As Day 4 comes to a close, the French Open has showered us with some nail biting tennis and roller-coaster matches, filled with ups and downs. Here’s a little review and predictions for round 3.
V. Williams vs. Nara
The experienced, and could almost be called veteran, Venus Williams made quick work of the Japanese Kurumi Nara, winning 6-3, 6-1, in 1 hour and 2o minutes. Although Venus seemed to start a little shaky, with a few unforced errors and what seemed to be some halted movement, Venus quickly shook off those nerves and pulled herself together. By the end of the first set Venus was dominating with her serve and power. We saw her come to the nets multiple times and be in control of the points, only to put the point away with a volley or an overhead.
Overall, Venus played some good tennis and we see her advancing to the third round where she will play Elise Mertens. There is no doubt that Venus has been having a good season, winning 5 of her 7 matches on clay. But, Elise has been having a good season as well, reaching the finals of Istanbul and losing to Elina Svitolina. This could be an extremely tough match for Venus, and she may even end up losing if she doesn’t play some high quality tennis.
Prediction: Venus in a tough 3-setter.
Muguruza vs. Kontaveit
Muguruza had a huge scare in her second round match against Kontaveit. Kontaveit had already defeated Garbine at Stuttgart a few weeks ago. The Spaniard started out extremely shaky and erratic, with lots of unforced errors. Kontaveit seemed to thrive on Muguruza’s power and was dominating the points throughout the first set, which Muguruza lost in a tiebreak 7-4.
Things turned around in the second set when Muguruza managed to up her level and start pushing Kontaveit around. Garbine thwarted 2 break points in the second set and managed to hold 4-3. From there on, Muguruza was in control, going on to win the second set 6-4, and the third 6-2.
“Even though I was losing a set and 3-1, I didn’t gave up,” says Muguruza. “I was thinking, she’s going to have to really beat me here. I didn’t let myself go down. Honestly, she was playing good. She took her chances. I knew it was going to be a battle out there. I lost to her not long ago so I did something different this time, different in a good way. So I won the match.”
If last year’s French Open champion can continue to play like this, without having erratic starts, she could go on to be this year’s champion as well. In the third round Muguruza will play Yulia Putintseva, whom Muguruza leads in the head to head 1-0. Although the last time they played was on the hard courts of Beijing in 2016, and Yulia pushed Muguruza to a tiebreaker in the second, as long as Muguruza doesn’t start of slow she should win this match.
Prediction: Muguruza in 2.
K. Mladenovic vs. Errani
Mladenovic made easy work of 2012 French Open runner up Sara Errani, winning in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. Errani seems to have slumped in her career, and went through qualifications to play the main draw at the French Open.
It seems like Mladenovic has her game plan set and her eyes on the prize. Mladenovic’s back seemed to no longer perturb the French while she was playing and her service percentage was much better than her first round match. Mladenovic also seemed to be dominating the points and she played some smart points to sail through the match.
After the match, Mladenovic said “I’m satisfied to have beaten a great player, she was impressive. My back caused me some problems and made me feel unsure but it’s a bit better now. I was a little girl with dreams [when I first came here at 11]. The dream came true, this is my career. To come back to Roland Garros every year, with this great weather… I want to keep coming back.”
Mladenovic seems extremely determined to prove herself at Roland Garros this year, and in the next round she faces Shelby Rogers, who she lost to last year 6-1, 6-1 on hard courts. Shelby has been having a decent season, and Mladenovic will feel some pressure playing an opponent she lost to quite handily to. This match will be a match of nerves, because of Mladenovic can control them, she should be able to win.
Prediction: Mladenovic in 3 sets.
A Look Around
Kvitova’s return to the tour was cut short by Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Although Kvitova lost the match she showed a lot of heart and courage, losing 7-6(5), 7-6 (5). Kvitova started out the match with a firing backhand service return, and it seemed as if her intent to win was clear. Kvitova was able to break the American, mostly through the use of her extremely accurate service returns and was up 4-2.
Bethanie however, was not about to go down without a fight and hit three smart dropshots which prevented another break, making the score 4-3. Bethanie continued to use these drop shots and at 5-5 in the first set tiebreak Bethanie hit a strong service return winner. Kvitova hit the next forehand return long, giving Bethanie the first set.
Bethanie then went off court, and it seemed like instead of being a positive for Kvitova, it spiraled into a negative. Kvitova was suddenly down 3-1 in the second. Kvitova fought back, but in the breaker her 8th double fault gave back her mini-break, and her 9th double fault gave Bethanie the match.
Kvitova however seems to be taking this loss in her stride. “I just came to open my comeback. The mission is completed, which I’m very happy about and I’m happy that this is all ended.”
“That’s what I’m looking forward to now, just focusing on the tennis and on the game and everything I do need to improve to my game.”
Cici Bellic, Caroline Wozniacki, and Sam Stosur are also through to the third round. Wozniacki dominated her opponent Abanda 6-0, 6-0. Both Bellic and Stosur won their first sets relatviely easily, 6-3 and 6-2 respectively, but were then pushed to a tough second set tibreaker. Bellic won hers 7-5, while Stosur won 8-6.
As we go into Day 5 there is a lot of exciting tennis to come, and we look forward to what this year’s French Open has in store.
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