Players Set for French Open
PARIS, May 23, 2005 -- -- They came, they saw -- they practiced.
Switzerland's Roger Federer versus Belgium's Xavier Malisse. America's Lindsay Davenport versus Russia's Maria Sharapova. Brazil's Gustavo Kuertan versus France's Michael Llorda.
All for a workout. Not for the money.
As the world's top tennis players converged on Paris for the French Open, the glamour of the international tennis tour faded under the glare of intense preparation. Practice courts filled up with Big Names hitting against Big Names.
Sharapova, her blond hair and face nearly hidden beneath a blue cap and visor, stroked for an hour with Davenport, whose broad, tanned features were often contorted with doubt. Across the net on the Chartrier Stadium Court, they slammed scores of errors and dozens of winners. It was a standoff.
The reigning Wimbledon champion, Sharapova, is seeded second here and could face a difficult test two full rounds before the final. By luck of the draw, she could face Belgium's resurgent Justine Henin-Hardenne in the quarterfinals.
Another Belgian, also regaining top form, is Kim Clijsters, who finds herself in an equally interesting position: Assuming she and the top-seeded Davenport conquer their early foes (and doubts), they too could meet in the quarterfinals.
The Belgians stumbled with injuries in the last two years, but their return signals a resumption of an intensively rigorous women's tour, a phenomenon underscored by the decision of America's Serena Williams to withdraw because of an ankle injury without playing this year at Roland Garros.
With Williams out, the only player of either gender with a mathematical chance at the Grand Slam this year is the mercurial Russian, Marat Safin. He won the Australian Open in January but has fallen off form and is considered not likely to regain his footing on the red clay of this championship.
The men's tour seems relatively injury-free at the moment, but it is the mental strain that seems most intense.
Federer, the world's top-ranked men's player, struggles to regain his footing as the presumptive world champion. Despite enormous expectations, he lost in January in the Australian Open to Safin.
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