Daily Sports News

Roger Federer advanced to round two of the French Open by defeating Alberto Martin of Spain in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. The last time Federer had played at the Roland Garros was in the 2008 finals where he was beaten by Rafael Nadal.

In a post match interview Federer said “I didn’t even think about last year’s match on the same court because I was so much concentrated, I wanted to do my best. I didn’t want to lose my first match.”

Federer is looking forward to win the French Open and complete his collection with all the four grand slam titles. Federer said that his current clay court form has given him a belief that he can win the elusive grand slam this year. He has already beaten Nadal once in Madrid where he won his first title of the year.

Federer also said that “The (2008) final was very difficult. It was the very last match. But what counts is how you played after in Madrid, Monte Carlo and Rome and on clay surfaces, and what you look at is the matches you’ve won, If you’ve lost, okay, no problem, because between then and now, you have played something like 60 matches, so that was okay today for me. ”

If Federer wins the French Open then he will equal Pete Sampra’s record of 14 grand slams. He had never been a advocate of the drop shot but on Monday there was a difference in his game and the same was acknowledged by him in a post match comment saying:

“I’m happy I got to learn how to use the drop shot over the years, I used to not be a fan of the drop shot at all. I always thought it was a shot you only hit when you’re panicking from the baseline, when you’re scared maybe to take on the fight. Today I realized that actually you can use it to your advantage against like players like Martin. It just makes it a little bit more easy. I’m happy to be through without a fright.”

Roger Federer will now face Jose Acasuso of Argentina in the new round.

Title holder Ana Ivanovic had a hard game to begin her journey in Roland Garros with a 7-6, 6-3 victory over Italian Sara Errani to reach the second round. Ana Ivanovic had to fight a long battle lasting two hours and two minutes to conquer the world no. 44. Even though Ivanovic won the match bust she showed signs of the recent knee injury which kept her out of the Madrid Open. She played the match with her right knee taped. In the second round she will meet either Camille Pin or Tamarine Tamasugarn.

Ivanovic has not won many matches on the clay court in the current year with just two wins before the start of the French Open. One could easily make out her lack of clay court exposure in the current year when she gave away ten break point in the first set and it got stretched into a tiebreaker. She eventfully won the exhausting set after 72 minutes.

In the second set Ivanovic avoided four break points in the first service game and later consolidated her position by leading the set at 5-1. Errani faough back hard and to her service game and broke Ivanovic’s service game to but the Surb finally won the match taking the set 6-3.

Post the match a tired Ana Ivanovic told the reporters

“I expected a tough match. I knew I would have to work hard for my points today, and I’m very happy I did that, I kept my composure even when I was making a few mistakes.”

“I think last year’s US Open was a great experience for me, I played when I wasn’t fit enough to play and I kept thinking about my injury through the matches,”.

“It was not going well. Before my matches, before I stepped on court, I was thinking, am I fit enough to play? And I felt fit enough, so I just put it out of my mind, and I don’t want to think about it.”

“This morning when I was warming up they were playing highlights on the big screen. It’s always good to see, and you always get a little bit excited watching that,” she said.

She also added that playing on the clay court reminded her of the last year when she had an excellent French Open.