Radwanska dominates Ferro at French Open

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Agnieszka Radwanska coasted to another strong first round victory at the French Open Tuesday. Her return to the sport resulted in a 6-1, 6-1 straight set dominance over Fiona Ferro

on Court 2 at Roland Garros. Her first serve percentage and four aces were too much for the youngster to handle against such a strong adversary whose efforts to be a giant were alive and well.

Radwanska has been out of the spotlight for some time dealing with a right foot injury that has been troubling her through key moments this season. After a dismal defeat in Miami back in March, the world number ten gave it a shot at Stuttgart but knew it wasn’t time to come back. With two shutouts under her belt, she hoped to perform better at Roland Garros needing to show some competitive spirt as well as have the time necessary to heal.

This was Radwanska’s 11^th start at the grand slam that is clearly more than her 19-year-old opponent. The French teen hoped more on the energy from her countryman watching her as she came into the tournament with a qualification win along the way.

She instead saw the wrath of the Polish superstar who brought her best to the court in the form of complete dominance. From her opening serve and the next four games, Radwanska had full control over the 19-year-old who won just 11 points. She found herself fighting with all she had in the sixth on serve pulling out her first victory of the tournament. Ferro tried to get another and showed the effort getting dug in against the Polish star but she came up short watching Radwanska take the set 6-1 in 34 minutes.

The world number ten got right back to work in the second set taking the skills that overwhelmed the teen once again. Radwanska set the pace very quickly to hold the first three games and never let off. She was finding the opposition a breeze with some moments of response. The ninth seed answered back with lobs over the net that had Ferro beat by a mile earning her fourth win in 16 minutes.

Knowing that she was going to have troubles further one was apparent, but her efforts to avoid the bagel were even more important. She made it clear once with a hold in the fifth before the inevitable arrived. She was once again in fine form, taking a 5-1 stance before attempting to attack the serve of the 19-year-old. It turned out to be a difficult task to win the match on the break as the French teen didn’t want to go down that way. She dug in during the rallies and went to three breaks before Radwanska brought her fight to an end winning the game on a long return from Ferro ending one hour and seven minutes.

With a breeze into the second round, Radwanska will await the winner between Japan’s Naomi Osaka and Alison van Uytvanck on Thursday.

Bouchard avoids early defeat at French Open

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Eugenie Bouchard got out of serious trouble to walk away victorious at the French Open Tuesday. The 2014 semifinalist overcame a dismal first set to beat Risa Ozaki 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Court Two at Roland Garros.

The Canadian had a tough outing against the Japanese and surely had it on her mind going into the year’s second grand slam. Bouchard showed tremendous improvement in her clay court game back at Madrid that also saw her increase the pressure of her second-round match that eventually got her to the quarterfinals for the first time. Playing with a current right ankle injury would be another challenge to add to first round jitters for the 23-year-old but if her actions under the spotlight were handled, she could see herself going getting back to the semifinals like she did in 2014.

The start she had in the opening set was less than expected as she couldn’t keep a lock down on the score. At every point in games, it was Ozaki who overtook the Canadian and built herself a gap. The margin turned into a very large one that had Bouchard down 5-0. Though she avoided the bagel with a break in the sixth, the 23-year-old attempted to fight back and reel Ozaki in. Bouchard captured another game but her opponent still meant business.

She did not make it easy in the eighth as the two went to deuce with Bouchard trying everything to attain the advantage. Every chance either fell wide or was returned by Ozaki who won after 36 minutes. The Canadian had a very lopsided game having had a dozen winners but twice as many unforced errors that caused her to be down a set.

She turned things around with a service hold in the first winning by two game points which she considered a positive outcome. Bouchard followed it up with a break of Ozaki who received a time warning from the umpire which took her off her game. She recovered to get back to things with Bouchard but after six games elapsed, the Canadian took off with control and never looked back eyeing a chance to make something now that she was dead even with the Japanese player. Bouchard won 6-3 in just 30 minutes indicating that she was warmed up and ready to fight in the last set of the match.

Bouchard gave herself a 2-0 lead that saw the game take a slow pace but one that let her be in front. Ozaki got on the board in the third but with Bouchard carrying a lead, the 23-year-old had a fighting chance to dictate. She built a 4-1 rout for herself but seemed to have help due to leg strains for Ozaki that had her struggling on the returns. She thought she could get a medical timeout with the trainer but the time wasn’t right for her do so.

While she waited for the chance, Bouchard continued to get closer to the match that if won in the seventh, wouldn’t give the Japanese player a chance at all. This led Ozaki to play under a lot of pressure dealing with the leg issue as well as staying alive in the set. She kept the offense together just enough to deal with Bouchard on deuce where two breaks were all it took to win and received short treatment from the physiotherapist who rubbed ice bags on her legs.

It didn’t change the fact that the Canadian served for the match and made a statement reaching three match points before a three-shot rally ended Ozaki’s run and a major comeback for Bouchard ending 1 hour and 48 minutes. The rally to improve the first serve was a success winning 78 percent of her shots and increasing the winners that did enough to keep her on the mark. The 41 unforced errors were going to have to get smaller as she went into Thursday’s second round. She’ll take on the winner between Annika Beck and Anastasija Sevastova.

Cornet edges out Babos in French Open opening round

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Alize Cornet had her struggles early on in the French Open but finished with a win on Tuesday. The French veteran battled it out against Timea Babos to win 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-2 on Court One at Roland Garros.

The two top 45 players have never faced on another in their long histories of playing the sport. So far both have gone one for four on the clay courts this season with one hoping that her playing on home soil could give her the leverage. Cornet started in her 13^th French Open hoping that she could repeat or better her finish from 2015 where she made it to the round of 16. For Babos, her fourth time in the main draw remained a point where she had little to lose and more to gain if her skills could top that of her opponent.

She took a two-game lead going into the opening set which woke up the French star to act. Cornet delivered a tough game in the third where the two went nearly seven minutes and three breaks before she got the win to her name. It seemed to do much more than that as she took off winning the next four straight albeit at a slow pace. 42 minutes had elapsed before Cornet reached the point of playing for the set with a majority of the momentum leaning her way. After 48 minutes, she put the first set to rest with a complete rout of her Hungarian opponent who had very little responses in her game.

She had a better outcome in the second staying tight with Cornet in the set. Despite having gaps of two games between her and Cornet, the Hungarian felt positive on her want to perform at a better rate. She got into a draw with the French star that led the two to fighting for control of the set. A big answer in the tenth from Babos led the two to play onward setting up a dramatic finish but also plenty of pressure on the shoulders of the French star.

She was the first to act in extra frames taking her service hold seriously. The same went for Babos who wanted nothing more than to stay in the tournament and did so with a hold of two points between her and Cornet. Things went straight into a tiebreak where Cornet hadn’t had luck in recent history but gave it her all with the home crowd behind her. It wasn’t enough for her to counteract the run that Babos had going as she took control of the tiebreak making her way to a 7-5 victory that ultimately set into place a third set. It took a full hour to complete the set and with the match going the distance it would be anyone’s to win with a second-round advance on the line.

For Cornet, the need for a win at home was essential to her confidence but also to being one of the favorites from her home country. She put that in her mind and produced a dominant game beyond the third that saw her in good control. She took things into a near gear getting well under control to be up 5-1 with the match in her grasp. Babos was closer than ever to the edge of defeat and knew that a service hold had to come together in the seventh. It kept her alive but as Cornet got the ball in hand in the eighth, her eyes were set on closing things out.

The 27-year-old opened the score at 30-0 and allowed just a point to Babos before ending the match with a good set of shots to get a well-deserved victory. Aside from holding the first serve together, the difference maker in the match was minimizing the unforced errors in the late stages. For Babos, it was a tough outing as she racked up 47 on the day that led her to her demise. She’ll go back to the drawing board while Cornet settles in against the winner between Barbora Strycova and Alison Riske on Thursday.