The 2009 French Open Begins In Paris: Day 1

by Yuliya Talmazan | May 25, 2009 at 10:23 am

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The 2009 French Open tennis tournament opened in Paris on Sunday, May 24 and will continue until June 7. The tournament is in its 108th year and will traditionally take place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris.

Day 1:

Day 1 of the tournament saw big fish players like Ana Ivanovic, Nadia Petrova, Andy Murray and Marat Safin all advance to the second round.

Among Day 1's surprises was the elimination of French player Amelie Mauresmo on home turf. Mauresmo was a former World No.1 and the winner of both Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006.

Day 2:

Day 2 opened with World No.1 racket and women's title contender Dinara Safina of Russia defeating Anne Keothavong. Safina's compatriot Maria Sharapova, a former World No.1 herself, is in contention again by defeating Anastasiya Yakimova. Sharapova is looking to bounce back after she has missed much of the 2008 season due to injuries and saw her world rank slip to an uncomfortable No. 126.

Eternal contenders Rafael Nadal (1st-seeded) and Roger Federer (2nd-seeded) both advanced to the second round, as did Fernando Gonzalez of Chile who in 2007 reached the finals of the Australian Open.

Still to play:

Day 3 will be full of action at the courts of Roland Garros when Jelena Jankovic (5th-seeded), Svetlana Kuznetsova (7th-seeded), Elena Dementieva (4th-seeded) and sisters Williams (Serena Williams is currently 2nd-seeded and Venus Williams is 3rd-seeded behind Safina) show off their skills and determination to advance.

Last year's champions are:

men's singles -- Rafael Nadal (Spain)
women's singles -- Ana Ivanovic (Serbia)
men's doubles -- Pablo Cuevas (Uruguay)/Luis Horna (Peru)
women's doubles -- Anabel Medina Garrigues (Spain)/ Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spain)
mixed doubles -- Victoria Azarenka (Belarus)/Bob Bryan (USA)

The results and the match schedule can be accessed here.