Serena Williams leads the bottom half of the women’s singles draw competing on Thursday at Roland Garros in Paris.
The most intriguing match of the day is between Olympic gold medalist Elena Dementieva and Jelena Dokic, the comeback story of the Australian Open.
It will be a busy day for the Williams family as Serena faces veteran clay court specialist Virginia Ruano Pascual, Venus attempts to stay alive against Lucie Safarova after losing the first set on Wednesday, followed by the completion of their doubles match against Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka that began on Tuesday.
Changing of the Guard
Maria Sharapova arrived in Paris without a notable person in her player box. Her father Yuri has gradually turned more coaching responsibilities over to Sharapova’s hitting coach, Michael Joyce, and this year, he opted out of the trip to Roland Garros.
“After I won my third Grand Slam, he said, ‘Look, I like hiking and skiing a lot, and he wanted to pursue that,” said Sharapova on Wednesday.
“So he’s currently enjoying his life, and I think he really deserves it. He was training with us in Florida and Los Angeles in the last couple of months when I was getting back and practicing a lot and playing matches.
“But I don’t think you’ll see him at too many tournaments.”
OTB’s Can’t Miss Match of the Day
Jelena Dokic (AUS) v. Elena Dementieva (RUS)[4]
Every since she played her way into the hearts of her adopted country in Australia, Jelena Dokic’s life hasn’t been the same. She has a newfound freedom and peace after coming to grips with the tragedy of her teenage years. Not surprisingly, after riding an emotional high in Melbourne, she crashed back to earth once she returned to the Tour. Reports have said that she’s been suffering from a fatigue illness, something that could account for her string of losses.
Dementieva is a solid clay court player, if a bit inconsistent. A power serve doesn’t matter on clay, so I expect Elena to easily weather the power of Dokic’s game. She reached the final at Roland Garros in 2004 before losing to Anastasia Myskina.
Prediction: Elena Dementieva in 3 sets
All Mixed Up
One of the biggest attractions at Grand Slam tournaments is the presence of mixed doubles as it gives fans an opportunity to see both their favorite male and female players together on the same court. This year’s mixed doubles field is packed with big-name stars and here’s a few tips on the teams to watch:
Liezel Huber & Bob Bryan
Cara Black & Leander Paes
Nadia Petrova & Max Mirnyi
Sania Mirza & Mahesh Bhupathi
Enter OTB’s Pick the Winner’s Contest
How well do you know tennis? Do you think you can pick the winner of Thursday’s featured match? Guess correctly and you might be one of the five lucky people chosen to win a free live streaming tournament pass from TennisTV.com!
To enter, simply select your pick for the winner of Thursday’s match between No. 2 Serena Williams and Virginia Ruano Pascual. All entries for Thursday must be received by start of play (11 AM in Paris or 5:00 AM ET in USA). Only one entry per person.
Entry for today has ended.
Loved to hear about Maria’s father not in attendance. I think that may be helping her relax and be herself. She’s really gone beyond expecations already.