I'm eagerly watching French Open news, following Martina Hingis as she tries to win the only Grand Slam tournament she hasn't won. I am always thrilled when I log onto Yahoo! Sports to see a Hingis win, and today didn't disappoint, as Martina Hingis dispatched veteran Lisa Raymond, 6-2, 6-2.
Even more happily for me, her half of the draw was split wide open when red-hot Russian Nadia Petrova suddenly turned cold and lost in a first-round shocker to unheralded Japanese Akiko Morigami, 6-2, 6-2. While Hingis didn't appear scheduled to meet Petrova until the semifinals, this certainly makes her journey a lot easier. At this rate, the only major stumbling blocks to a Hingis victory appear to be deadly Justin Henin-Hardenne (whose consistency on clay and mental fortitude are certainly up and up better than the testy Hingis, who, while she has shown considerable mental improvement, has yet to undergo a major Grand Slam since her comeback); unheralded Shahar Peer, who won the Istanbul Cup, beating Anna-Lena Groenfeld and Anastacia Myskina on the way; and Kim Clijsters, who, while not in the best of shape, did still beat her at the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. I wouldn't worry about Hingis-Williams (Venus isn't at her best), Hingis-Mauresmo (Amelie hasn't historically performed well at the French), Hingis-Sharapova (Maria's injured) and Hingis-Safina (Hingis beat her twice in the two times they met). She can take 'em down!
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