Djokovic praises Agassi
PARIS: Defending champion Novak Djokovic enjoyed a winning French Open start under new coach Andre Agassi yesterday, cruising past Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-3 6-4 6-2 in the first round.
The 12-times grand slam champion parted company with his entire coaching team earlier this month after a string of disappointing results before inviting American great Agassi to work with him during the French Open.
The 30-year-old Serbian, without a tour title since January, found little resistance from Granollers, grabbing two breaks early on in the first set as he chased the 77th-ranked Spaniard around the court.
With Agassi, sporting a black T-shirt and sunglasses, quietly sitting in the stands along with the Serb’s entourage, it was a similar story early in the second set with the world number two returning everything Granollers tried to throw at him.
He again went 4-1 up before a wobble saw him fail to convert eight set points at 5-3.
Djokovic kept his cool to earn the second set and pounced on the Spaniard’s accumulating mistakes in the third set to seal victory on his first match point. With Agassi making a fast exit from the stands at the conclusion of the match, Djokovic heaped praise on his new coach.
“It is an incredible honour and good luck to have him (Agassi) with me on the team,” Djokovic said. “Every day is special with him. I am learning something every day.
“I changed everyone (coaches). But I will not change my wife. My wife never.”
Elsewhere, Rafael Nadal smoothly negotiated the potential stumbling block presented by Frenchman Benoit Paire yesterday, launching his bid for a 10th French Open trophy with a largely routine 6-1 6-4 6-1 win.
The heavy favourite for the title looked in imperious form as he steamed through the first set in under half an hour.
Paire, described prior to their encounter on Court Suzanne Lenglen as a dangerous opponent by Nadal, played with more freedom in a closer second set as the Spaniard lost his edge. Trading baseline rallies, they exchanged breaks to leave the Frenchman leading 4-3.
But Nadal then pulled clear and, with Paire periodically clutching his stomach after a medical time out, the Spaniard took nine of the last 10 games to close out the match in just under two hours.
Meanwhile, returning to the stage of her greatest triumph inspired defending champion Garbine Muguruza to down 2010 winner Francesca Schiavone 6-2 6-4 in the first round of the French Open.
The fourth seed, who had been woefully out of form in the run-up to Roland Garros, never looked in danger of joining Russian Anastasia Myskina as the only reigning women’s champion to lose in the opening round of the claycourt grand slam.
The Spaniard outclassed the skilful Italian with her poise and power in muggy conditions.
There were several topnotch rallies and Schiavone pulled a few tricks from her bag, threatening in the second set. However, she made too many unforced errors to sustain any form of challenge.
“I was so excited to play here against another champion. Francesca is a legend,” Muguruza said.
She credited her win to staying composed throughout.
“You need to be focused. You need to be calm. Perhaps the public thinks that, okay, she won last year (so this match should be easy), but you need to avoid being (distracted) with these thoughts,” she told a news conference.
“I could have had anyone as an opponent today, but I need to win my own battles, my own fights.”
Muguruza raced to a 3-0 lead in the opening set and just when Schiavone was starting to work around her opponent’s power as she reduced the arrears to 3-2, the match was interrupted for 10 minutes as a spectator was attended to by first-aiders.
The Spaniard won 19 of 20 points after play resumed and led 2-0 in the second set.
That is when Schiavone’s game fell into place. She broke back and had two break chances in the sixth game, which Muguruza saw off confidently.
The champion then broke decisively for 5-4. Schiavone saved three match points, but volleyed wide on the fourth. – Reuters