French Open 2012: Serena Williams crashes out in first round after shock defeat to Virginie Razzano

Dienstag, 29. Mai 2012

French Open 2012: Serena Williams crashes out in first round after shock defeat to Virginie Razzano

Serena Williams crashed to the worst Grand Slam defeat of her career here yesterday when the unheralded Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano put won a thrilling three-set match. It was the American’s first exit in the opening round in her 47 appearances at the major events.

Serena crashes out of French Open in first round

Upset: Serena Williams during her match against Virginie Razzano

Put Williams together with chair umpire Eva Asderaki and something dramatic always seems to happen. At last year’s US Open final, Williams lost her rag, abusing Asderaki in an epic rant that scarred the image of a great champion. In Paris, Williams lost it in a different sense, her 6-4, 6-7, 3-6 defeat coming after three hours of turbulent and controversial combat.

The match reached an extraordinary conclusion – a 25-minute service game from Razzano featuring eight match points and five break points before Williams succumbed.

We normally consider that great sport should involve athletes performing at their peak. And yet, by this stage, neither player looked capable of walking up a set of stairs. Razzano was both cramping and choking, alternating abject double-faults with desperate defence. Williams looked in slightly better physical condition, but her emotions were so scrambled that she was forcing back the tears between points.

Even Asderaki was getting involved, twice awarding a point to Williams because Razzano had screamed out in pain in the middle of a rally. The coincidence was uncanny because Asderaki had penalised Williams under the same “hindrance” rule in New York, sparking her famous “You’re a hater” outburst.

Finally, Williams sent a backhand a couple of inches long and the crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier erupted in exultation. Razzano, who is ranked 111 in the world, may not be a major figure on the tennis stage. But she was a top-20 player a couple of years ago, and she has gained extra renown for the courage with which she faced the loss of her fiancé and coach Stephane Vidal to cancer a year ago.

After the match, Razzano thanked the crowd for keeping her going through the pain of repeated cramps in her legs. She played a remarkable match, aiming for the corners with her ungainly serve and constantly trying to seize the initiative from the game’s most dominant personality. But it was hard to imagine that she would have got over the line without several thousand Parisians there for moral support.

Williams never appeared to have much of a grip on her game or her tactics, and after she had come off the court, her composure at the press conference was fragile too. Sometimes she does not do herself any favours with her public pronouncements, and last night it might have been sensible to cool down rather than rushing straight in to face the media.

Asked what she thought about Razzano’s bereavement last year, she snapped back tactlessly. “We all have stories,” she said. “I mean, I almost died and Venus is struggling herself. So, you know, that’s life. It just depends on how you deal with it. She obviously is dealing with it really well.”

Asderaki was also the target of a pointed comment from Williams. “You know, she’s not a favourite amongst the tour,” Williams said, before throwing her hands in the air in exasperation on the subject of Asderaki’s hindrance calls.

Her temper was probably that much more strained because mistakes from the officials had played a huge role in the match. Had it not been for a bad line call in the second-set tiebreak, Williams would have had three match points for a straight-sets win, and no one would have paid too much attention to a routine victory for the fifth seed over an obscure opponent.

But the point had to be replayed, and the upshot was that Razzano won six straight points to take the tiebreak 7-5. Williams spent the ensuing change of ends with her face buried in a towel and her shoulders shaking as if the emotion of the moment had been too much for her.

Her defeat was all the more unexpected because she had looked to be peaking for this tournament. She won her first clay-court event in Charleston two months ago, and then followed up with another victory at Madrid Masters. So to go down to her earliest defeat in a Grand Slam, against the lowest-ranked opponent she has ever lost to on a major stage, was a bolt from the blue.

She will not leave Roland Garros just yet, as she is playing mixed doubles with Bob Bryan, but that will be scant consolation for a player who was considered the French Open favourite 24 hours ago.

“I’ve just got to go back and figure out what I did wrong, and then learn from it” she said. “I have been through so much in my life. I’m not happy, by any means. I just always think things can be worse.”

Voice of the Gospel Christian Radio - Radio Stimme des Evangeliums

Dienstag, 29. Mai 2012