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Serena draws cheers on return to French
A year ago, Serena Williams left the French Open in tears. On Tuesday, she walked on center court to hearty applause.
It didn't matter whether the crowd was cheering her fashion bravado — Williams wore a fuschia outfit — or easing her return to the scene of bad memories.
"It was really exciting to come back out there," said Serena, who won her first-round match against Iveta Benesova 6-2, 6-2.
Parisian fans turned against Williams last year when she questioned calls during a semifinal loss to eventual champion Justine Henin-Hardenne. They jeered her and applauded her mistakes.
This time the mood was friendly.
"I got out there and I got nice applause," said Williams, seeded No. 2 behind Henin-Hardenne. "It was interesting. I didn't think anything about the semifinals. I just thought about playing my match."
After the victory, there was more talk about her clothes than her tennis.
Williams said she comes to Paris feeling compelled to make a bold fashion statement.
"You have to when you're in Paris," Williams said. "It's just a one-of-a-kind city, and you need to have one-of-a-kind outfits."
The ensemble — "fuchsia with red hints," she said — was a two-piece miniskirt outfit with matching headband, a pompom-like ponytail holder and huge hoop earrings.
It's not a style just anyone can pull off, said Jennifer Capriati, who beat Yulia Beygelzimer of Ukraine 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
"You've got to give her credit for being confident and wearing what she wants to wear and not caring what anybody says," Capriati said.
Serena says she's inspired by Paris.
"I've really been influenced by the Parisians and the way they dress," she said. "The women here have very, very classy taste."
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NO PAIN: Defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero says the thought of withdrawing because of injury was more painful than playing with bruised ribs.
The top-seeded Spaniard took painkiller injections to numb his right side and rallied to beat Tommy Haas 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
"It's Roland Garros and I'm trying to defend a title, you know," said Ferrero, adding that he felt no pain during the match but had some trouble with his serve. Ferrero bruised his right ribs in a fall May 8 while practicing in Spain. Earlier this week, he said there was a 60 percent chance he would withdraw. ___ DON'T ASK: Marat Safin is nowhere near his peak form — and he doesn't like being reminded about it. "How many times they ask me this question?" said the Russian, winner of the 2000 U.S. Open. "Far away. I'm far away. I'm far away." In other words: "I'm definitely not in the best shape right now," said Safin, who was leading 5-7, 6-1, 4-1 in his first-round match against Agustin Calleri when the Argentine pulled out with pain in his hamstrings. Safin faces Felix Mantilla in the second round. At Safin's first Roland Garros appearance in 1998, he owned the spotlight. As a teenage qualifier, the Russian upset Andre Agassi in the first round and then beat defending champion Gustavo Kuerten — both in five-setters. Now 24, Safin is unseeded for the first time in his past 13 Grand Slam appearances. "I'm missing a little bit of confidence," said Safin, who has complained about being burned out. "The schedule is very tough. It's tournament after tournament," Safin said. "You can't play and win them all." |
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