End of the Rod

Andy Roddick’s French Open hopes were ground into the Roland Garros clay on Thursday by a tenacious Argentine who never lost belief. Wi...

int(3)

Andy Roddick’s French Open hopes were ground into the Roland Garros clay on Thursday by a tenacious Argentine who never lost belief. With the second seed’s demise American chances of a men’s champion at the second Grand Slam of the year also disappeared.

Journeyman Jose Acasuso won 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 8-6 in three hours 21 minutes, propelling him into the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time and leaving Roddick a second-round loser in Paris for the second year in a row.

In the women’s singles, Maria Sharapova remained ice-cool under a blistering sun to repel the free hitting of French wild card Aravane Rezai and reach the third round of the claycourt Grand Slam. After a shaky first round in which she was stretched to three sets by fellow Russian Evgenia Linetskaya, the second seed upped her game to beat fellow 18-year-old Rezai 6-3, 6-2 on centre court.

Story continues below this ad

Sharapova dismissed concerns over her claycourt form with an assured performance against a gutsy opponent buoyed by her home fans.

Rezai, ranked 242 places behind the world No 2, had a simple game plan of pelting the ball as hard as she could and going for winners.

It served her well in the opening exchanges as she streaked into a 3-1 lead but Wimbledon champion Sharapova kept her cool to reel in the Frenchwoman.

Amelie Mauresmo and Tatiana Golovin soon restored home pride, however. Seventeenth seed Golovin thrashed Antonella Serra Zanetti 6-0, 6-1 and Mauresmo pummelled Alize Cornet 6-0, 6-2.

Story continues below this ad

Belgian former world No 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne refused to let a sore back sidetrack her as she beat Spain’s Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-1, 6-4. The 2003 champion made her comeback to the tour two months ago after spending six months out recovering from a viral illness. Marat Safin refused to bow to a painful knee and thundered into the third round with a 6-7, 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 win over Czech Lukas Dlouhy. (Reuters)

FRENCH FRIES

		Upset of the day: Jose Acasuso fought on for 201 minutes to beat Andy Roddick 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 8-6. Coming up: Rafael Nadal vs Richard Gasquet. Battle of teens, some call it. Others call it battle of young pretenders. The names promise a high-energy contest. In their last encounter, Gasquet stretched Nadal all the way at Monte Carlo semifinals. Match of the day: Nicolas Kiefer and Aranud Clement lived up to the reputation . Kiefer finally won 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4. Hero of the day: Has to be Acasuso. Facing the reputation of Roddick, and the two set deficit, the Argentine never flustered. Quote: I will definitely go out on the court and play against him, even if I need to take two weeks off after that. *Injured Marat Safin on his third round match against Juan Carlos Ferrero.* Statistic of the Day: Jose Acasusuo slammed 20 aces, and 50 winners against Andy Roddick. Trivia: Combined age of competitiors in tomorrow’s big match (Nadal, and Gasquet) is 36. The oldest player in French Open, Andre Agassi, is 35. — Sidharth Monga