May 30, 2010
Petrova Overpowers Venus WilliamsBy JOHN BRANCH
PARIS — There was a sense that this might be Venus Williams’s time, finally, at Roland Garros. Her see-through lace dress became the sartorial sensation of the French Open. Her rise back to No. 2 in the world this spring, and her strong play in the opening rounds, turned Williams into an emerging tournament favorite. She had buzz.
But all that buildup came tumbling down in two sets. In a bit of a role reversal, Williams was overpowered in the fourth round Sunday by Nadia Petrova, the 19th seed.
Petrova, a veteran Russian, has a heavy-handed game and a thundering serve not that different from Williams’s. She used it to great aplomb in battering Williams, 6-4, 6-3, to move to the quarterfinals.
“She served well,” Williams said. “She didn’t really make a lot of errors today. You know, I just didn’t find a good rhythm.”
In the men’s fourth round, fourth-seeded Andy Murray of Britain also struggled to find a rhythm and was beaten by Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. Murray landed only 51 percent of his first serves and was broken five times by Berdych, the 15th seed.
Petrova, a top-10 mainstay much of the past decade, had not beaten Williams in four previous attempts and had long tried to shake a reputation for melting late in big matches.
But with Williams wearing a long-sleeve shirt over her much-discussed dress because of the cool and windy conditions, Petrova seemed as loose as ever. She had control of her serve, and she broke Williams early in both sets.
“We both played under the same conditions,” Williams said, “but she seemed just to play a little bit more consistently. I don’t think she did anything super special.”
Petrova agreed. “Special for me was that I was mentally focused and kept my nerves calm,” she said. It was part of a day that felt like déjà vu in women’s tennis. The game is in a bit of a static funk, the list of its best players barely different than it was for much of the previous decade.
That was apparent at Court Philippe Chatrier even before the match involving Williams and Petrova, who first met at Wimbledon in the fourth round nine years ago.
It began with Elena Dementieva, the fifth-seeded Russian, a top-20 fixture since 2003, beating the unseeded Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa.
Petrova will play Dementieva in the quarterfinals.
Then Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova, their fruitful careers no longer interrupted, added to the time-warp feeling. They are former No. 1s, winners of a combined 10 Grand Slam tournaments, escalating toward elite status again.
After splitting the first two sets and taking a break for darkness, Henin and Sharapova returned Sunday to finish what they started.
Momentum swung wildly, and serving seemed a losing proposition. When the red dust settled, it was Henin, the four-time champion, skipping away with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory.
It was her 24th consecutive victory at the French Open, a streak dating to the first of three consecutive championships in 2005 and interrupted by a two-year absence in 2008 and 2009.
“You always need to test yourself and go through tough moments,” Henin said. “It’s true that this was a match that I feared a bit, because I have great admiration for this girl.”
Henin will face No. 7 Samantha Stosur in the fourth round.
Two of the men’s quarterfinals are set, and one is a rematch of last year’s final between Roger Federer and Robin Soderling. Federer, the defending champion and top seed, beat Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-2, in the first meeting of Swiss men this deep into a Grand Slam tournament. Soderling, seeded fifth, mashed No. 10 Marin Cilic, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the eighth seed, became the last French singles player to exit when he retired with what appeared to be a hip injury after losing, 6-2, in the first set against No. 11 Mikhail Youzhny. Youzhny will play Berdych.
It was the women’s side where the back-to-the-future theme stayed mostly intact. Italy’s Francesca Schiavone, seeded 17th, beat No. 30 Maria Kirilenko in two sets. She will play 19-year-old Caroline Wozniacki, a rare rising player who looks sturdy enough to find consistency near the top. The third seed, she slid past No. 14 Flavia Pennetta, 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 6-2.
Williams’s loss was not inexplicable. She has struggled at the French Open, making the final in 2002 (losing to her sister Serena) but otherwise never advancing past the quarterfinals. She lost in the third round the past three years.
This year seemed as if it might be different. It was a lot like the others.
Likewise, Henin and Sharapova were familiar foes. They had met four times in Grand Slam tournaments, although never before the quarterfinals. Sharapova earned one of her three Grand Slam titles by beating Henin in the 2006 United States Open final.
But they had not played since the 2008 Australian Open, months before Henin left the game, ranked No. 1, after years of championships and personal tragedy. Now 27, she seemed to emerge more complete and relaxed.
She announced her return in September, and in January, in her second tournament, she reached the final of the Australian Open.
Sharapova, 23, missed nine months in 2008 and 2009 with a shoulder injury, dropping from the top 10 to outside the top 100 in the rankings.
She opened the third set by breaking Henin’s serve, then held for a 2-0 lead. But in a set in which serves were broken in five of the first seven games, momentum was fleeting.
Henin regained control after swatting away four break points in the third game. She began moving Sharapova around with her strong forehand, and was able to find her way inside the baseline to control points. She rattled off four straight games for a 4-2 lead.
But Henin double-faulted on a break point, and Sharapova had a chance to get the set back on serve. Henin slapped a backhand down the line to take the game, then served with authority to capture the match.
In the end, it was Henin who has moved comfortably into what she has called her “second career,” who pushed her record at Roland Garros to 38-4, who has made the present feel an awful lot like the past.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/31/sports/tennis/31tennis.html?ref=sports