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, 6-1, 6-2, in the 1st round of the French Open being played in Paris, France.

The commentators thought Victoria’s play was so bad, they wondered why she even showed up on the court. Gisela had 14 winners and 18 unforced errors, while Victoria hit 14 winners but with 25 unforced errors. Gisela converted 5 of 11 break points against Victoria; Victoria scored on only 1 of 4 break points she held against Gisela.