Day 1 Results (Spin's Results are in Blue). Of the 16 first round matches played today, Spin had a 68.75% accuracy rate. Good going for the first day of play.
Serena Williams [1]
v Anna Tatishvili
Caroline Garcia [WC]
v Yuliya Beygelzimer [Q]
Sorana Cirstea
[26] v Kiki Bertens
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova [19]
v Andrea Hlavackova
Petra Cetkovska v Olga
Puchkova
Galina Voskoboeva [Q]
v Grace Min [Q]
Mallory Burdette v
Donna Vekic
Mandy Minella v Dinah Pfizenmaier [Q]
Venus Williams [30]
v Urszula Radwanska
Virginie Razzano [WC] v Claire Feuerstein [WC]
Ana Ivanovic [14]
v Petra Martic
Nadia Petrova [11] v Monica
Puig
Irena Pavlovic [WC]
v Shelby Rogers
Sabine Lisicki [32]
v Sofia Arvidsson
Ayumi Morita v Yulia
Putintseva
Sara Errani [5]
v Arantxa Rus
Day 2 Picks and Pans are below. Spin's Picks are in red.
Na Li [6] vs
Anabel Medina Garrigues - tough one but Li should pull through in straights
Su-Wei Hsieh vs Maria Sharapova [2]
Agnieszka Radwanska [4]
vs Shahar Peer - how is the shoulder feeling Aga?
Caroline Wozniacki
[10] vs Laura Robson - big match but Woz should pull through
Stephanie Foretz-Gacon vs Roberta Vinci [15] - 2 veterans but Vinci is playing great tennis
Flavia Pennetta vs
Kirsten Flipkens [21] - Flavia, if only because Flipper does not do clay very well
Chanelle Scheepers vs Mathilde Johansson - home crowd advantage
Mona Barthel vs Angelique Kerber [8] - battle of the Germans. Mona has been MIA but is Kerber healthy?
Julia Goerges [24] vs
Zuzana Kucova - how is Julia's wrist? If healthy should be fine
Melinda Czink vs
Francesca Schiavone - veteran battle, but Fran with memories should pull through
Simona Halep vs Carla
Suarez Navarro [20] - this was a tough one as both ladies are playing really well
Varvara Lepchenko
[29] vs Mirjana Lucic-Baroni - when Lucic is on she is devastating. this will be a battle
Eugenie Bouchard vs
Tsvetana Pironkova - Bouchard has been playing great tennis recently. Should be a good one
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova vs Bojana Jovanovski - this will be a battle to the death or an easy victory for the Serb
Jie Zheng vs Vesna
Dolonc - Zheng has been having good results on the clay
Tatjana Maria vs Paula Ormachaea - have not seen the young Argentine since the USO qualies last year. Should be a good battle
Madison Keys vs Misaki
Doi - Keys in straights
Svetlana Kuznetsova vs
Ekaterina Makarova - this was a tough one as Sveta should have great memories of her victory here
Pauline Parmentier vs
Magdalena Rybarikova - again, another tough one but the French woman will prevail
Karin Knapp vs Sloane
Stephens [17] - has Sloane got her head sorted out? We will see
Jana Cepelova vs Christina McHale - Same for McHale? is she healthy?
Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor vs Julia Glushko - the young Spaniard impressed recently in Madrid, losing a tough 3 setter. Look for her to play lights out here in Paris
Karolina Pliskova vs Garbine Muguruza - the young Spaniard has impressed everyone with her fight on hard courts. She was beaten handily by Sharapova in Rome recently. Remains to be seen how she does against an opponent who does not have the weapons of Sharapova
Monica Niculescu vs
Johanna Larsson - the wily Romanian will outfox the defender
Bethanie Mattek-Sands vs Lourdes Dominguez Lino - this is a toss up as BMS has been playing great on clay, however, Lino will frustrate but BMS should be able to come through
Vania King vs Alexandra
Cadantu - Vania came through qualifying and is match tough but I just don't see her getting past Cadantu
Romina Oprandi vs Elina
Svitolina - the wily veteran lost a tough 3 setter in Brussels. Look for her to make amends here
Tamira Paszek [28] vs Melanie Oudin - I am shocked that Tamira is ranked that high enough to be actually seeded. I think Oudin takes her out in straights.
The Match that Broke my Heart on Day 1
She served to take a 5-4 lead in the first set and got broken. She was 0-4 down in the second set tiebreak after serving for the second set on 2 occassions and having set points. She was 5-1 down in the third set and stared defeat in the face. She eventually lost the match 5-4 in the third against Ula Radwanska, but today Venus Ebony Starr Williams showed us that when healthy, or even something remotely resembling healthy, it will take a special player to bring her down, and bring her down without a fight.
Those of us who watched the match from beginning to end stood and applauded the shots from both ladies. While I am still upset that she lost, I can only bow down to the younger Radwanska as she never gave up and she continued to fight.
For her part, the veteran holder of 7 Grand Slam singles titles, too many other singles titles to mention, Olympian extraordinaire and fighter of life and tennis in general showed us why the women deserve to be paid equally with the men. For over 3 hours she showed why she is a threat despite not being at her best.
Venus, this fan salutes you. My only hope is that you continue to play until I get to see you on the green lawns of Wimbledon. You did well.
