Nadal beats Soderling for 5th French title

By STEVEN WINE, AP Sports Writer

PARIS (AP)—Rafael Nadal won his fifth French Open title Sunday, beating Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.Chasing down shots all over the court, the relentless Spaniard also avenged his lone Roland Garros defeat.

Nadal improved to 38-1 at the French Open, with the only loss to Soderling in the fourth round a year ago.

“I played my best match against you,” an emotional Nadal told Soderling during the trophy ceremony. “If not, it’s going to be impossible to beat you.”

Seeded No. 2, Nadal won seven consecutive games midway through the match and held every serve, saving all eight break points he faced. He became the second man to win the French Open at least five times, and next year he’ll have a chance to match Bjorn Borg’s record of six titles.

“It’s really impressive,” Soderling told Nadal. “If you continue like this, you will sure have the chance to win many more.”

With the victory, Nadal will also reclaim the No. 1 ranking Monday, replacing Federer.

Soderling finished as the runner-up for the second year in a row. In 2009 he lost in the final to Roger Federer.

“I love this tournament,” Soderling said. “I will come back next year, and I hope I’ll be third time lucky then.”

When Soderling’s final shot landed in the net, Nadal slid onto his back, threw up his fists and rose, shaking from his hair the clay he loves. Soon he was sitting and sobbing into his towel.

“It’s the most emotional day in my career,” Nadal told the crowd in French during the trophy ceremony. His bad memories of 2009 included not only the loss to Soderling, but the separation of his parents and knee tendinitis that contributed to a slump.

The weather was mild and mostly cloudy—a nice day to go running, and Nadal did plenty of it. Playing farther behind the baseline than in their match last year, he skidded across the clay and lunged to dig shots out of the corners, repeatedly extending points until Soderling finally misfired.

The big-swinging Soderling tried to win points quickly and sometimes did, but most of the long rallies went Nadal’s way. Before the first set ended, the Swede was panting between points.

Nadal’s march to his seventh Grand Slam title was slowed down only between points. Advised by the chair umpire he was taking too much time with his methodical ritual before serving, Nadal responded, “Thank you,” and slightly picked up the pace.

To compound Soderling’s woes, he had an off day with his serve, his biggest weapon. He totaled only seven aces, the same number as Nadal. For the other six rounds, Soderling had 75 aces, Nadal 12.

Nadal’s persistence paid off early in the second set. Facing a break point, he retrieved shots from both corners and punched back a slam from Soderling, then charged forward and hit a deft drop volley for a winner. Fans roared and Nadal threw an uppercut accompanied by a leg kick.

Another eye-popping sequence came three games later. Nadal slid into the corner beyond the doubles service line to hit a forehand winner that left Soderling shaking his head. On the next point, Nadal raced to the other side and yanked a lunging backhand cross-court for another winner.Those points helped Nadal break at love for a 3-2 lead, during the run that allowed him to take firm control. He managed three consecutive service breaks, and by the time Soderling finally held to stop the skid, he trailed 2-1 in the final set.

With Nadal covering so much ground, Soderling sometimes rushed shots or aimed too close to the line. He finished with 45 unforced errors to 16 for Nadal.

Even the points Nadal lost took a toll on his opponent, who was coming off a grueling five-set win over Tomas Berdych in the semifinals. The Swede, who was seeded fifth and upset Federer in the quarterfinals, again came up short in his 26th Grand Slam tournament.The first service break came in the fifth game when Nadal cracked a thunderous backhand for a winner, and he served out the set. That essentially decided the match. Nadal is now 95-1 at Grand Slam tournaments when he wins the opening set.

Nadal improved to 22-0 this year on clay and now switches to grass, where he’ll seek a second Wimbledon title after missing last year’s tournament because of knee trouble.

For the second time in three years, Nadal won all 21 sets en route to the Roland Garros title. Only two other men in the Open era have won the title without losing a set, Borg and Ilie Nastase.

Source:http://sports.yahoo.com

Venus canters into third round in Paris

By Miles Evans
PARIS, May 26 (Reuters) - Venus Williams took another step towards her first French Open title with a routine 6-2 6-4 victory over Spain’s Arantxa Parra Santonja at Roland Garros on Wednesday.

Wearing an eye-catching black lace corset-style outfit, the second seed bossed most of the rallies as a stiff breeze lashed an overcast Court Philippe Chatrier, coming through in an hour and 35 minutes.

Santonja, who has an unusual double-handed grip on both wings, extended the American with some deft groundstrokes before Williams broke decisively in game seven of the second set, sealing the win when Santonja ballooned a return long.

She next faces Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova or Varvara Lepchenko of the United States in the third round.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com

French Open'' 09 Champ Kuznetsova beats Cirstea

Taking the court for a morning match to start the French Open, defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova needed extra time to get going.
Robin Soderling followed her onto the stadium clay and was ready from the first swing.
Kuznetsova lost the first six points and first three games Sunday, then swept nine games in a row and beat Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 6-1.
Soderling, who ended Rafael Nadal's reign at the French Open a year ago, won the first nine games and defeated wild card Laurent Recouderc 6-0, 6-2, 6-3.
Kuznetsova, seeded sixth, arrived at Roland Garros only 1-3 on clay this year, and she drew a dangerous opening opponent in Cirstea, a quarterfinalist a year ago.
The match began shortly after 11 a.m., and even in a nearly empty stadium, Kuznetsova found herself a bit rattled.
``Definitely I was a little bit nervous,'' she said. ``It was rough start for me.''
The Russian needed 12 minutes to win a game, but she was in control after that. Three times she rallied to take a game after losing the first three points.
``She was down, so she had to change a little bit,'' Cirstea said. ``She went more for her shots, and they went in.''
Cirstea squandered chances to get back into the match in the second set, when she failed to convert all four break points.
A year ago, Kuznetsova beat Serena Williams en route to her second Grand Slam championship. But she has not won any titles this year and her record is 9-9, the worst of any top-10 woman.
``I was not showing as good results as I would like to,'' Kuznetsova said, ``but I knew this moment has to pass, because I deserve better.''
The tournament began in warm, sunny conditions that had spectators fanning themselves, but Soderling didn't tax himself in the heat. He lost only nine of 58 points on his serve and broke six times.
``It's always nice to have a quick match in the early rounds,'' the Swede said. ``I got to hit a few balls. We had a few rallies. So it was a good match.''
Soderling's fourth-round win over four-time champion Nadal at Roland Garros still seems shocking a year later. Soderling went on to the final - his best showing in a major event - where he lost to Roger Federer, who completed a career Grand Slam.
``That was all last year,'' Soderling said. ``I have to start over again. But of course it's always nice to come back to a place where you did well last year. It gives you good feelings.''

Nadal, now 31-1 lifetime at Roland Garros, is again the tournament favorite and wouldn't meet the No. 5-seeded Soderling until the final.

Also advancing were No. 10 Marin Cilic and No. 11 Mikhail Youzhny. Cilic beat Ricardo Mello 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, and Youzhny defeated Michal Przysiezny 6-1, 6-0, 6-4.
In women's play, No. 10 Victoria Azarenka lost to Gisela Dulko 6-1, 6-2. Azarenka had been a quarterfinalist at three of the past four Grand Slam tournaments, including Roland Garros a year ago.
No. 15-seeded Aravane Rezai of France, coming off a victory over Venus Williams in the Madrid final, wowed the partisan crowd with a black and metallic gold outfit, and also with her game. She beat qualifier Heidi El Tabakh 6-1, 6-1.
Varvara Lepchenko won an all-American matchup, ending a streak of seven consecutive losses in Grand Slam matches by beating wild card Christina McHale 7-5, 6-3.
Lepchenko, ranked 127th, was born in Uzbekistan but received political asylum. She lives in Allentown, Pa., and expects to become a U.S. citizen next year.
``I've been living there for 10 years now,'' she said. ``I'm proud that I represent it here.''

Source: http://www.tennischannel.com