2011 women’s champion Li Na eliminated by Mattek-Sands
Tennis — French open
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic eased into the third round of the French Open with a 6-2 6-0 6-2 win over Argentina’s Guido Pella. In the women’s draw, 2011 champion Li Na was eliminated after she lost against Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
PARIS — Novak Djokovic took care of Argentina’s Guido Pella. His next match in the third round of the French Open won’t be as easy.
The top-ranked Djokovic brushed aside Pella 6-2 6-0 6-2 yesterday to line up Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.
The same Dimitrov who beat him this month in the second round of the Madrid Open 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (8-10) 6-3. That was Dimitrov’s biggest win. He also took a set off Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Monte Carlo Masters last month.
The 26th-seeded Dimitrov beat Frenchman Lucas Pouille 6-1 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 to get another crack Djokovic.
The Serb is relishing the rematch, confident he can handle Dimitrov in a best-of-five-sets contest.
“I think he’s got more confident as he’s getting big wins in the last few months, and so he’s a tough player now to beat,” Djokovic said. “Even though maybe his style of game could be better on the hard court or faster surfaces, he’s showing that he can play equally well on clay. It’s going to be very physical. All the hard work that I put into preparations for this tournament hopefully will play to my advantage and will pay off on the court.”
Djokovic has won every Grand Slam title except the French Open and has made this year’s tournament his priority. He lost last year’s rain-interrupted final at Roland Garros to Nadal.
Yesterday’s match on centre court was delayed and interrupted by afternoon rain.
“It’s like deja vu from two days ago, you know, coming in and out and warming up five times, but it is the way it is,” Djokovic said. “I’m just glad that I finished the match today (yesterday).”
The rain delays had no apparent effect on him, though, as he swept aside the 83rd-ranked Pella in one hour, 26 minutes.
He had 30 winners, broke Pella’s serve six times and did not face a single break point on his serve, clinching victory on his third match point when Pella double-faulted.
“(It) was the most difficult match I ever played... I think I have bad luck in some games that I serve, but I think I did my best. He’s the best now,” Pella said. “I tried to make long points, but he’s really used to play like this.”
Bethanie Mattek-Sands skipped backward across the clay, her wagging tongue framed by a smile as she savored yet another surprising victory for US tennis at the French Open.
Rejuvenated by a rain delay, Mattek-Sands came from a set down to beat 2011 champion Li Na on 5-7 6-3 6-2 in the second round.
Following the second interruption of the match, Mattek-Sands swept seven consecutive games from Li to take a 5-0 lead in the final set. She served out the victory with the sun shining as rain fell.
“She’s a champion, and I had to play some of my best tennis ever to beat her,” Mattek-Sands said. “I’m really proud of myself that I was able to close out the match the way I did.”
No. 3 Victoria Azarenka, the Australian Open champion each of the past two years, beat Annika Beck 6-4 6-3.
Ten singles matches were postponed, including seven-time champion Rafael Nadal against Martin Klizan, and the all-US encounter between John Isner and Ryan Harrison. Defending champion Maria Sharapova led 19-year-old Eugenie Bouchard 6-2 4-2 when their match was interrupted by rain shortly before dark and suspended until today.
Argentines Horacio Zeballos and Federico Delbonis’ matches were also suspended.
Former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic won 12 consecutive games to beat the rain and Garbine Muguruza. Jankovic fell behind early but rallied past Muguruza 6-3 6-0 shortly before showers interrupted the first matches of the day on 12 other courts.
A brief dry spell allowed 2010 runner-up Sam Stosur to complete a second-round victory over Kristina Mladenovic 6-4 6-3, before the rain resumed.
AP