OTHER SPORT

SERENA'S BREAK TO REIN IN HER RIVAL

WILLIAMS: Weathered the storm

Monday May 28,2007

By Alix Ramsay

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WHOEVER it was who thought that an extra day of the French Open championships was the best way to sell tennis to the world clearly had not checked the weather forecast.

For the second year running, the tournament has been stretched to 15 days, with the main show courts opening for business yesterday.

Alas, all that was on display was six hours of rain and an awful lot of tennis players looking bored.

Serena Williams was possibly the only one to greet the rain like a long-lost friend as the damp conditions saved her from taking a beating at the hands of Tsvetana Pironkova.

Until the clouds moved in, she had been playing like a plank while the 19-year-old Bulgarian was making the most of her chances.

Only when it came to serving out the first set did the nerves set in and from 5-2 up, Pironkova missed four set points as she was dragged into a scrap.

Williams is nothing if not a champion at heart. As Pironkova began to twitch, so she began to growl. Every Bulgarian error was greeted with a pumped fist or a roar of approval. It is not so much that Williams was cheering another’s misfortune, but rather that she was reminding herself of her own status.

She believes she is the best in the world, whatever the rankings say – she is currently No8 in the world order – and she knows that there are few players who have the nerve to beat her.

It was a philosophy that took her from a standing start to the Australian Open title in January and she knows that it could work just as well here. No wonder she looked happy when the rains came.

Sure enough, an afternoon spent in the locker room was more than enough time for Pironkova to realise that she was winning. The thought clearly frightened her and as soon as she had closed out the first set, she reverted to her true role as the world’s No91 and promptly lost in double-quick time 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.

Marat Safin had obviously checked the weather forecast before he raced past Fernando Vicente 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 in 84 minutes. As the only man to complete a match, he could go back to his hotel and relax while everyone else waited for the rain to stop.