The Hindu : Sport : Luis Horna sends Henman packing

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 26, 2005

Sport

Sport

Luis Horna sends Henman packing

PARIS: Tim Henman failed to repeat his magical run to last year's Roland Garros semifinals as he was bundled out 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4 by Peru's Luis Horna in the second round of this year's French Open on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old seventh seed, who became the first Briton to make the last four here in 41 years when he made the semifinals in 2004, had no answer to Horna's powerful baseline hitting.

While Horna now faces Romania's Victor Hanescu for a place in the fourth round, Henman will have to turn his attention to the grasscourt season and his lifetime pursuit of the Wimbledon title.

Henman had looked the sharper player in the early exchanges but 24-year-old Horna, ranked 59 in the world, eventually stamped his authority on the match.

He carved out a crucial break in the fifth game of the fourth set and then took the tie after three hours and 10 minutes when Henman's serve sailed long.

Venus Williams charged the net with success and advanced to the third round.

Williams' aggressive play helped her overcome an erratic serve and two wobbly stretches to beat Fabiola Zuluaga 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Clay is typically a difficult surface for net rushers, but while Williams won barely half the rallies when she stayed back, she won 15 of 19 points at the net.

``Sometimes I'm tired of hanging out on the baseline,'' Williams said. ``I feel like it's about time to break camp. When I'm playing my best I'm always moving forward, but that's pretty much anyone. Great players are always making something happen.''

Seeded 11th, Williams had 45 unforced errors, including nine double faults, and lost serve seven times. But she won eight of the final nine points and improved to 6-0 against Zuluaga.

``It was a challenging match,'' Williams said. ``I think the best part was she's a player with variety. Sometimes she's hitting harder, and sometimes with more spin. I got to see everything I'll see throughout the rest of the tournament.

Williams will next play 15-year-old Sesil Karatantcheva, who upset No. 19 Shinobu Asagoe 7-5, 6-2.

Error prone

The morning's opening match on centre court began in short-sleeve weather, the first of the week, with sunny skies and balmy breeze. Williams appeared on her way to a routine win before a flurry of errant shots allowed Zuluaga to sweep the final three games of the second set.

Williams won the first four games, Zuluaga the next three and Williams the final two, closing out the victory with consecutive service winners.

``There were just a few moments when I was rushing a little too much,'' Williams said. ``And then there were times when she was playing great tennis.''

Seeking her fifth Grand Slam title but her first since 2001, Williams is coming off her 32nd tournament title and her first in a year, a win last week in Istanbul.

``It was nice,'' Williams said. ``But at the same time, I've won quite a few titles, so it was kind of familiar.''

Williams last reached the quarterfinals at a major event a year ago in Paris before losing to eventual champion Myskina. Her best showing at Roland Garros came in 2002, when she lost to sister Serena in the final.

Serena withdrew before this year's tournament because of a lingering ankle sprain.

Clijsters has it easy

Williams' result continued a trend of close women's matches. Defending champion Myskina was upset in the opening round, and No. 1-seeded Lindsay Davenport and No. 2 Maria Sharapova won in split sets. It was the first time in the Open era that the two top-seeded women were taken to three sets in the first round at a Grand Slam event.

Not every match was close, however. No. 14 Kim Clijsters, a two-time runner-up, drubbed Ludmila Cervanova 6-2, 6-1. No. 21 Mary Pierce, the 2000 champion, drubbed Jelena Kostanic 6-1, 6-0.

Pierce, the last French player to triumph in the singles at Roland Garros, won in 58 minutes.

``It's like playing in my back garden,'' said the 30-year-old home favourite after her match on the Philippe Chatrier centre court.

``Since 2001 I haven't been feeling completely in my best shape. Now I'm feeling good again,'' she said.

Pierce, who also counts the 1995 Australian Open crown among her 16 titles, recalled her first appearance as a 15-year-old in Roland Garros when she reached the second round.

``I remember very well when I played here. It was a good match. Of course you're very impressed, you're a bit tense, that's normal.''

And the Florida-based player admitted that because of injuries she now spends more time preparing off the court than on it.

``I spend more time on physical preparation and recovering than on court. But in 2000 I spent a lot of time looking after my injured shoulder.''

No. 4 Elena Dementieva won, but No. 27 Amy Frazier and No. 31 Karolina Sprem were eliminated.

Defending men's champion Gaston Gaudio reached the third round when Dmitry Tursunov defaulted shortly before their match because of a knee injury.

Tursunov withdrew after undergoing an MRI exam that disclosed a possible cartilage tear. The Russian had been bothered by a sore left knee for almost a week but beat Stefan Koubek in four sets in the first round.

No. 10 David Nalbandian swept past Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-2, 6-1. No. 31 Juan Ignacio Chela lost to Victor Hanescu 7-5, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.

Frazier was beaten by Frenchwoman Emilie Loit 6-4, 6-4. Sprem lost to Akiko Morigami 7-5, 6-3.

Dementieva, the runner-up last year to Myskina, overcame a set point in the opening set and beat Sanda Mamic 7-6(7), 6-2.

``Sometimes you need to get through a very difficult match to feel your game and maybe play better tennis,'' Dementieva said.

No. 9 Vera Zvonareva rallied past Eva Birnerova 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.

Sania & partner advance

Sania Mirza and Russian Anna Chakvetadze moved into the second round of the women's doubles, defeating Kristina Brandi of Puerto Rico and Nana Miyagi of Japan 6-2, 6-3.

The Indo-Russian duo will now take on 16th seed Zi Yan and Jie Zheng of China in the second round.

Yan and Zheng thrashed Denisa Chladkova of the Czech Republic and Ruxandra Ilie of Romania 6-1, 6-2. — Agencies

The Results

Prefix denotes seeding

Men's singles: second round: 5-Gaston Gaudio (Arg) w/o Dmitry Tursunov (Rus); 10-David Nalbandian (Arg) bt Tomas Berdych (Cze) 6-3, 6-2, 6-1; Victor Hanescu (Rom) bt 31-Juan Ignacio Chela (Arg) 7-5, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5; 23-Sebastien Grosjean (Fra) bt Davide Sanguinetti (Ita) 6-0, 6-3, 6-2; Felix Mantilla (Esp) bt 26-Jiri Novak (Cze) 6-2, 0-6, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3; 16-Radek Stepanek (Cze) bt Florent Serra (Fra) 6-3, 6-4, 6-1; Luis Horna (Per) bt 7-Tim Henman (GBR) 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4; 30-Richard Gasquet (Fra) bt Peter Wessels (Ned) 6-3, 7-6 (7/1), 6-1; Fernando Vicente (Esp) bt Janko Tipsarevic (SCG) 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-3.

First round: Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui) bt 22-Nicolas Massu (Chi) 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-2, 6-4; James Blake (U.S.) bt Tomas Tenconi (Ita) 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(8); Arnaud Clement (Fra) bt Alexander Popp (Ger) 6-2, 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-2; Jose Acasuso (Arg) bt Max Mirnyi (Blr) 6-4, 7-6(9), 6-2; 21-Tommy Haas (Ger) bt Florian Mayer (Ger) 6-1, 6-2, 6-4; Chris Guccione (Aus) bt Santiago Ventura (Esp) 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2; 9-Guillermo Canas (Arg) bt Gael Monfils (Fra) 6-3, 6-1, 6-0; Flavio Saretta (Bra) bt Greg Rusedski (Gbr) 6-2, 7-6(7), 6-3; 8-Guillermo Coria (Arg) bt Kenneth Carlsen (Den) 6-4, 6-2, 6-4; 19-Thomas Johansson (Swe) bt Scott Draper (Aus) 6-7(5), 6-1, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1; 2-Andy Roddick (U.S.) bt Jo Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4; David Sanchez (Esp) bt Gustavo Kuerten (Bra) 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1; Albert Montanes (Esp) bt Sargis Sargsian (Arm) 6-1, 6-4, 6-0; 27-Filippo Volandri (Ita) bt Cyril Saulnier (Fra) 6-0, 6-2, 6-1; Vince Spadea (U.S.) bt Albert Costa (Esp) 6-4, 7-6(6), 6-2; Novak Djokovic (Ser) bt Robby Ginepri (U.S.) 6-0, 6-0, 6-3.

Women's singles: second round: Akiko Morigami (Jpn) bt 31-Karolina Sprem (Cro) 7-5, 6-3; Emilie Loit (Fra) bt 27-Amy Frazier (U.S.) 6-4, 6-4; 11-Venus Williams (U.S.) bt Fabiola Zuluaga (Col) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; 4-Elena Dementieva (Rus) bt Sanda Mamic (Cro) 7-6(7), 6-2; 21-Mary Pierce (Fra) bt Jelena Kostanic (Cro) 6-1, 6-0; Sesil Karatantcheva (Bul) bt 19-Shinobu Asagoe (Jpn) 7-5, 6-2; 9-Vera Zvonareva (Rus) bt Eva Birnerova (Cze) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0; 32-Flavia Pennetta (Ita) bt Marta Domachowska (Pol) 6-4, 6-3; Emmanuelle Gagliardi (Sui) bt Maria Sanchez Lorenzo (Esp) 6-3, 6-3; 14-Kim Clijsters (Bel) bt Ludmila Cervanova (Svq) 6-2, 6-1.

First round: Aravane Rezai (Fra) bt Camille Pin (Fra) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2; 29-Ana Ivanovic (Ser) bt Stephanie Foretz (Fra) 6-3, 6-3; 3-Amelie Mauresmo (Fra) bt Evie Dominikovic (Aus) 6-2, 6-1; 22-Francesca Schiavone (Ita) bt Zheng Jie (Chn) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4; Anna Smashnova (Isr) bt 15-Jelena Jankovic (Ser) 6-0, 6-3; 13-Nathalie Dechy (Fra) bt Michaela Pastikova (Cze) 6-1, 6-4; Virginia Ruano Pascual (Esp) bt Anastasiya Yakimova (Blr) 6-4, 7-6(7); Kveta Peschke (Cze) bt Dally Randriantefy (Mad) 6-1, 6-0; Nicole Vaidisova (Cze) bt Lucie Safarova (Cze) 4-6, 6-0, 6-4; Antonella Serra Zanetti (Ita) bt Marlene Weingartner (Ger) 6-2, 6-4; Alize Cornet (Fra) bt Alina Jidkova (Rus) 7-6(4), 6-3; Anna-Lena Groenefeld (Ger) bt Roberta Vinci (Ita) 7-5, 1-6, 6-4; Shahar Peer (Isr) bt 28-Marion Bartoli (Fra) 6-4, 6-3; 17-Tatiana Golovin (Fra) bt Lilia Osterloh (U.S.) 6-0, 6-2.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport