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Beware the King of Clay

ESPN staff
May 28, 2011
Victoria Azarenka oozed confidence in her win over Roberta Vinci © Getty Images
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Back with a bang
They don't call him the King of Clay for no reason, and after a slow start, Rafael Nadal's French Open defence began to pick up pace. The world No. 1 barely broke a sweat as he cruised past world No. 227 Antonio Veic, and after murmurs that the Spaniard was looking a bit off colour in Paris, this year, he silenced his doubters in pretty emphatic fashion. "I had not forgotten to play tennis for a week, but I played better today," Nadal confessed.

Just too nice
Andy Murray limped into the fourth round after twisting his ankle midway through the second set against Michael Berrer. Murray returned to the court with his foot heavily strapped but the German was left ruing his lack of killer instinct after failing to make the Scot pay. Berrer admitted he felt sorry for Murray and refused to play the drop shot with the No. 4 seed struggling with mobility. "I think a chance like this you get maybe once in your life, and it's not an excuse, but the way I am is that I'm feeling sorry for him," Berrer said. "I should have hurt him when he's down, but that's difficult for me. So I was feeling sorry for him"

Moonwalking her way to victory
As the old adage goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, and Andrea Petkovic learnt the dangers of meddling with a perfectly successful routine when she ditched her famous celebration dance earlier this season. "After I stopped [dancing], I lost two times in the second round, and I played the most horrible tennis of my life," she said. In Strasbourg last week, Petkovic tried a new dance - and moonwalked her way to the title. The German bust out the move after her third-round win over Jarmila Gajdosova, and with expected fourth-round opponent Kim Clijsters already disposed of, Petkovic could be dancing all the way to the quarter-finals.

Turning point
The mouthwatering third-round clash between man-of-the-moment Novak Djokovic and the resurgent Juan Martin del Potro kept us in suspense after darkness descended on Roland Garros on Friday. With Djokovic having taken the opening set 6-3, Delpo responded to level with an identical scoreline. With the match in the balance when the pair resumed on Saturday, you sensed the third set would be decisive, and when Delpo snatched two break points, it looked like Djokovic's unbeaten streak could be set to come to an end. However, after a titanic tussle, Djokovic saved the second break point and held on with an ace - before going on to break to set himself well on course for victory.

Excuse my French
Third seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes crashed out of the men's doubles to the unranked Australians Stephen Huss and Ashley Fisher. The Indian Express, who won the French Open back in 1999, reunited in January after nearly a decade apart, attracted nearly 1400 spectators to Court 2, but Bhupathi pulled no punches about the 7-6(7) 6-4 defeat. "Excuse my French, but today was just a ***** show on court by the Indian express," he wrote on his Twitter page. "Never happened before at a slam and hopefully never again!"

Tennis is life
Patty Schnyder announced her retirement after 17 years on the WTA Tour, and admitted life, like tennis, has its twists and turns. Most players have their fair share of tales, but Schnyder's early years take some beating. At the age of 17, Schnyder hooked up with 'guru' Rainer Harnecker, who convinced her to become a vegan and drink three litres of orange juice a day. Isolated from her family, her parents enlisted a private detective, Rainer Hofmann, who was charged with rescuing their daughter from her lover and coach. In a twist worthy of a soap opera, Hofman did more than just rescue Schnyder, winning over the player and the pair got married in 2003."Sometimes you have no advice," Schnyder admitted during her final press conference. "Nobody knows what to do, how to help you, and then you have to decide. I grew up and I developed my personality. It's a tough life. Nothing is just given for free. But I know life can be tough. Life is very similar to tennis, and tennis is life."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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