Hingis Begins French Open Quest Against Raymond
29th May 2006
Martina Hingis will begin her bid for her first French Open crown against AmericanHingis Begins French Open Quest Against Raymond doubles specialist Lisa Raymond (WTA #80). Ranked #14 but seeded 12th thanks to the withdrawals of Mary Pierce and Lindsay Davenport, the Swiss Miss drew a number of potentially interesting match-ups in Roland Garros these coming two weeks. Here is a look at her possible opponents.
1st round
Lisa Raymond
2nd round
Julia Schruff - Hingis beat her in straight sets in Berlin this year.
3rd round
Tatiana Golovin - Impressive young French player who reached the semis in Miami, but injured her ankle and has not played since. It will be a tough match IF Golovin is in form, but she has not played a single match on clay this year, so this remains to be seen.
or Jie Zheng - one of the few Chinese players doing wonders in both singles & doubles as of late. No clear weapons, but is consistent and speedy around the court.
4th round
Elena Dementieva - 2004 Roland Garros finalist who can beat anyone on a good day & lose to anyone on a bad day. She beat Hingis 3 straight times (including last February in Tokyo) before Hingis took her revenge in Berlin. Their head-to-head stands at 3-3.
Quarterfinals
Kim Clijsters - World #2 and winner of Warsaw this year. Clijsters’ season so far shows a mixture of brilliant tennis with a few patches of inconsistency. She ended Hingis’ Australian Open run last January, winning in 3 sets.
Semifinals
Justine Henin-Hardenne - Defending champion & last year’s unbeaten queen of clay who surprisingly did not win any clay tournament this year. Still, this lady has the most beautiful game for clay, and if playing her best will be very difficult to beat.
Or Nadia Petrova - World #3 who has enjoyed an impressive 3-tournament winning streak coming into Roland Garros. She should be considered a favorite to win this title, right next to Henin-Hardenne.
Final
Amelie Mauresmo - Riding high with confidence after winning her first grand slam in Australia & reaching the top #1 ranking. Mauresmo has beaten Hingis twice this year, the last one in 3 close sets on clay. Surprisingly, though, Mauresmo has not performed particularly well in the French Open, despite it being on home soil.
others: Svetlana Kuznetsova, Maria Sharapova or Venus Williams
The French Open remains to be the only grand slam missing in Martina Hingis’ trophy collection. She was a finalist twice (1997 & 1999), a semifinalist 3 times & even won the junior title as a 12-year-old. After winning in Rome last week, Hingis brings some confidence into Paris while remaining realistic about her chances. She said she still considers herself an underdog but is “a good (dark) horse”.
This year’s French Open will definitely be an exciting one. For the first time, the tournament will begin on Sunday (May 28), with Hingis playing her first match on Monday or Tuesday.
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