Li triumphs over Schiavone at French Open final

No. 6 seed, Na Li became the first Chinese tennis player ever to win a Grand Slam title with a straight sets win over No. 5 seed, defending champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-4, 7-6 (7-0).

Li took advantage of one break to secure the first set. She gained an early break in the 2nd set and had break points to go up two breaks. However, Schiavone picked up momentum, saved that game and broke back to even the set. Schiavone went up 6-5 and Li held to send the 2nd set into a tie-break.

Dulko eliminates Stosur in round three

Argentina’s Gisela Dulko eliminated Australia’s
Samantha Stosur in the 3rd round of the 2011 French Open in 3-sets, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.

The 26-year-old Dulko, ranked No. 51, broke Stosur’s serve in the first and third games of the match, slashing inside-out backhands for winners and a forehand so deep it forced the Australian to hit a backhand long.

Stosur, seeded No. 8 and a finalist in last year’s French, trailed 0-4 before she recovered her composure and confidence. It was too late to retrieve the first set, but the agile Australian ran out the second set, 6-1, in just 31 minutes.

Sharapova narrowly escapes against Garcia

No. 7 seed, Maria Sharapova of Russia, had a close call in the 2nd round of the French Open with a 3-set win over Caroline Garcia of France, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.

Sharapova lost the first set 3-6, and trailed 1-4 in the 2nd set to 17-year-old wild card Garcia. With Garcia seeming in control of the match, Sharapova went on an eleven game winning streak to close out the match.

After the match, Sharapova said, “I relaxed and just let things happen… [I had been] way too concerned about the conditions, wasn’t moving my feet and was really slow, and Caroline was playing aggressively and hitting great shots—I felt flat-footed in the beginning, and I just hit the ball finally.”

Rus pulls upset over Clijsters

A 20-year-old wild card, Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands, took out No. 2 seed, Kim Clijsters of Belgium Thursday in the 2nd round of the French Open, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.

In the biggest win of her career, Rus scored on 7 of 13 break points, while Clijsters converted only 5 of 17 break point chances.

Clijsters injured her right ankle badly offcourt in April and had not played since then. However, she said her ankle was fine in the match.

Hantuchova wins stunning upset over Wozniacki

No. 28 seed, Daniela Hantuchova, pulled out a stunning upset over No. 1 seed, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, in a straight sets victory, 6-1, 6-3 in the third round of the 2011 French Open.

The 28-year-old Hantuchova from Slovakia stayed mentally tough the entire match, while 20-year-old Wozniacki of Denmark had trouble keeping the ball in the court.

Tied at one all in the opening set, Hantuchova went on a nine game winning streak running Wozniacki ragged, taking the first set 6-1 and gaining a 4-0 lead in the second. Wozniacki finally held serve again to bring it to 4-1, then broke to get to 4-2. She then held serve again, giving fans some hope that maybe she could launch a comeback and pull the match out.

Lisicki leaves French Open on stretcher

German qualifier, Sabine Lisicki, left the French Open Wednesday on a stretcher after being overcome by dizziness and muscle cramps following a second round 2 1/2 hour loss to Vera Zvonareva 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.

There were some apparent problems as the 21-year-old Lisicki had been examined by a trainer at least twice during third-set changeovers, even having her blood pressure checked.

When the matched ended, Lisicki didn’t go up to the net to shake hands. Instead she crouched down on the court. Zvonareva walked around the net and checked on Lisicki, putting a hand on her shoulder. A sobbing Lisicki then lay down on a towel placed on the red clay, and a trainer massaged her back until the stretcher arrived.

Ivanovic upset by Larsson in 1st round of French Open

Former French Open Champion, No. 20 seed, Ana Ivanovic of Serbia was among the 1st round upsets as she was taken down by Johanna Larsson of Sweden 7-6(7-3), 0-6, 6-2.

Ivanovic struggled through a first close set, which she lost in the tie-break due to unforced errors and poor serving. However, she seemed to have found her form again rolling over Larsson 6-0 in the 2nd set playing top-notch tennis. In the third set, Ivanovic returned to lack-luster play, losing in one hour and 49 minutes when she netted a routine forehand.

Schiavone upsets Stosur for French Open Title

Francesca Schiavone won her first Grand Slam title at age 29, downing Samantha Stosur 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) at the 2010 French Open in Paris. In doing so, Francesca became the first Italian woman ever to win a Grand Slam title.

It was a thriller of a match, pitting Francesca’s one-handed powerful backhand against Samantha’s two-handed powerful backhand, two great forehands, two great servers, two great players. In the end, it was 17th seeded Schiavone who was able to stay with her game and upend 7th seeded Samantha. The only other time the French title was won by a woman not seeded in the top 10 was in 1933.

Serena and Venus Williams Earn Tennis World No. 1 Doubles Ranking

Serena and Venus Williams of the USA will ascend to the top of the doubles rankings next week, the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour announced on Wednesday. Serena will also become the sixth player in Tour history to hold the No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles simultaneously.

Following their Roland Garros semifinal victory against Liezel Huber and Anabel Medina Garrigues, Serena and Venus will climb to the top of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Doubles Rankings (as of June 7, 2010) for the first time in their career. They are currently ranked World No. 1 and 2, respectively, on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Singles Rankings, but will be joint doubles No. 1.

The French Open Final

The 2010 French Open will produce a first-time Grand Slam winner as Francesca Schiavone of Italy faces Samantha Stosur of Australia.

Neither 29 year-old Francesca nor 26 year-old Samantha have ever won a Grand Slam event. Neither have ever even been in a Grand Slam final before. It was only the 2nd time Samantha reached a semifinal (the French Open in 2009), and Schiavone has never been beyond a quarterfinal of a Grand Slam tournament.

Samantha leads their head-to-head series 4-1, including the past four times they have met. All five matches have been straight sets victories. Francesca won their first matchup in 2005. Samantha won the past four, including two on clay.