2005 French Open News
By Eleanor Preston | May 23, 2005

Making history at a grand slam tournament is something most players dream of, but it proved to be a dubious honor for Anastasia Myskina, who became the first women’s defending champion in the open era to lose her opening match at Roland Garros when she was beaten 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 by Maria Sanchez Lorenzo on Monday.
 
It was an upset but hardly a surprise, given that the Russian and her family have been going through a traumatic time ever since her mother was diagnosed with cancer. Understandably, Myskina has found it nearly impossible to focus on tennis in recent weeks.
 
“She played normal tennis. I can’t say she did something really special to beat me,” admitted Myskina. “A lot of unforced errors from my side, not good serve, that’s why I lost today. Right now it’s difficult for me to really understand what I have to do on the court. I have no confidence right now on the court. Today when I step on the court, I just try to play my best, I just didn’t.”
 
A nagging shoulder injury hasn’t helped her form during the last few weeks, but the real reason for her inability to win matches became clear on Sunday when she spoke publicly for the first time about her mother Galina’s illness.
 
“I’ve been dealing with this the last couple of months,” she said, before asking the press to respect her and her family’s privacy.
 
Sanchez Lorenzo is an efficient clay-court player, and that was all that was required to win. Myskina must now decide whether to play the grass court season – a surface on which she has had indifferent results in the past – or retreat from tennis to spend time with her family. “Right now it’s a tough time. Maybe I’m not ready to win right now,” she said. “Maybe I will rest. Maybe I will practice even harder, we’ll see. My game right now it’s perfect to be off the court. I want to play my best and go to Eastbourne and Wimbledon but I don’t really know right now.”
 
Venus Williams, fresh from her warm-up title win in Istanbul last week, beat Marta Marrero 6-3, 6-2 to earn herself a second-round place and has a tough match next against Columbia’s Fabiola Zuluaga.
 
Kim Clijsters showed no signs of the knee injury she sustained in Berlin, which threatened to disrupt her preparations for Roland Garros. The two-time runner-up took just 48 minutes to dispose of American qualifier Meilen Tu 6-0, 6-1 and pick up where she left off in Indian Wells and Miami, where she won back-to-back titles on her comeback from a 2004 season blighted by wrist problems.
 
Lindsay Davenport is top seed in Paris, but she stumbled a little in her opening match against Katarina Srebotnik before beating the Slovakian 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
 
Rafael Nadal made his debut at Roland Garros, winning what many observers believe will be his first victory en route to the title. His 6-1, 7-6, 6-1 win over Lars Burgsmuller means the 18-year-old is now unbeaten in his last 18 matches on clay, the sort of stats which make him a favorite for the title, however inexperienced he is when it comes to the grand slams.
 
Richard Gasquet, who Nadal could face in the third round, made it two teenagers through to round two by beating Italian lucky loser Daniele Bracciali 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
 
Roger Federer has never gotten past the quarterfinals in Paris, and in the six Roland Garros tournaments he has previously played, he has lost in the first round three times. He avoided making it four by beating Israeli qualifier Dudi Sela 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.
 
Tim Henman, a surprise semi-finalist last year, made light work of the unpronounceable Juan Pablo Brzezicki, beating the Argentine, a late replacement for Italy’s Potito Starace, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.
 
Gaston Gaudio ensured that at least the men’s defending champion made it through a round by beating Julien Benneteau 7-5, 6-0, 6-1.

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