Maria Sharapova, Marat Safin Go The Distance In Paris

Lawn Tennis, Paris Open, Lawn Tennis Magazine

Maria Sharapova, Marat Safin Go The Distance In Paris
By Thurston Soros, Lawn Tennis Analyst, Posted: Wednesday, May 27, 2009 4:06pm PST USA

Maria Sharapova, Marat Safin Go The Distance In Paris, The French Open, Roland Garros 2009, Lawn Tennis Magazine

Paris--(lawntennis.org) Neither with a tiebreaker to abruptly end their decisive sets, two Russian former world number ones, Maria Sharapova and Marat Safin, both went the distance Wednesday in French Open second round play; however one Russian bowed out.

In only her second tournament competition since a October right shoulder surgery, the unseeded

Maria Sharapova and Marat Safin of Russia | Images: Getty Images/AP

Marat Safin would rip 86 winners but also 75 costly errors.

Sharapova defeated her fellow Russian and the 11th seeded Nadia Petrova 6-2, 1-6, 8-6 to advance to the French Open's third round.

And with only seven points won at the net between both players for the day, a two hours and twelve minutes baseline battle ensued with Sharapova quickly taking a one set lead in the match behind aggressive groundstrokes.

However at one game all in set two, Sharapova lost five games in a row to enter the final set.

After falling behind 2-4 in set three, Sharapova broke serve to reach 4 all then saved two breakpoints to pull ahead at 5-4.

Petrova would end the marathon match with a forehand hit wide on matchpoint.

“She really showed, even though she has been out for a while, she's willing to compete till the end,” Petrova said.

Playing his final year on the ATP Tour; the 29 year old Marat Safin, however was sent packing by the unknown 23 year old Frenchman Josselin Ouanna 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 3-6, 10-8. Ouanna, ranked 134th and a wildcard entry, traded athletic groundstrokes with Safin for four and a half fours before stunning the two time grand slam winner.

Safin would rip 86 winners but also 75 costly errors.

“I played terrible,” the 20th seeded Safin said. “I cannot say I played my best tennis. Definitely not. Far away from that.”

Safin won the 2000 US Open and the 2005 Australian Open and has been widely respected as one of the most talented ATP Tour players in the game.

In other action the world number one and four time Paris defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain defeated Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 for a record 30th straight tournament match win, while later in the evening, the Wimbledon champion Venus Williams of the USA dropped a tiebreaker set to Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-7(5-7) before their second round match was suspended due to darkness.

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