Vitalia Diatchenko (RUS) d. Mathilde Johansson (FRA) 2-6, 6-2, 10-8
Reuters
Russia's Vitalia Diatchenko returns the ball to France's Mathilde Johansson.
Reuters
France's Mathilde Johansson cries after losing her match against Russia's Vitalia Diatchenko.
Eight match points. That's what she had. All on her own serve. Twice she served for the match. On half of her match points, she double-faulted. On all of of her match points, she missed her first serve. Diatchenko converted her first match point to close out the train wreck from which I couldn't avert my gaze. I tweeted the end of match, so you can see how the last brutal games played themselves out.
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Josselin Ouanna (FRA)
AP
How does France produce so many Black male tennis players? In only his second Roland Garros, Josselin used his vicous forehand, heavy serve, and amazing down-the-line one hander to rally from two sets to one down and hand Marcel Granollers his first ever first round loss in Paris.
Dr. Aces
Reuters
(via ITF) - Ivo Karlovic served 55 aces against Lleyton Hewitt on Court Suzanne Lenglen on Sunday, but the Croat still lost 67(1) 67(4) 76(4) 64 63, breaking the record for most aces served by one player in a match. Karlovic previously shared the record with Joachim Johansson, at 51. (NB since the ATP began keeping records in 1991)
The highest number of aces hit by an individual previously at Roland Garros was 37, served by Andy Roddick in his 57 63 64 67(5) 75 victory against Michael Chang in the 2nd round in 2001.
Interestingly, the top five aces leaders, including Karlovic’s feat today, were all achieved in matches where those players lost.
Karlovic also maintained his record of never having won a five-set match, taking that record to 0-11. He is the only player in the Open Era to play 10 or more five-setters without recording a victory.
Hewitt, on the other hand, extends his five-set record to 28-13, having produced a comeback from 0-2 down for the 5th time in his career today.
Signing Off
Reuters
Emilie Loit of France returns the ball to Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky. After squandering a set and a break to lose in three, Loit announced her retirement.
US Victory
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Robert Kendrick gave the US it's only victory of the day with a 5-set victory over German qualifier Daniel Brands. This was a high-octane affair. Big hitting from everywhere on the court. Kendrick struck 35 aces in his 6-7(7), 7-5, 7-6(11), 4-6, 6-3 win.
Photos Of The Day
Reuters
Spectators walk between the arenas at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, May 24, 2009.
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France's Severine Bremond Beltrame returns a ball to Russia's Elena Vesnina.
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Spanish player Nicolas Almagro embraces Argentinian player Agustin Calleri at the end of their French Open tennis first round match. Almagro won 6-4, 6-1, 6-1.
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French player Gilles Simon (R) shakes hands with after winning against US player Wayne Odesnik (L) during the French Open tennis first round match. Simon won 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
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Spanish player David Ferrer hits a return to Portuguese player Frederico Gil.
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Kazhakstan's Yaroslava Shedova looks on during play against Estonia's Kaia Kanepi.
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Argentinian player Gaston Gaudio returns a ball to Czech player Radek Stepanek.
Sunset
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In fading light, Amélie Mauresmo couldn't even manage to win a set on clay against a player who could hardly chase down balls and who'd never bested her in five previous meetings.
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