Top seed Safina flies into 3rd round
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The Associated Press
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 28, 2009 00:00
PARIS - Dinara Safina rolled past another opponent yesterday at the French Open, this time beating Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia 6-1, 6-1 in the second round.
The top-seeded Safina took a 5-0 lead to open the match, stretching her streak to 17 straight games after winning 6-0, 6-0 in the first round.
"Pretty good start for the tournament," said Safina, who lost in the Australian Open final and was the runner-up at Roland Garros last year. "I just played a good game today, good enough to win."
Diatchenko, 18, broke Safina once in the second set but failed to convert her only other chance in the first.
"I felt so bad because I didn't play my best game today," Diatchenko said. "She's in good form. Every ball she put close to the line."
On the men's side, French veteran Fabrice Santoro played his last match at Roland Garros. Santoro, who has made a record 67 Grand Slam appearances, lost in the first round of this year's French Open - his record-tying 20th - to Christophe Rochus 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.
"Twenty years. That counts for something in a lifetime," Santoro said. "It has been a long road, a fantastic career. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot."
Santoro and Rochus started their match Tuesday, but it was suspended by darkness with the Belgian leading 5-3 in the fourth set. The pair came back out onto the court after Safina's win and played only eight minutes. "I'm saying to myself that the story is over, that a page is being turned," Santoro said. "I will no longer be on court next year. But I think that it is time to go."
"Pretty good start for the tournament," said Safina, who lost in the Australian Open final and was the runner-up at Roland Garros last year. "I just played a good game today, good enough to win."
Diatchenko, 18, broke Safina once in the second set but failed to convert her only other chance in the first.
"I felt so bad because I didn't play my best game today," Diatchenko said. "She's in good form. Every ball she put close to the line."
On the men's side, French veteran Fabrice Santoro played his last match at Roland Garros. Santoro, who has made a record 67 Grand Slam appearances, lost in the first round of this year's French Open - his record-tying 20th - to Christophe Rochus 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.
"Twenty years. That counts for something in a lifetime," Santoro said. "It has been a long road, a fantastic career. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot."
Santoro and Rochus started their match Tuesday, but it was suspended by darkness with the Belgian leading 5-3 in the fourth set. The pair came back out onto the court after Safina's win and played only eight minutes. "I'm saying to myself that the story is over, that a page is being turned," Santoro said. "I will no longer be on court next year. But I think that it is time to go."