Venus Williams to make Canadian debut

THE CANADIAN PRESS MONTREAL -- Venus Williams will make her first Rogers Cup appearance this summer in Montreal. The 27-year-old American, who has won 36 career WTA Tour singles titles, is ranked eighth in the world. Williams confirmed her participation during a conference call Wednesday from Paris, where she's getting ready for the French Open. She said she has entered the Rogers Cup a couple of times in the past but was unable to play due to injury. "This year it's a great opportunity for me to play a top-level tournament in a city that I've never visited," Williams said. "And (I get) to meet all my fans that I've never met before so I'm really looking forward to it." The US$1.34-million tournament will be played July 26-Aug. 3 at Uniprix Stadium. Belgium's Justine Henin won the 2007 event in Toronto. She announced her retirement last week.

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THE CANADIAN PRESS

PARIS -- Oracene Price, mother and coach to Venus and Serena Williams, stood near the steps to the locker room at the end of a long, rough day at the French Open.

First she watched eight-time major champion Serena lose a match that began a little after 11 a.m. Then she watched six-time major champion Venus lose a match that ended in near-darkness, shortly before 10 p.m. Both sisters were stunned in the third round Friday by journeywomen who never have been quarter-finalists, much less champions, at any Grand Slam tournament.

As Price consulted another daughter about the best way to leave the grounds, she paused for a moment, distracted by someone bounding up the stairs, two at a time. It was Flavia Pennetta, the Italian seeded 26th who beat Venus 7-5, 6-3, and was headed toward her parents for hugs and kisses and a congratulatory call from Grandma.

"Did you see the match? Did you see the match?" Pennetta shouted loudly enough to be heard back home in Brindisi, at the heel of Italy's boot, without the help of a cell phone. "Don't cry!"

For days leading to these matching upsets, the Williams clan spoke -- presciently, it turns out -- about how tough it can be to play against less-heralded opponents who want to make their mark by beating one sister or the other.

"They just have to learn how to do the rope-a-dope as they get older," Price said after Serena's 6-4, 6-4 loss to No. 27 Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia.

It was clear from listening to Pennetta and Srebotnik that they were thinking exactly what the women they beat figured.

"Today, I woke up and, you know, it was just another opportunity. This is what you work so hard for -- to be in third round where you play Serena or someone like that and you have really nothing to lose," said Srebotnik, who managed to reach the fourth round at a major only once before in 35 tries.

"If you win a match like that, you gain a lot, so I just took my chances."

Not only was there nary a Williams left in the French Open, there were no U.S. women left at all, because Bethanie Mattek was beaten 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 by No. 1 Maria Sharapova, whose 10 double-faults raised her total to 27 through two matches. It's the first time in at least 40 years the United States didn't put at least one woman into the fourth round at Roland Garros.

Heading into Saturday there was a solitary American in Paris: Robby Ginepri, the last of 10 U.S. men in the original draw after Wayne Odesnik lost to No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia in straight sets. Ginepri plays Florent Serra of France in the third round.

Friday's surprises also mean there will be a first-time French Open women's champion. Serena, who beat Venus in the 2002 final, was the only past winner entered.

If Srebotnik befuddled Serena by repeatedly changing angles and speeds, Pennetta took a more unorthodox path to beating a Williams, hanging with Venus through long baseline exchanges. In the second set, as the light faded, Pennetta won seven of the 10 points that lasted 10 or more strokes.

"I played a complete match in every way," said Pennetta, who lost in the first or second round in 14 of her previous 20 Grand Slam appearances.

There are no lights at Roland Garros, and a player has the right to request that a match be suspended because of darkness. A match between No. 3 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and No. 28 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia played simultaneously on another show court was halted in the second set and will resume Saturday.

When asked why she did not ask the chair umpire to stop play, Venus said: "Because I didn't."

.Serena, meanwhile, went only 1-for-7 on break points, including 0-for-5 in the second set. She also lost 14 of the 21 points when she went to the net, thanks to some poor approach shots, shoddy volleying and four passing winners off Srebotnik's racket.

"Once the ball was in the rally I kind of saw it big, and I could pick a spot," Srebotnik said.

She repeatedly showed resolve, including while serving out the first set at 5-4.

Serena saved three set points there, but then set up a fourth when she ended a 14-stroke exchange by shanking a backhand volley several feet wide of the doubles alley. Serena put a palm up, then put her racket head-down on the court and leaned her forehand on the end of the handle, a vision of exasperation.

On the next point, Serena weakly put a backhand into the net, ending the set.

"I mean, to be honest, she did help me," Srebotnik said.

The second set saw more of the same: Srebotnik mixing speeds, and Serena flubbing shots she usually puts away. Ahead 2-1, Serena earned two break points, wasting each with a forehand into the net. Ahead 3-2, she earned two more, but missed a backhand return then drove a forehand into the net.

Serena had her last break chance at 4-3, and she gave it away by badly missing a drop shot. She tugged the brim of her beige ballcap low over her eyes, perhaps trying to hide the disappointment.

Srebotnik won the next point with a volley winner, then watched Serena be her own worst enemy again. Srebotnik put up a defensive lob, completely out of position; a tap-in probably would have sufficed for Serena. Instead, she tried to hammer the ball and put it in the net.

"I just missed some easy shots. I think that was the difference," Serena said. "And she made hers."

Suddenly serving for the biggest victory of her singles career, Srebotnik let two match points slip away. On No. 3, though, Serena pulled a forehand well wide.

"It's like she wasn't there mentally. ... I'm really trying to figure this one out," Price said.

Serena stared blankly and spoke slowly during her post-match news conference. She was asked if "puzzled" would describe how she felt.

"No, I'm not puzzled at all," she said. "I just don't want to be here."

.Now, Srebotnik will play No. 10 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, and Pennetta will face qualifier Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain.

"I don't want to be satisfied," Pennetta said. "It's Roland Garros. To even think about reaching the quarter-finals or semifinals at a tournament like this is what anyone who plays tennis dreams about."

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PARIS -- A photo of Russia's Maria Sharapova graced the cover of the French Open's official daily program Tuesday, which might be considered false advertising.

That's because the No. 1-ranked woman didn't play a single point, forced by the wet weather to wait instead until at least Day 4 of the tournament to begin her quest to complete a career Grand Slam.

Rafael Nadal of Spain played all of two games of his opening match before collecting his things and trundling off centre court, the start of his bid for a fourth consecutive title at the clay-court major halted by one of a series of showers.

Only 13 of 72 scheduled matches were completed, and past major champions Amelie Mauresmo of France and Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia were quite pleased to duck into the second round between drizzles.

Yes, Wimbledon has come to Roland Garros, with rain affecting action on all three days so far and allowing for less than three hours of play Tuesday. While the All England Club is constructing a dome over Centre Court ahead of the 2009 championship, the French tennis federation has said it might build a retractable roof by 2012.

"We definitely would like to have that," said the 22nd-seeded Mauresmo, who overcame nine double-faults and 35 total unforced errors to beat Olga Savchuk of Ukraine 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.

Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., and No. 20 Sybille Bammer of Austria had their match postponed until Wednesday.

While it's too early in the tournament for too much concern about fitting everything in, players such as Sharapova or Nadal -- whose match originally was on Monday's slate before being postponed the first time, and eventually will resume at 1-1 in the first set -- already face the prospect of playing on consecutive days if they proceed through the draw.

Then again, Nadal played for seven days in a row last year at Wimbledon, where he reached the final before losing to No. 1 Roger Federer of Switzerland. So don't expect too much sympathy for the second-seeded Spaniard.

"For Nadal, doesn't matter," said No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, who eliminated 2002 Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson of Sweden 6-3, 6-3, 6-3. "He can play today, tomorrow, after tomorrow... . It's no problem for him."

Not surprisingly, the only five men's matches that finished were straight-set affairs.

In addition to Davydenko -- still at the centre of the ATP's investigation into irregular betting patterns on a match he played in August 2007 -- and No. 9 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, winners included Mario Ancic of Croatia and Robin Soderling of Sweden.

"It's never easy, a whole day of rain," said Wawrinka, who defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. "Most important is to remain calm, not to stress yourself uselessly, and to be patient."

Ancic -- the last man to beat Federer at Wimbledon, all the way back in 2002 -- eliminated No. 31 Andreas Seppi of Italy, while Soderling defeated No. 13 Juan Monaco of Argentina.

Five matches that were suspended in progress Monday and resumed Tuesday still weren't finished; they were supposed to continue Wednesday. Five other matches that began Monday didn't even pick up again Tuesday.

Kuznetsova, however, had more than enough time to dispatch 71st-ranked Aiko Nakamura of Japan 6-2, 6-3.

"It was just weird," said the No. 4-seeded Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion and twice a Grand Slam runner-up. "I was starting to imagine it was raining a little bit, and I was, like, 'Oh, I hope we can play.' ... And thinking about this, I realized I lost first game."

She was beaten in the finals of the 2006 French Open and 2007 U.S. Open by Justine Henin, who won seven Grand Slam titles before abruptly retiring this month at age 25. Her departure makes for a wide-open women's field in Paris..

"I think a really unpredictable tournament can happen," said Kuznetsova, just 2-16 against the Belgian over their careers.

Henin said on the eve of the tournament that she'd like to see Kuznetsova win and even gave her friend a pep talk to that effect.

"I had a short chat with her," Kuznetsova recounted. "She said, 'Come on, maybe it can be your year.' Yeah, she cheered me up, so it's good. So I thank her for that."

Also moving on to the second round with victories Tuesday: No. 13 Dinara Safina of Russia, No. 14 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and No. 31 Ai Sugiyama of Japan.

Safina, the younger sister of two-time major champion Marat Safin, was the last woman to play -- and to beat -- Henin, doing that at the German Open.

"I hope that she just stays happy with this decision and she just goes forward in her life, what she's planning to do," Safina said. "Because ... I have one brother who also says sometimes that he wants to retire because he says that he has enough of it. But he still plays. But she's, I think, stronger. She said, 'OK, I retired."'

Safin might have told his sibling he's ready to walk away from tennis, but there he was at Roland Garros, playing a first-round match against Jean-Rene Lisnard of Monaco. Safin neither won nor lost Tuesday, though: The match was suspended by rain in the third set.

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PARIS -- Start with this statistic on a busy, blustery day at Roland Garros: Maria Sharapova hit 17 double-faults. It bears repeating: 17.

She hammered hard serves, and they sailed long. She tapped soft serves, and they landed in the bottom of the net. And she played poorly enough overall to come within two points of becoming the only No. 1-seeded woman in French Open history to lose in the first round.

Sharapova did regroup in time to barely piece together a 6-1, 3-6, 8-6 victory over Evgeniya Rodina, a Russian teen making her Grand Slam debut Wednesday.

"I don't think I'd be able to get away with not playing and not serving that well with maybe a different opponent and somebody that has more experience, a top player," said Sharapova, who placed part of the blame for her woes on swirling wind that kicked up clouds of dust on court. "But I'll work on it, and it will be better."

It was a much better day for Aleksandra Wozniak of Blaineville, Que., who upset 20th-seeded Austrian Sybille Bammer to advance to the second round at a major for the first time in her career.

She sailed past Bammer 6-0, 6-2. Wozniak, who is ranked 140th in the world, committed 13 unforced errors to Bammer's 27 and converted six of 11 break points.

The lone Canadian in the singles draw will face 50th-ranked Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan in the second round.

Sharapova nearly didn't make it that far.

The awful serving and generally sub-par showing by someone who's supposed to be the best in the world at what she does shared top billing with the dry weather as Wednesday's most noteworthy developments. After three days of rain -- Sharapova originally was to be on court Tuesday -- not a drop fell, permitting match after match after match at the clay-court major.

That meant there were other numbers of note, if not much in the way of stunning results:

-- Serena Williams made it to the third round for the 33rd time in 34 career Grand Slam tournaments.

-- Rafael Nadal improved to 22-0 at the French Open.

Williams found herself trailing 5-3 in the second set against Mathilde Johansson, a French wild-card entry who began this tournament with a 2-5 career Grand Slam record. But Williams took the next four games to end it 6-2, 7-5.

"I haven't played my best tennis, so hopefully the next round, I'll play better," said Williams, who won the French Open in 2002 and is the only past champion in the women's field.

Nadal began his bid to match Bjorn Borg's four consecutive titles from 1978-81 by beating qualifier Thomaz Bellucci. A rain shower forced them to pack up and head home Tuesday tied at 1-1, and Nadal stumbled at the start Wednesday, getting broken to fall behind 2-1, then again when serving for the first set at 5-3. But he recovered nicely, winning 7-5, 6-3, 6-1.

"It was tough, no? The conditions are very, very bad," Nadal said. "The winds are terrible."

Like Nadal, Bellucci entered the day never having been forced to experience the bitter taste of defeat at Roland Garros. That, of course, is because he never had played a main-draw match in the French Open -- or any other Grand Slam tournament, for that matter.

"These were two difficult days, because as time goes by, you get more nervous and you can't practice, so I probably lost the rhythm I had acquired before this tournament," Nadal said. "But I hope this won't be a problem for the rest of the tournament."

Nadal, Sharapova and other players around the grounds complained about the way loose particles got in their faces and left courts barer than usual.

"Apart from eating and breathing the sand, it was great," Sharapova said. "It's dry and you've got sand blowing in your face. So you think it's a hard court, but then you feel like you're in a desert."

Maybe the surfaces really did play like hard courts, for what else could explain the success of the men from the United States? They went 5-5 in the first round this time, capped by victories Wednesday by Mardy Fish, Bobby Reynolds and Robby Ginepri.

Fish beat Agustin Calleri of Argentina 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, and Reynolds defeated Thierry Ascione of France 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Ginepri's match against Donald Young had to produce a U.S. winner, and it was Ginepri, by a score of 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

"When we come over here, we're already, I think, one step slower than the other Europeans and other guys," said Ginepri, who shares coach Jose Higueras with top-ranked Roger Federer. "But to be honest, I'm enjoying the clay, and I'm actually a little sad that this is the last clay tournament of the year."

American Wayne Odesnik, who is ranked 106th, followed up his upset of No. 29 Guillermo Canas by beating Lee Hyung-taik 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and now will take on No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who dropped only five games in his second-round win.

"It's always good to have easy matches," said Djokovic, the Australian Open champion.

Sharapova, who also won in Melbourne in January, made more than twice as many unforced errors as Rodina, 51-23.

"I had problems in every department," Sharapova said. "Realistically, I don't know if there's any way down from here."

She could, at least, take solace in not having joined No. 9 Marion Bartoli on the way out after one match. Bartoli, a Frenchwoman who was a Wimbledon finalist last year but is struggling with a wrist injury and an 8-12 record at the moment, lost to Casey Dellacqua of Australia 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2.

Sharapova twice served three double-faults in a single game, making recreational players everywhere feel better about their own foibles. On occasion, she resorted to first serves barely above 80 miles per hour, which might not sound too shabby but certainly is on the slow side for a three-time major champion.

Trailing 4-3 in the final set, Sharapova faced three break points and saved them, remarkably, with three fantastic first serves. Then, down 5-4, a -- wait for it -- double-fault made the score 30-all, putting Rodina two points from about as big a stunner as tennis has seen. Somehow, Sharapova mustered two service winners, at 101 m.p.h. and 102 m.p.h.

Three games later, Sharapova finally seized control, breaking serve to go ahead 7-6 with a big forehand return that caught Rodina flat-footed.

Sharapova still had to hold serve one more time, and she did, although not before one last double-fault, No. 17.

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PARIS -- Justine Henin is certain that she's done playing tennis. "I don't think I will ever come back. I think that it's important just to move on," Henin said at Roland Garros on Saturday, the day before the French Open starts. Earlier this month, she became the first woman to retire while at No. 1 in the WTA rankings, opting not to try to win a fourth consecutive French Open championship. The 25-year-old Belgian said she didn't retire because of any health issues -- she just does not feel the passion for playing tennis that carried her to seven Grand Slam singles titles. "Now I don't need the competition to be happy. I don't need this adrenaline being in front of thousands of people to really be happy," Henin said. "I just need to be myself. I'm a simple person. I can live very easily." She said it took her months to decide to walk away from the sport she dominated for stretches of the past few years. Henin won a total of four French Open titles, prompting French tennis federation president Christian Bimes to say Saturday: "Justine will be one of the great names of tennis forever here in Roland Garros." She also won the Australian Open in 2004, and the U.S. Open in 2003 and 2007. She was ranked No. 1 for more than 100 weeks and won nearly US$20 million in career prize money. Henin had been struggling by her standards this season, but still stunned the tennis world with her announcement -- particularly because it came right before the French Open. "It's sad. It's a pity for tennis: The very top player quits tennis," Roger Federer said Friday at Roland Garros. "She certainly has her own reasons. I hope she has good reasons, because it's an extreme decision. "What I'm surprised about is her timing, because it was so sudden." Henin's explanation? If she didn't feel up to giving her all, she didn't feel up to giving her all, no matter where. Even at what she called her favourite event. "If I feel I'm at the end of my way, there is no reason why I should play this tournament," she said. "I don't need this anymore. I know what I did here in the past, and I don't need to live this again. I'm fine with my career. I'm really happy and proud of what I did, and I don't need to live these moments anymore."

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DUESSELDORF, Germany -- Andy Roddick, the highest-ranked American man, withdrew from the French Open on Monday because of a right shoulder injury.

The sixth-ranked Roddick, who lost in the first round at Roland Garros the last two years, pulled out of the semifinals of the Rome Masters on May 10. He then skipped the Hamburg Masters last week, but had been expected to play this week at the World Team Cup in Duesseldorf.

"Andy is pulling out with an upper back shoulder injury, the same thing that he had in Rome," said John Roddick, Andy's brother and the U.S. captain at the World Team Cup. "He's pulling out of here and he's also going to miss the French Open, too."

John Roddick said he hoped his brother would be ready for the grass-court tournament at Queen's Club, a key warm-up for Wimbledon.

"The shoulder doctor we use is out of New York City so he was right there, and Andy had an MRI and there's some inflammation so he pulled him from here and the French," John Roddick said. "I don't think it's going to be anything that's terribly long and I would be surprised if he was not ready to go for Queens. But as for now he needs to take a good 10 days, 12 days, just rest."

Andy Roddick won his only Grand Slam title at the 2003 U.S. Open. He has reached three other major finals, losing to Roger Federer twice at Wimbledon and once at the U.S. Open.

At the French Open, Roddick's best showing came in his debut in 2001 when he reached the third round. He reached the second round in 2004 and '05, but has lost in the first round four times.

His success this year in Rome had given Roddick hope ahead of the French Open, which starts Sunday.

"He's been playing well all year and he was excited to be playing on the clay and really had a good frame of mind in practice and in his matches," John Roddick said. "He felt really comfortable on the clay this year, so he really liked his chances of doing better than he has, and he did it in Rome. He was optimistic about his draw in France and wanted to come over and try to play well. So for him it's disappointing."

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Kuerten says au revoir at French Open

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PARIS -- Gustavo Kuerten bid farewell to tennis Sunday at the site of his biggest triumphs. The former top-ranked player, who won three French Open titles, lost to Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of this year's tournament at Roland Garros. "Here, it is my life, my passion and my love," Kuerten said in French. "It's great to have my family here, my coach. But more important was the love you gave me." The 31-year-old Brazilian has been bothered by a hip injury since 2001. Since having surgery in 2004, Kuerten has played in only 19 tournaments and won five matches. This year's French Open was his first Grand Slam appearance since the 2005 U.S. Open. "It's incredible how fast it all went," said Kuerten, who won 20 titles in his 14-year career. After saving a match point, Kuerten lost when he sent a weak shot into the net. Then he sat back in his chair and pulled a towel over his head. Shaking, he emerged from under cover with his eyes red and finally shook hands with Mathieu. Kuerten was then led to the centre of the court, where he was given a glass trophy showing a slice of a clay court. Kuerten -- the last No. 1-seeded man to win the title in Paris in 2001 -- entered what he said would be his last tournament as the lowest-ranked man in the field at No. 1,141. He got his spot in the draw as a wild card. Kuerten's final match was played on Court Philippe Chatrier, the main stadium at Roland Garros and the same venue where the Brazilian won French Open titles in 1997, 2000 and '01. Despite playing a Frenchman on Sunday, Kuerten was cheered on by most in the crowd -- complete with several Brazilian flags waving in the stands and group of people with giant gold-coloured letters spelling out G-U-G-A, his nickname. Kuerten's outfit even resembled the uniform worn by Brazil's national soccer team -- blue shorts with a blue-and-yellow shirt and blue shoes -- and, of course, a blue headband to keep his shaggy hair out of his eyes. Kuerten even showed some of the guile that got him to the top of the tennis world in 2000, including a soft, spinning ace while trailing 5-2 in the first set. He followed that with a much harder serve that also went for an ace. In the second set, Kuerten was broken in the ninth game and trailed 5-4. During the changeover, he sipped water from a bottle while a trainer massaged his lower back. With Kuerten down a break in the third set, the fans started chanting, "Guga! Guga!" And during the final changeover, Kuerten put his racket around Mathieu's neck as if to choke him, but just smiled as the crowd cheered yet again. In January, Kuerten announced that this would be his final year. He pulled out of last month's Barcelona Open because of a muscle injury. Kuerten began his pro career in 1995, and in 2000 became the first South American to finish the year at the top of the ATP rankings.

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Agnieszka Radwanska beat top-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia 6-3, 6-2 Saturday to win the Istanbul Cup and become the first Polish woman to surpass US$1 million in career earnings on the WTA Tour. The No. 2-seeded Radwanska earned $30,500 for her third career title and gained new momentum heading into the French Open next week after having been eliminated in the round-of-16 at all four of her previous clay-court tournaments this year. Dementieva, the defending champion and ranked seventh, led 2-0 and 40-15 in the first set before Radwanska rallied to win 11 of the next 13 games. "In the warm-up I couldn't put the ball in the court because I was so nervous, so the first few games were more like my warm-up," Radwanska said. "Then I started playing my game and being more aggressive. After winning the first set I won the first few games of the second set and things got better, and I did it." Radwanska's victory adds to her titles in Stockholm last year and Pattaya City earlier this season. The loss was Dementieva's first in eight matches in Istanbul. "I really wanted to defend my title, I really wanted to win; maybe that's why I wasn't able to concentrate so well on fighting on the court," Dementieva said. "But although I don't feel I played that well, I give her all the credit for playing a great match. She was doing all of the right things."

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PARIS -- If Roger Federer was looking for a coach with intimate knowledge of Roland Garros, he certainly found his man in Jose Higueras.

Federer conducted his post-draw French Open news conference Friday, busy dismissing the notion he's having an average season and refusing to look toward yet another final against Rafael Nadal. And Higueras? Done putting Federer through his paces for the day, he was holding court in a hallway near the main locker-rooms. He got a tap on the shoulder from Nadal, Federer's nemesis and the three-time reigning champion at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament. "Rafaelito!" Higueras called out as his countryman sauntered past.

He traded kisses on each cheek with Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion and runner-up in Paris two years ago. He paused to chat in French with a man who worked tournament security when Higueras reached the semifinals twice in the early 1980s.

"I know everybody here over 60," Higueras said.

He coached Michael Chang to the 1989 French Open title, then guided Jim Courier to the 1991 and 1992 trophies. If Higueras thinks he can help Federer finally add the Coupe des Mousquetaires to his collection, he wasn't saying two days before the tournament.

Indeed, Higueras didn't want to answer questions about Federer. So it was left to the player to explain how he might benefit from a coach he's worked with only on-and-off since mid-April.

"A guy seeing it from a different angle. Somebody you can discuss and talk about tactics and certain things," said Federer, who plays 41st-ranked Sam Querrey of the United States in the first round Tuesday. "If he sees something in my technique, that is something that you can then work on in the practice sessions. That is something we haven't had a chance to really look at. If you're down, sure, he can build you up. But I wasn't really down since we started working together."

Federer insists he hasn't been down much at all, even though this is the first season since 2001 he'll begin the French having won only one title.

"I wish I could have won maybe a tournament here and there a little bit more. But if I keep on winning the next few, I don't really care what happened in the past," said the top-ranked Federer, whose 12 major titles put him two from Pete Sampras' career record. "I'm happy with the season so far. You might think it's average. I don't."

If anyone speaks more glowingly of Federer's chances than Federer himself, it's Nadal. He's always quick to point out who is No. 1 in the rankings and who is No. 2.

On Friday, Nadal called Federer "one of the best clay-court players." Nadal noted that Federer has played in "three finals in Monte Carlo, two finals in Rome, two more finals here, one more semifinal here." What the Spaniard neglected to mention is that seven of those eight matches were played against Nadal, and Federer's record in those encounters is 0-7.

As for Higueras, Nadal wondered how much Federer's game might have changed in such short time together.

"If I have a new coach, it's impossible to change my game in three weeks," said Nadal, whose first-round opponent is qualifier Thomaz Bellucci, a 20-year-old Brazilian making his Grand Slam debut.

While Federer hopes to become the sixth man to complete a career Grand Slam, Nadal wants to become only the second in history to win four consecutive French Opens.

Remember: Nadal is 21-0 at this tournament. He's also won 108 of his past 110 matches on clay overall. Then again, one of those losses came against Federer.

"All I need to know is that I know I can beat him," Federer said. "We're six matches away, again, from each other. My focus is not on Rafa yet."

Nadal could have a more interesting path, including a possible semifinal against No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who upset Federer en route to winning the Australian Open in January.

"I'm coming to this year's French Open as a more mature player," Djokovic said. "And considering that fact, I believe much more in myself and that I can win against Rafa on clay, or Roger on any surface."

He was drawn into a possible meeting with No. 7 James Blake of the United States in the quarter-finals. Other matchups could be Federer vs. No. 8 Richard Gasquet, Nadal vs. No. 6 David Nalbandian, and No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko vs. No. 5 David Ferrer.

Or Nadal's quarter-final foe instead could be No. 19 Nicolas Almagro, who leads the tour with 25 clay-court victories. Federer might face Mario Ancic -- the last player to beat him at Wimbledon, way back in 2002 -- in the third round, and six-foot-10 Ivo Karlovic in the fourth.

There are three Canadians in the main singles draw. Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., will face qualifier Miguel Angel Lopez Jaen of Spain while Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., will take on No. 20 seed Sybille Bammer of Austria and Stephanie Dubois of Laval, Que., will face qualifier Selima Sfar of Tunisia.

As the reigning men's champion, Nadal participated in Friday's draw. The reigning women's champion, Justine Henin, was not present. The 25-year-old Belgian retired suddenly this month, and won't be defending her title, so she was replaced for the festivities by 2007 runner-up Ana Ivanovic.

The women's quarter-finals could be No. 1 Maria Sharapova vs. No. 7 Elena Dementieva, No. 4 Kuznetsova vs. No. 6 Anna Chakvetadze, No. 2 Ivanovic vs. No. 5 Serena Williams, and No. 3 Jelena Jankovic vs. No. 8 Venus Williams. The Williams sisters could face each other in the semifinals -- or the two young Serbs, Ivanovic and Jankovic, could meet.



Serena Williams, the 2002 champion, is the only past French Open winner in the women's field.

"It was such a long time ago," she said. "Honestly, I doubt it even happened, so I'm going to have to win again."

Ecclestone: No more races at Magny-Cours

Nadal bests Federer to win Hamburg

No Roland Garros for injured Tsonga

RelatedOpen preview:Upside-down in France
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PARIS -- Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga withdrew from the French Open on Saturday because of an injured right knee and will have surgery next week.

Tsonga said the injury occurred before he pulled out of France's Davis Cup quarter-final loss to the United States in April.

"Since then it was a test to see whether it would hold up," said Tsonga, who pulled out of his semifinal match at a clay-court warm-up in Casablanca, Morocco, on Friday. "I reached the critical time when I needed an operation before it's too late."

Nicolas Kiefer of Germany and Fabio Fognini of Italy also pulled out a day before the French Open begins.

Tsonga, who was seeded 14th at the clay-court major, has been bothered by his knee for about a month. He said he would need three to four months to recover.

"After long discussions with my doctors and knee specialist, I made the decision not to play the French Open and to have surgery next week," said Tsonga, who will be replaced in the draw by Luis Horna of Peru.

Tsonga surprisingly reached the Australian Open final this year, beating Rafael Nadal in the semifinals before losing to Novak Djokovic.

"It's enormously frustrating," the Frenchman said. "To play very well in any Grand Slam is super, but to play very well at Roland Garros would have been magic."

.Also joining the main draw are Marc Lopez of Spain and Josselin Ouanna of France. Lopez will face 26th-seeded Jarkko Nieminen of Finland in the first round, and Ouanna will play Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina. Horna plays Scoville Jenkins of the United States.

Kiefer, who also missed the French Open last year because of injury but reached the fourth round in 2005, withdrew because of a sore throat. The 38th-ranked German's best result at a Grand Slam tournament came at the 2006 Australian Open, where he reached the semifinals but lost to eventual champion Roger Federer.

Fognini, ranked 87th, made his Grand Slam debut at last year's French Open and lost in the first round.

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Davenport withdraws from French Open

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PARIS -- Former No. 1 Lindsay Davenport has pulled out of the French Open, the only Grand Slam singles event that she hasn't won. Tournament organizers said Tuesday that the 31-year-old Californian withdrew for "personal reasons," without elaborating. The French Open also said two other Americans had also pulled out: Meghann Shaughnessy will miss out due to an injury to her left knee, while Meilen Tu is nursing a left hip injury. Davenport's best singles finish on the Paris clay came when she reached the semifinals in 1998 -- the same year she won the US Open singles title. She won Wimbledon the next year and the 2000 Australian Open. Davenport won the French Open doubles title with Mary Joe Fernandez in 1996. The French Open starts Sunday.

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Nadal bests Federer to win Hamburg

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

HAMBURG, Germany -- Rafael Nadal beat defending champion Roger Federer 7-5, 6-7 (3), 6-3 on Sunday to win the Hamburg Masters and add the only major clay-court title missing from his impressive collection.

It was the reverse of last year's final, when Federer won his fourth title in Hamburg and snapped Nadal's 81-match winning streak on clay.

Nadal rallied from big deficits in the first two sets, although he lost the tiebreaker in the second. He led 4-1 in the third and held on to raise his record against the top-ranked player to 8-1 on clay and 10-6 overall.

"All the week has been very special for me," Nadal said.

The second-ranked Spaniard has 26 career titles, 21 of them on clay, including the last three French Opens. Nadal also won in Monte Carlo and Barcelona this year.

Federer lost his seventh match of the year and has only one title so far, at a relatively minor clay-court tournament in Estoril, Portugal.

The Hamburg Masters is a major warm-up tournament for the French Open, the only Grand Slam that Federer has not won.

Federer went into Sunday's final with a 41-match winning streak in Germany and a 9-0 career record in finals on German soil. His last loss in Germany was in 2003.

Federer has been No. 1 since February 2004, but Nadal is the top player on the slower clay surface. Since April 2005, he has lost only twice in 110 matches on clay -- to Federer last year in the Hamburg final and last week in Rome to Juan Carlos Ferrero, when Nadal was slowed by a painful blister on his foot.

Federer led 5-2 in the first set and wasted two set points before Nadal completed a comeback by winning six straight games. That gave him the first set and a 1-0 lead in the second.

Federer then won the next four games and went on to lead 5-2, but could not close out the set before the tiebreaker.

Nadal had a three-hour match Saturday in beating Novak Djokovic in three sets to protect his No. 2 ranking, but he appeared fresher in the third set Sunday.

Serving for the match, Nadal won the first three points and then hit a backhand crosscourt winner. He fell to his knees and looked to the sky.

Nadal became only the third player to own all three clay-court Masters Series titles, in Rome, Monte Carlo and Hamburg..

"He had a great week and a great clay-court season," Federer said.

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Sharapova, WTA reach a compromise

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ROME -- Maria Sharapova reached a compromise with the WTA Tour and completed a promotional photo shoot before the Italian Open began Monday.

The second-ranked Russian was opposed to the shoot because she does not like distractions before tournaments, and claimed the WTA threatened to fine her more than 200,000 euros (C$300,000) if she refused.

Sunday's photo shoot to build publicity for the tour championships was reduced to 90 minutes from several hours, Sharapova said.

"I was riding around in a car for an hour talking -- pretending like I'm talking on the phone," Sharapova said. "The timing compromise was still pretty difficult since it's before a very big event for all of us. Considering the time reduction, it definitely makes that a lot easier than going into a four- or five-hour shoot with hair and makeup, which adds another hour."

Sharapova launched her protest on her website two weeks ago, and asked for fans' opinions.

"I've obviously made my point," she said. "I wanted to let my fans know that I didn't feel like people were listening to me. I think it's in the best interest of the tour."

After a first-round bye, Sharapova will play either Dominika Cibulkova or Gisela Dulko at the clay-court warmup for the French Open, which begins May 25.

"When I set foot in Rome, my priority is to play tennis," Sharapova said. "I already did the talking, and now it's time to play tennis."

Sharapova is playing her first tournament in Europe this year. She won a clay-court event in Amelia Island, Florida, last month, then lost to Serena Williams in the quarter-finals in Charleston, South Carolina, a week later.

In August, Sharapova plans to play at the Olympics for the first time.

"I'm absolutely thrilled," Sharapova said of the Beijing Games. "It's been a dream of mine since I was a very young girl, from watching it in the middle of the night on TV, and waking up and watching the opening ceremonies, to following all the athletes and waiting until Russia would walk out.

"It's quite hard to believe that sometimes your dreams can turn to reality. In a few months they will, so that's quite exciting."

Sharapova also wants to play for Russia in the Fed Cup final against Spain in September.

"If I'm healthy, I'm definitely going to be playing," she said.

Sharapova won two matches to help Russia beat Israel in the quarter-finals in February, but was left off the team that beat the United States in the semifinals.

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Unusual betting found in tennis matches

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON -- Saying tennis is "potentially at a crossroads," an independent review panel found 45 matches that merit further investigation because of irregular betting patterns and offered a host of recommendations to the sport's leaders for combatting corruption.

The panel's 66-page report, prompted in part by suspicions surrounding a match last year involving fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko, was released Monday by the International Tennis Federation, the ATP, the WTA Tour and the four Grand Slams.

The 45 unidentified matches, played in the last five years, were among 73 examined by the panel, which warned of "inside information."

"We do not doubt that criminal elements may be involved in seeking to subvert or corrupt some players or players' support staff; that may even involve organized criminal gangs, but to elevate that suspicion to a claim of 'Mafia' involvement is, in our view, a distortion of the facts and is positively damaging to the sport," the report said.

The review was prompted by a series of events connected to gambling in tennis.

Most prominently, an online betting site, in an unprecedented move, voided all bets on a match involving Davydenko last year because of suspicious gambling patterns.

The site received about US$7 million in wagers on the match, 10 times the usual amount, and most of the money backed 87th-ranked Martin Vassallo Arguello -- with some coming in even after he lost the opening set. The match ended when Davydenko quit in the third set, citing a foot injury. An ATP inquiry is ongoing.

"The name 'Davydenko' is being abused," his manager, Ronnie Leitgeb, said Monday from Poertschach, Austria, where the Russian is playing. "If his name keeps coming up in rumours and nothing has been proven in the upcoming two or three months, we'll consider taking legal action."

Since that case was opened, other players have come forward to say they have been approached by people trying to influence a match. Belgian player Gilles Elseneer said he was offered -- and turned down -- more than $100,000 to lose a first-round match against Potito Starace of Italy at Wimbledon in 2005.

Five players, all Italians, have been fined and suspended for betting on tennis.

"Whilst professional tennis is neither institutionally nor systematically corrupt, it is potentially at a crossroads," the report said. "There is sufficient cause for concern about the integrity of some players and those outside tennis who seek to corrupt them."

The report comes a week before the start of the year's second Grand Slam tournament, the French Open. In February, that tournament's organizers filed suit in a bid to ban online gambling companies from offering bets on the Grand Slam tournament, but last month a Belgian court ruled in favour of the betting companies.

"I think the attempt of Roland Garros to avoid betting on their tournament was great," Leitgeb said. "That was the right way to try to avoid any damage to their event."

Besides noting the 45 matches to be investigated further, the review panel made 15 recommendations that the sport's four governing bodies accepted -- including "any player caught cheating should be punished by a lengthy suspension for a first offence and, if the circumstances merit it, a life ban." They also agreed to have a uniform anti-corruption program and an integrity unit.

The report also examines the practice of "tanking," which it defines as "a player not giving 'best efforts' in a match." While no specific recommendations were made, the report did "urge officials to be alert to such activity and to deal with it as a break of the rules whenever such behaviour can be proved."

Another of the recommendations allows only players and essential tournament personnel to have access to the locker-rooms at tournaments. The report said many believe that insider knowledge, such as a player's injury or illness that is not widely known, gets passed on to bettors.

Michael Chang, the 1989 French Open champion, was pleased to hear about the report, saying in a telephone interview that "it's been sad to see" so much discussion about gambling in tennis over the past year.

"The organizations that are involved are just trying to keep everything in check, before something gets out of hand, where tennis is not the clean sport that it has been and that it should be," said Chang, who'll be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in July.

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Canadian Stephanie Dubois was eliminated from the Istanbul Cup after losing her second-round match to Andreja Klepac on Wednesday. Dubois, of Laval, Que., dropped a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 decision to the Slovene. Top-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia advanced with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) win over Liana Ungur of Romania. Dementieva will play American Jill Craybas in the third round of the clay-court tournament, a warm-up event for the French Open. The seventh-seeded Craybas advanced after beating American Vania King 6-4, 6-2. Second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland will play Klepac in the third round after thumping Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-0, 6-0. Third-seeded Nadia Petrova of Russia defeated Marta Domachowska of Poland 6-2, 6-2. Petrova is to play sixth-seeded Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan, who advanced by beating Aiko Nakamura of Japan 6-3, 6-3. Fourth-seeded Olga Govortsova of Belarus beat Nathalie Vierin of Italy 7-6 (3), 6-1 and next plays Tsvetana Pironkova. The eighth-seeded Bulgarian defeated Veronika Chvojkova of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-1.

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Jankovic wins second Italian Open

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ROME -- Jelena Jankovic overcame a pain in her neck and French teenager Alize Cornet on Sunday to win the Italian Open for the second straight year.

The win will help Jankovic, who beat Cornet 6-2, 6-2, establish herself as a serious contender for the French Open, which begins next weekend.

"I like playing on clay courts," the fourth-seeded Serb said. "I had a great clay-court season last year, and then playing here and winning this tournament twice gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the tournaments."

In Sunday's final, Jankovic lost her serve early in each set but went on to take control against her 18-year-old opponent, producing solid groundstrokes that combined with Cornet's unforced errors to give Jankovic the win.

In the second set, Jankovic was leading 4-1 when she called the trainer to look at her right shoulder. Jankovic lost the following game -- the first and only time in the match Cornet held serve -- but went on to win the match as she held serve and then broke her opponent to love.

Jankovic said she started feeling the pain between her neck and right shoulder in the second set.

"Some kind of tightness," Jankovic said. "I called for the trainer, she was doing some work and she was putting some cream so that I don't feel it."

On her way to the Rome title, Jankovic dropped only one set, in her quarter-final match against Venus Williams. She did not play her semifinal match because Maria Sharapova pulled out with a calf injury.

The 23-year-old Jankovic said she felt nervous going into the Rome final against an opponent with nothing to lose.

"I didn't know what to expect from her, she's a young player with great potential," Jankovic said. "And, of course, she wasn't the favourite. I was the favourite and I had the pressure on me."

For Cornet, it was an emotional event. Unable to produce her best shots, piling up errors and converting only three out of 12 break points, the Frenchwoman broke into tears in her corner during a changeover in the second set. After the match ended, she was still fighting back the tears.

"Right now I'm just disappointed," Cornet said. "I couldn't do my best tennis today because of my physical condition, because I was tired because of my six matches before.

"I knew that Jelena could be maybe the most difficult player to play because she moves very well on the court..

Currently ranked 34, Cornet is having a breakthrough year. The first female qualifier to reach the final at the Foro Italico in the Open Era, this week she beat third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova before seed No. 5 Serena Williams withdrew from the quarter-finals with a back problem. She then beat the sixth-seeded Anna Chakvetadze in the semifinals.

Jankovic said the Rome victory gave her confidence ahead of the French Open. Following the retirement of Justine Henin, who won the last three titles at Roland Garros and defeated Jankovic in the semifinals last year, the Serb thinks she has a better chance.

"She was the one that was my worst opponent last year on clay season ... So now she's not playing anymore, so of course I have a bigger chance," said Jankovic, who will spend time in Belgrade with her family before going to Paris to train for the Grand Slam tournament.

"I'm playing well at the moment and I'm working with my new coach and he's teaching me so many things," she added. "I think I have a big opportunity to do very well in the French Open."

Cornet said she is also looking forward to the French Open, where she will be a crowd favourite.

"I think I have the level to win some matches," she said.

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Maria taking Henin's spot at No. 1

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ROME -- Maria Sharapova will assume the No. 1 ranking in women's tennis as a result of Justine Henin's retirement.

Henin, who announced her retirement Wednesday at the age of 25, has asked to be removed from the rankings, the WTA Tour said Thursday. That means Sharapova will automatically become No. 1 when the next rankings are released Monday.

It will be the fourth time the Russian has become No. 1. She held the top spot for a total of 14 weeks in her career, the last time in 2007.

"The ranking has never been a big deal for me," Sharapova said late Wednesday after her second-round victory at the Italian Open. "Whether I'm No. 1 or 5, my main goal is just to keep winning tennis matches and the ranking will take care of itself if I keep winning."

Henin, winner of seven Grand Slam titles, is the first woman to retire while holding the No. 1 ranking. This is the Belgian's 117th nonconsecutive week in the top spot, making her the sixth longest reigning No. 1 since the inception of the computer rankings in 1975.

After an injury-plagued 2007, Sharapova started off 2008 by winning the Australian Open for her third Grand Slam title, and has compiled a 24-2 record this year.

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RelatedAlso:Sorenstam retires THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LIMELETTE, Belgium -- The determination that helped Justine Henin beat bigger, stronger opponents time and again was fading.

"I decided," the 25-year-old Belgian said, "to stop fooling myself and accept it."

Henin retired from tennis Wednesday, an abrupt ending to a career in which she won seven Grand Slam singles titles and spent more than 100 weeks ranked No. 1.

She announced her decision at a news conference 1 1/2 weeks before the start of the French Open, where she has won the past three titles and four overall.

Put simply, she realized she was burned out, and became the first woman to quit the sport while atop the WTA rankings.

"I always based everything on this motivation -- this flame -- that was in me. And once I lost that, I lost many, many things," Henin said.

Surprising as her departure was to the rest of the world, it seemed somehow inevitable to her.

After reaching the final at each Grand Slam tournament in 2006, she won 10 tournaments in 2007, including two majors. But this season, she started to find it an ever bigger chore to pack her luggage to travel to tournaments. Her legs felt heavy when she should have been dancing in the backcourt, ready to turn another one of those sparkling backhands into a winner.

When she was hurt, she no longer minded if an injury lingered. Ever since being discovered as a child prodigy, tennis was everything to Henin. Now, though, tennis was making it clear that her time was up.

"Everything became harder," Henin said. "I felt, deep inside, something was getting out of my grasp."

She lost 6-4, 6-0 to Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open, then 6-2, 6-0 to Serena Williams at the Sony Ericsson Open in April -- the worst loss for a top-ranked player in nine years.

At last week's German Open, Henin lost 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 to Dinara Safina. Then she pulled out of this week's Italian Open, citing fatigue.

"At the end of the match in Berlin, (retirement) all of a sudden was there as something evident," Henin said.

Her announcement came a day after one of the greatest female golfers in history said she's quitting: Annika Sorenstam, owner of 10 major titles and one of six women to complete a career Grand Slam in her sport, is walking away at the end of the season.

Henin, however, won't have any sort of farewell tour. She is retiring immediately.

"I had reached my limits, and I feel strong and relieved that I could take this decision," she said. "There are plenty of things that I can do. There are no regrets. I did everything I had to do in tennis."

In addition to her four French Open titles, Henin won the Australian Open in 2004, and the U.S. Open in 2003 and 2007. She has been ranked No. 1 since Nov. 13, 2006, except for a seven-week period last year when Sharapova held the top spot, and won nearly US$20 million in career prize money.

"She was a great champion," said Williams, who lost to Henin in a contentious 2003 French Open quarter-final, "and she gave me a world of trouble."

.The only Grand Slam title to elude Henin is Wimbledon, where she was runner-up in 2001 and 2006.

"Winning Wimbledon would not make me happier than I am," she said.

Winning again at Roland Garros would make no difference, either, no matter how much that event means to her. Henin dedicated her first victory there to her mother, who died of cancer when Justine was 12. When Henin won there last year, it capped a reunion with her father and siblings, from whom she'd been estranged for several years.

"That was awesome. It was a great feeling, and I am going to keep that feeling forever now," she said. "I won Roland Garros four times, three times in a row. I don't have to live that moment again. I know how it was."

Throughout her career, Henin has had to beat the odds.

With her five-foot-5 3/4, 126-pound frame, she had to figure out how to deal with foes who could hit the ball harder. With a superb one-handed backhand, amazing speed and grit, she rose to the top of the sport.

"She always challenged herself to play her best tennis no matter what the circumstances. She was just a real fighter, so I think that was really what made her best," Venus Williams said.

"Justine Henin will be remembered as one of the all-time great champions in women's tennis, and a woman who made up for her lack of size with a will to win and fighting spirit that was second to none," WTA Tour CEO Larry Scott said. "It is rare that an athlete leaves at the very top of her game in this day and age, but Justine has always played by her own rules, in the very best sense of those words."

Henin was away from the tour for months at a time in 2004 and 2005 because of an energy-sapping blood virus and assorted injuries, including to her knee and back. In early 2007, she divorced from Pierre-Yves Hardenne and dropped his last name.

Throughout last season, Henin said she had finally found a balance in her life between personal self-fulfillment and doggedly pursuing tennis titles.

Now it appears that changed. Perhaps she took note when Kim Clijsters -- another Belgian who was ranked No. 1 and won a Grand Slam title -- retired at 23 last year. Clijsters has since married and become a mother.

Dressed in a simple white T-shirt and jeans, her brown hair in a ponytail, Henin spoke in French for nine minutes before taking questions Wednesday. She never lost her composure and held the microphone firmly.

The news conference was at the Justine N1 academy in a village about 40 kilometres outside of Brussels. It has a smattering of her beloved clay courts, where she wants to train and coach youngsters.

Family and children may come, but for now, and for once, there is no rush.

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Dubois wins opening match at Istanbul

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ISTANBUL, Turkey -- Stephanie Dubois of Laval, Que., won her first-round match Monday at the Istanbul Cup, a clay-court tuneup for the upcoming French Open.

Dubois defeated Julie Ditty of the U.S., 6-2, 6-3.

Americans Jill Craybas and Vania King both won.

Craybas, seeded seventh, defeated Tzipora Obziler of Israel, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, and King beat Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 6-1, 6-7 (1), 6-3.

Fourth-seeded Olga Govortsova of Belarus topped Ipek Senoglu of Turkey 6-3, 6-2 and will play Nathalie Vierin of Italy in the second round. Vierin downed Anastasia Rodionova of Russia 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Andreja Klepac of Slovenia beat fifth-seeded Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden 6-3, 7-6 (2). Akiko Morigami of Japan quit while trailing Aiko Nakamura 3-6, 7-6 (6), 4-1. Early in the match, Morigami fell on her left leg, which was bandaged when she started the match.

Marta Domachowska of Poland defeated Marina Erakovic of New Zealand 7-6 (2), 6-3.

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Edberg returns to play on seniors tour

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON -- Stefan Edberg will return to competitive tennis for the first time in 12 years when he plays two matches on the seniors tour.

The 42-year-old Swede, who has won two Wimbledon titles among his six Grand Slam titles, had previously declined to play the seniors event but changed his mind when Pete Sampras announced he would play two events this year.

Both players will contest the London leg of the Tour of Champions from Dec. 2-7 at Royal Albert Hall. Edberg will also play in Paris from Sept. 18-21. Sampras will play in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from June 19-22.

"I retired from the ATP circuit 12 years ago and had often been asked to play," Edberg said of overtures by the seniors tour. "This time I decided to say 'yes.' I am looking forward to seeing and playing against some of my old rivals."

Sampras said he was looking forward to a possible rematch with Edberg in London, who he lead 8-6 in head-to-heads.

"I always looked up to him with his serve-and-volley game, his movement and the attitude that he had," Sampras said.

"I always thought he was a real gentleman and I'm looking forward to seeing him, talking to him and just seeing how his life is as I haven't spoken to him for many years."

The Tour of Champions, which started in 1997, runs in a round-robin format with matches contested over three sets.

Players must been either been ranked No. 1 during their competitive playing careers, a Grand Slam singles finalist or a singles player in a victorious Davis Cup team to be eligible to play.

Other players on the tour include Michael Stich, Goran Ivanisevic, Pat Cash, Henri Leconte, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg.

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Tsonga advances at Hamburg Masters

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HAMBURG, Germany -- Top-ranked Roger Federer and No. 3 Novak Djokovic cruised into the third round of the Hamburg Masters on Wednesday. Second-ranked Rafael Nadal had to work harder. Federer eased past Jarkko Nieminen 6-1, 6-3, and Djokovic downed Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 6-1. Djokvic, seeking consecutive titles after winning the Rome Masters, had 34 winners to Chela's 11. Nadal needed a tiebreaker to overcome Potito Starace 6-4, 7-6 (6), while James Blake was upset by Janko Tipsarevic 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Djokovic is attempting to surpass Nadal as the No. 2 player on the ATP tour, and could move ahead next week. Nadal has held the spot a record 147 consecutive weeks. Nieminen had never won a set in eight previous matches against Federer, who looked comfortable from the start on the sunny centre court. "When I got on the centre court I felt good, I had so much success here. I hit a winner down the line on my first shot and I thought, 'This place really works for me,"' Federer said. The defending champion used a full range of shots to dominate the first set, taking a 4-1 lead with a powerful forehand winner past the stranded Nieminen. The second set was a sloppy affair, with four straight breaks of serve at the start. Federer then made the decisive move with another break for a 4-3 lead and wrapped up the match in under one hour. He had 22 winners, twice as many as Nieminen. Nadal spent more than two hours on the court against the 47th-ranked player. He escaped in the tiebreaker, when Starace won three straight points to gain a set point. But he double-faulted, then hit an open forehand into the net. Nadal used a volley to win the match. Nadal lost recently in Rome, in the third round to Juan Carlos Ferrero, when he had a blister on his right foot. It was only Nadal's second loss in his last 105 matches on clay. The other loss was to Federer in the Hamburg final last year. "I didn't practice much this week, so I am happy with the match. I had the right attitude," Nadal said. Blake broke Tipsarevic's serve to win the first set, but the tenacious 33rd-ranked Tipsarevic got steadier in the second set and then broke Blake's serve for a 2-0 lead in the third. Also, Nicolas Kiefer defeated Slanislas Wawrinka 7-5, 7-5. Kiefer saved two set points in the second after dropping his serve, then tied the set at 5-5 and won on his second match point when Wawrinka's forehand hit the net. Ivo Karlovic upset Tommy Robredo, the 2006 champion, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3). Also, Marat Safin beat ninth-seeded Tomas Berdych 7-5, 6-4, Juan Monaco defeated Simone Bolelli 6-2, 6-1 and Albert Montanes ousted Jose Acasuso 7-6 (3), 6-3. Safin, a two-time runner-up in Hamburg, had to qualify for the main draw after dropping to No. 89, and is the lowest-ranked player remaining in the event.

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Hamburg Masters: Davydenko cruises

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HAMBURG, Germany -- Nikolay Davydenko cruised into the third round of the Hamburg Masters by defeating Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 6-1 Tuesday, while two more players retired because of injuries. Luis Horna dropped out with a calf injury while trailing Potito Starace 6-3, 4-2, and Kristof Vliegen pulled out with a back injury with Jose Acasuso leading 5-2. Filippo Volandri retired Monday with a knee injury. Fifth-seeded David Ferrer also breezed into the third round, defeating Ivo Minar 6-3, 6-3. Davydenko dominated Ljubicic after the two players traded five breaks of serve early in the match. "The first match is always difficult," said Davydenko, who had a first-round bye. The Russian, who is coming off a third-round loss to Tommy Robredo in Rome, won the Masters tournament in Miami last month. "Losing to Robredo was difficult, but the win in Miami has made me mentally stronger," Davydenko said. Ljubicic has not beaten Davydenko in four years. Robredo rallied Tuesday to outlast Philipp Kohlschreiber 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3. He won his first match in Hamburg since capturing the title in 2006. The 13th-seeded Robredo was helped by a disputed call in the second set. Losing the point would have put Robredo down a break but chair umpire Gerry Armstrong overruled the linesman, calling the ball good. A long discussion involving both players, Armstrong and the tournament supervisor followed. The point was eventually replayed and Robredo held his serve. "You try to shut it out but you keep thinking about it," Kohlschreiber said. "But it wasn't what decided the match. I made some bad decisions in my shots." Robredo broke serve for a decisive 4-2 lead in the third. He double-faulted on one match point, but used the next to win. Withdrawals have become a common theme in European clay-court tournaments in the past month. At the Rome Masters last week, five players withdrew. No semifinal match was completed. The second-ranked Rafael Nadal, who lost in Rome in the second round after getting treated for a major blister on his foot, has blamed the crowded schedule for the series of retirements. In another second-round match, Fernando Verdasco defeated Michael Llodra 6-2, 6-0. In first-round action, 11th-seeded Carlos Moya rallied to defeat Julien Benneteau 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7), and Janko Tipsarevic rallied past Andreas Beck 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

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Tsonga advances at Hamburg Masters

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ROME -- Unseeded teenager Victoria Azarenka routed 19th-seeded Sybille Bammer of Austria 6-1, 6-3 in the first round of the Italian Open on Tuesday before play was suspended due to rain. The highly touted Azarenka continued her strong form from the last two weeks, when she lost to eventual champion Dinara Safina at the German Open and posted a runner-up finish at the Prague Open. She is ranked a career-high 19th this week, but had to ask for a wild card because she decided late to enter the tournament. Azarenka, an 18-year-old who is from Belarus but resides in Scottsdale, Arizona, improved to 19-9 this year. The 22nd-ranked Bammer was granted a seed when Safina withdrew due to a back injury. Also Tuesday, Italian wild card Roberta Vinci held off Estonian qualifier Kaia Kenepi 6-4, 4-6, 6-0; Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia defeated Gisela Dulko of Argentina 7-6 (1), 6-4; and Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria eliminated Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2 in a matchup of two qualifiers. Several matches scheduled for Tuesday at the Foro Italico were to be completed Wednesday. Both Williams sisters were scheduled to play their opening matches Wednesday. Seventh-seeded Venus faces Samantha Stosur of Australia and No. 5 Serena takes on Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine in this clay-court warmup for the French Open, which begins May 25.

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Tsonga advances at Hamburg Masters

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Tsonga advances at Hamburg Masters

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS HAMBURG, Germany -- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga made some history for himself Monday in the first round of the Hamburg Masters. The Australian Open runner-up rallied to beat fellow Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 0-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2 for his first win after coming back from a right knee injury -- and his first on the tour on clay. Tsonga missed a month because of the injury and lost in the first round of the Rome Masters last week to Gilles Simon. Tsonga is seeded 14th at the Hamburg event, a major clay-court warmup for the French Open. A serve-and-volley player, Tsonga rarely plays on clay and had never won a match on the slow surface in the main draw. "I was a little lost at the beginning. In Rome, I didn't even know what to do with the ball," Tsonga said. "I think I can play on this surface. I need to play more matches and gain more experience." Also, 10th-seeded Mikhail Youzhny of Russia lost to Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-3, 6-2, 12th-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina advanced when Filippo Volandri of Italy retired with a knee injury with Monaco leading 6-1, 4-0. Nicolas Kiefer of Germany upset 16th-seeded Paul-Henri Mathieu of France 6-4, 6-4 and No. 15 Andy Murray of Britain topped Dmitry Tursunov of Russia 6-4, 6-1. "He's a tough guy to play, very unpredictable," Murray said. "I tried to stay on top and I was happy with the way I mixed it up. Overall, I played a very good match." Top-ranked Roger Federer of Switzerland and No. 2 Rafael Nadal of Spain had time to practise Monday since the top eight seeded players have first-round byes. Both are coming off losses at the Rome Masters. Nadal lost for only the second time in his last 105 matches on clay, falling to Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-1 in the second round. Federer lost to Radek Stepanek 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7) in the quarter-finals. With both of them out, the Rome title went to third-ranked Novak Djokovic. Nadal at least had the excuse of an open blister on his foot. "It's much better. Not perfect, but for sure better," Nadal said Monday. Nadal has complained that the European clay-court season has been crammed together this year without a week off between any of the tournaments. "After Rome, I had to come here," said Nadal, conceding that he might have skipped Hamburg if he had lasted until the final in Rome. "Four straight weeks on clay, that is too much," said Nadal, who won the tournaments in Monte Carlo and Barcelona before going to Rome. Nadal may be the dominant player on clay but it's Federer who rules in Hamburg. Nadal has played in Hamburg only twice before, and lost last year's final to Federer, who ended Nadal's 81-match winning streak on clay. Federer has won the Hamburg event four times and his first victory came in 2002, when he broke into the top 10. "I've done particularly well here and I always play unbelievable tennis in Germany," Federer said. Federer has had a troubled season so far, after having mononucleosis at the start of the year. His only title came at a relatively small clay-court event in Estoril last month. The loss in Rome was his sixth of the year, but Federer said he wasn't feeling more vulnerable. "It's a distorted picture, because this year I am focusing more on the Masters Series and the Grand Slams and I am not playing so many events," Federer said. "I feel I am moving well, playing my normal tennis again. "I was unhappy with the way I played in Rome, but it happens sometimes. I have to make sure it doesn't happen too often," Federer added. "The more you lose, the more they believe they can beat me. But believing is not enough, you still have to beat me." Federer said he would start worrying if he didn't do well at the upcoming Grand Slams, the French Open, which he has never won, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. "Then, it would be a different situation," said Federer, who needs two Grand Slam titles to pull even with Pete Sampras, who had 14.

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