Federer advances after losing 1st set

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Roger Federer lost a set at the French Open on Thursday, then responded by winning 12 of 13 games to reach the third round.

The top-ranked Federer beat Albert Montanes of Spain 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-0, 6-4.

Federer saved all six break points he faced, including two while trailing 5-4 in the first set. Then the match was delayed by rain for about 1 1/2 hours.

When they returned to the court, Montanes took the tiebreaker. From there, Federer dominated.

The 12-time major champion needs a title at Roland Garros to complete a career Grand Slam.

Sharapova barely wins in Paris; Nadal has no trouble

Start with this statistic on a busy, blustery day at Roland Garros: Maria Sharapova hit 17 double-faults. It bears repeating: 17.

She hammered hard serves, and they sailed long. She tapped soft serves, and they landed in the bottom of the net. And she played poorly enough overall to come within two points of becoming the only No. 1-seeded woman in French Open history to lose in the first round.

Sharapova did regroup in time to barely piece together a 6-1, 3-6, 8-6 victory over Evgeniya Rodina, a Russian teen making her Grand Slam debut Wednesday.

"I don't think I'd be able to get away with not playing and not serving that well with maybe a different opponent and somebody that has more experience, a top player," said Sharapova, who placed part of the blame for her woes on swirling wind that kicked up clouds of dust on court. "But I'll work on it, and it will be better."

The awful serving and generally sub-par showing by someone who's supposed to be the best in the world at what she does shared top billing with the dry weather as Wednesday's most noteworthy developments. After three days of rain — Sharapova originally was to be on court Tuesday — not a drop fell, permitting match after match after match at the clay-court major.

That meant there were other numbers of note, if not much in the way of stunning results:

• Serena Williams made it to the third round for the 33rd time in 34 career Grand Slam tournaments.

• Rafael Nadal improved to 22-0 at the French Open.

• A year after U.S. men went 0-9 in Paris, five reached the second round, and one, Wayne Odesnik, already moved into the third.

Williams found herself trailing 5-3 in the second set against Mathilde Johansson, a French wild-card entry who began this tournament with a 2-5 career Grand Slam record. But Williams took the next four games to end it 6-2, 7-5.

"I haven't played my best tennis, so hopefully the next round, I'll play better," said Williams, who won the French Open in 2002 and is the only past champion in the women's field.

Nadal began his bid to match Bjorn Borg's four consecutive titles from 1978-81 by beating qualifier Thomaz Bellucci. A rain shower forced them to pack up and head home Tuesday tied at 1-1, and Nadal stumbled at the start Wednesday, getting broken to fall behind 2-1, then again when serving for the first set at 5-3. But he recovered nicely, winning 7-5, 6-3, 6-1.

"It was tough, no? The conditions are very, very bad," Nadal said. "The winds are terrible."

Like Nadal, Bellucci entered the day never having been forced to experience the bitter taste of defeat at Roland Garros. That, of course, is because he never had played a main-draw match in the French Open — or any other Grand Slam tournament, for that matter.

"These were two difficult days, because as time goes by, you get more nervous and you can't practice, so I probably lost the rhythm I had acquired before this tournament," Nadal said. "But I hope this won't be a problem for the rest of the tournament."

Nadal, Sharapova and other players around the grounds complained about the way loose particles got in their faces and left courts barer than usual.

"Apart from eating and breathing the sand, it was great," Sharapova said. "It's dry and you've got sand blowing in your face. So you think it's a hard court, but then you feel like you're in a desert."

Maybe the surfaces really did play like hard courts, for what else could explain the success of the men from the United States? They went 5-5 in the first round this time, capped by victories Wednesday by Mardy Fish, Bobby Reynolds and Robby Ginepri.

Fish beat Agustin Calleri of Argentina 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, and Reynolds defeated Thierry Ascione of France 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Ginepri's match against Donald Young had to produce a U.S. winner, and it was Ginepri, by a score of 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.

"When we come over here, we're already, I think, one step slower than the other Europeans and other guys," said Ginepri, who shares coach Jose Higueras with top-ranked Roger Federer. "But to be honest, I'm enjoying the clay, and I'm actually a little sad that this is the last clay tournament of the year."

Odesnik, who is ranked 106th, followed up his upset of No. 29 Guillermo Canas by beating Lee Hyung-taik 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and now will take on No. 3 Novak Djokovic, who dropped only five games in his second-round win.

"It's always good to have easy matches," said Djokovic, the Australian Open champion.

Sharapova, who also won in Melbourne in January, made more than twice as many unforced errors as Rodina, 51-23.

"I had problems in every department," Sharapova said. "Realistically, I don't know if there's any way down from here."

She could, at least, take solace in not having joined No. 9 Marion Bartoli on the way out after one match. Bartoli, a Frenchwoman who was a Wimbledon finalist last year but is struggling with a wrist injury and an 8-12 record at the moment, lost to Casey Dellacqua of Australia 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2.

Sharapova twice served three double-faults in a single game, making recreational players everywhere feel better about their own foibles. On occasion, she resorted to first serves barely above 80 mph, which might not sound too shabby but certainly is on the slow side for a three-time major champion.

Trailing 4-3 in the final set, Sharapova faced three break points and saved them, remarkably, with three fantastic first serves. Then, down 5-4, a — wait for it — double-fault made the score 30-all, putting Rodina two points from about as big a stunner as tennis has seen. Somehow, Sharapova mustered two service winners, at 101 mph and 102 mph.

Three games later, Sharapova finally seized control, breaking serve to go ahead 7-6 with a big forehand return that caught Rodina flat-footed.

Sharapova still had to hold serve one more time, and she did, although not before one last double-fault, No. 17.

Serena Williams wins at French Open

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Eight-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams advanced to the second round of the French Open, beating Ashley Harkleroad 6-2, 6-1.

The 2002 French Open champion was broken in the first game of the match Sunday and trailed 2-0 before winning seven straight games as a light rain fell.

The fifth-seeded Williams, the only woman in the field who has won the clay-court major, had a 10-0 edge in aces.

Federer to play American Querrey at French Open

Top-ranked Roger Federer will face American Sam Querrey at the French Open, beginning the lastest bid for the only Grand Slam title missing from his collection.

But Federer is not looking too far ahead.

"My focus is on Sam Querrey and not the final," Federer said.

Second-ranked Rafael Nadal will play a qualifier in the first round as he attempts to win a record-equaling fourth straight title on the red clay of Roland Garros. Bjorn Borg did it from 1978-81.

"I feel very good physically," said Nadal, who has never lost a match at the French Open. "I don't have any problems."

Maria Sharapova is the top seed following the retirement of four-time champion Justine Henin. Sharapova, who has won the three other Grand Slam titles, will face fellow Russian Evgeniya Rodina in the first round.

"Coming in this year, the French Open is the one (Grand Slam title) I haven't won," Sharapova said. "It's exciting. It's the toughest one. But that's why I'm here. I love the challenges."

Friday's draw left No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the same half with Nadal, giving Federer a clearer path to the final. The tournament begins Sunday and ends June 8.

Djokovic, winner of the Australian Open, will open against Denis Gremelmayr of Germany.

"I have enough confidence and experience to cope with the pressure of the big matches," Djokovic said. "I think I've matured a lot ... I believe much more in myself and that I can win against Rafael on clay or Roger on any surface."

Federer has won 12 Grand Slam titles, but has never triumphed in Paris, losing to Nadal in the past two finals.

Second-seeded Ana Ivanovic, who lost to Henin in last year's French final, will open against Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden. Ivanovic is in the same half of the draw with No. 3 Jelena Jankovic, and the two Serbs could meet in the semifinals.

The Williams sisters are both in the bottom half of the draw with the two Serbs.

Fifth-seeded Serena Williams, the only woman in the draw who has won the French Open, will open against Ashley Harkleroad in the first round. No. 8 Venus Williams faces Tzipora Obziler of Israel.

"It's probably the best preparation I've had since 2002," Serena Williams said. "I feel like I've played so many clay-court tournaments ... And I'm really comfortable out there on the clay. I'm definitely 100 percent fit."

Nadal is projected to face No. 6-seeded David Nalbandian of Argentina, a top clay-court player, in the quarterfinals and Djokovic in the semis.

Federer is 1-0 against the 41st-ranked Querrey, winning in straights sets on hard courts in Miami in 2007. The 20-year-old Querrey, who stands 6-foot-6, reached the quarterfinals at the Monte Carlo Masters on clay in April.

"Querrey is a good player who is improving," Federer said. "He played well in Monaco."

Federer could face potentially tricky matchups against big serving Croatians Mario Ancic in the third round and Ivo Karlovic in the fourth.

Federer could meet No. 8 Richard Gasquet of France in the quarters and No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko in the semis.

Davydenko got arguably the toughest draw. The Russian will face Thomas Johansson of Sweden in the first round. If he gets past that, he could meet former No. 1 Marat Safin in the second round, Ivan Ljubicic in the third round and Juan Carlos Ferrero in the fourth.

Sebastien Grosjean (shoulder) and Daniela Hantuchova (foot) withdrew because of injuries.

Roddick out of French Open with shoulder injury

Andy Roddick withdrew from the French Open on Monday because of a right shoulder injury and hopes to be ready for Wimbledon.

The sixth-ranked American, who lost in the first round at Roland Garros the last two years, retired from the semifinals of the Rome Masters on May 10. He skipped the Hamburg Masters last week, but had been expected to play this week at the World Team Cup in Duesseldorf.

"Andy is pulling out with an upper back shoulder injury, the same thing that he had in Rome," said John Roddick, Andy's brother and the U.S. captain at the World Team Cup. "He's pulling out of here and he's also going to miss the French Open, too."

John Roddick said he hoped his brother would be ready for the grass-court tournament at Queen's Club, a key warmup for Wimbledon.

"The shoulder doctor we use is out of New York City so he was right there, and Andy had an MRI and there's some inflammation so he pulled him from here and the French," John Roddick said. "I don't think it's going to be anything that's terribly long and I would be surprised if he was not ready to go for Queen's. But as for now he needs to take a good 10 days, 12 days, just rest."

Andy Roddick won his only Grand Slam title at the 2003 U.S. Open. He has reached three other major finals, losing to Roger Federer twice at Wimbledon and once at the U.S. Open.

At the French Open, Roddick's best showing came in his debut in 2001 when he reached the third round. He reached the second round in 2004 and '05, but has lost in the first round four times.

But his success this year in Rome had given Roddick hope ahead of the French Open, which starts Sunday. The former top-ranked player also has won two titles this season, in San Jose and Dubai.

"He's been playing well all year and he was excited to be playing on the clay and really had a good frame of mind in practice and in his matches," John Roddick said. "He felt really comfortable on the clay this year, so he really liked his chances of doing better than he has, and he did it in Rome. He was optimistic about his draw in France and wanted to come over and try to play well. So for him it's disappointing."

Federer, Nadal advance to Hamburg final

Rafael Nadal fought off a challenge from Novak Djokovic 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 Saturday to set up another final against defending champion Roger Federer at the Hamburg Masters.

The top-ranked Federer overwhelmed Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-1 in the other semifinal. He won his fourth Hamburg title last year by beating Nadal in the final.

Nadal's No. 2 ranking was at stake against Djokovic but the Spaniard prevailed in an often spectacular match that had both players clenching fists and thumping chests after amazing winners.

Djokovic was seeking back-to-back titles after winning last week's Rome Masters, where Nadal lost in an early round after suffering from a painful blister in his foot.

The third-ranked Serb raced to a 3-0 lead in the first set and held two break points to make it 4-0. But Nadal held and then broke Djokovic before making it 3-3, and the Serb looked disheartened for the rest of the set.

Djokovic bounced back in the second, but the match was decided early in the third. Djokovic dropped his serve in the opening game and then squandered four break points in two successive games on Nadal's serve.

Nadal needed five match points to win the last game, during which Djokovic squandered four more break points.

The match took three hours, Nadal may feel the consequences when he faces a rested Federer, who spent nearly two hours less on the court.

Playing under a closed canvas roof on a rainy day, Federer could have made the score even more one-sided but converted just one of his eight break points in the first set.

"It was a long first set. I created many opportunities. I think I wore him out and set it up for the second set," Federer said.

Federer has not dropped a set on his way to the final and has yet to play a seeded player.

The tournament is a major warmup for the French Open later this month, the only Grand Slam title that Federer has yet to win.

"It is good to be in the Hamburg final again, it is good for the confidence ahead of the French Open," he said.

Federer has won only one title this year, at a relatively small clay-court tournament last month in Estoril, Portugal.

He lost his sixth match of the year in the Rome Masters quarterfinals last week, to Radek Stepanek.

"Maybe I am a touch better than last year. I feel a bit more ready for Paris," Federer said.

Sharapova to become No. 1 in tennis rankings

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Maria Sharapova will assume the No. 1 ranking in tennis because of Justine Henin's retirement.

The 25-year-old Henin, who retired Wednesday, asked to be removed from the rankings, the WTA Tour said Thursday. Sharapova will automatically become No. 1 when the next rankings are released Monday.

It will mark the fourth time the Russian has held the top ranking. She has been No. 1 for a total of 14 weeks in her career, the last in 2007.

"The ranking has never been a big deal for me," Sharapova said Wednesday after defeating Dominika Cibulkova in the second round of the Italian Open. "Whether I'm No. 1 or 5, my main goal is just to keep winning tennis matches and the ranking will take care of itself if I keep winning."

Henin, winner of seven Grand Slam titles, is the first woman to retire while holding the No. 1 ranking. This is the Belgian's 117th nonconsecutive week in the top spot, the sixth-longest reign at No. 1 since the computer rankings began in 1975.

After an injury-plagued 2007, Sharapova started 2008 by winning the Australian Open for her third Grand Slam title. She was 24-2 this year.

Top-ranked Justine Henin is retiring from tennis

Justine Henin is retiring from tennis effectively immediately.

The 25-year-old Belgian has won seven Grand Slam titles and is the world's top-ranked woman player.

She made the announcement Wednesday, less than two weeks before the start of the French Open. She has won that clay court tournament four times, including the last three years.

Henin won 10 tournaments last year, but has been in one of the worst slumps of her career this season. She lost last week in the third round of the German Open to Dinara Safina and pulled out of this week's Italian Open citing fatigue.

Safina beats Dementieva to win German Open

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Dina Safina pulled off her third upset of a top-10 player in a week at the German Open, winning the title Sunday by defeating ninth-ranked Elena Dementieva 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

The 17th-ranked Safina also beat No. 1 Justine Henin and No. 8 Serena Williams at the clay-court event.

The 22-year-old Russian overcame a slow start and dropped the first set — as in her two other upsets — before her shots began to find the lines.

Safina claimed her sixth WTA Tour title and first this year at the French Open warm-up tournament. She won $197,000 on Mother's Day.

"My mother can buy anything she wants," said Safina, whose mother was at the event. "She can walk into any store and I will pay for it."

The 22-year-old Safina, the sister of two-time Grand Slam winner Marat Safin, now has beaten top-10 players 11 times.

Roger Federer upset by Radek Stepanek in Rome Masters

Roger Federer lost again, falling to 27th-ranked Radek Stepanek 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7) Friday in the Rome Masters quarterfinals.

Also losing was eighth-seeded American James Blake, who was defeated 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-1 by Stanislas Wawrinka. After reaching his second semifinal in two weeks, Wawrinka next will face No. 6 Andy Roddick or No. 14 Tommy Robredo.

Once seemingly invincible, Federer was beaten for the sixth time this year. The top-ranked Swiss player lost only nine matches in all of 2007. He piled up a string of losses at the beginning of this year when he was battling mononucleosis.

Stepanek advanced to the semifinals against the winner of the night match between Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic and Spanish clay-court specialist Nicolas Almagro.

The Rome Masters is a clay-court tuneup for the French Open, which begins May 25. Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam that Federer has not won. He also has never won a title in Rome. Last year at the Foro Italico, Federer was upset in the third round by Italian wild-card entrant Filippo Volandri.

Federer's elimination comes two days after three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal was beaten by Juan Carlos Ferrero. Nadal said he was not at his best because of a foot blister.

In the first set tiebreaker, Stepanek took control with a volley to go up 6-4, then served an ace on his first set point. Federer surrendered a 5-2 lead in the second-set tiebreaker, and then wasted a set point at 6-5 on Stepanek's serve. Stepanek converted his second match point with a first serve that Federer couldn't return.

"Usually when I have a lead I don't let it go, so it's quite disappointing," Federer said. "I played so poorly on the big points."

After his illness, Federer snapped back by winning the Estoril Open last month for his first title of 2008. He also reached the final of the Monte Carlo Masters in his last outing, losing to Nadal.

Federer pronounced himself fully fit at the beginning of this tournament, and his problem Friday didn't appear to be physical.

At one stretch in the first set, Federer won four straight service games without losing a point. Still, Stepanek kept up the pressure by serve-and-volleying and winning 25 of 41 points at the net. Stepanek served eight aces to Federer's seven.

"He's difficult to play," Federer said. "He's always changing his game up a lot. But I've played him in the past, so it wasn't a surprise. I just wish I played better."

Stepanek said his aggressive tactics, such as coming often to the net, was a key to his victory.

"It was very important, because if you let him play his game, he can move the ball all around the court," Stepanek said. "I wanted to keep the pressure on."

Blake was coming off three-setters in his opening two matches, and the American appeared to lose energy as his match with Wawrinka wore on. Blake missed an easy volley to hand Wawrinka a break in the first game of the third set, and Wawrinka rolled from there.

"It's my first Masters Series semifinal, so I'm very pleased," Wawrinka said.

Wawrinka called for a trainer to treat his lower back with a 6-5 lead in the second set, then again with a 2-1 lead in the third, but the problem did not appear to affect his play.

Wawrinka is ranked a career-high 24th this week after reaching the semifinals of the Barcelona Open last weekend, losing to David Ferrer.

Nadal beats Federer on clay for 4th straight Monte Carlo win

Rafael Nadal won his first title of the season, defeating top-ranked Roger Federer yet again on clay to claim his fourth consecutive Monte Carlo Masters.

The second-ranked Spaniard won 7-5, 7-5 Sunday, and improved his clay-court record over Federer to 7-1.

"Winning four times here is unimaginable," said Nadal, who earned his 24th career title. "Roger played a great match. We always have good finals."

Nadal has won 98 of his last 99 matches on clay, with a loss to Federer in the 2007 Hamburg final the only blip.

The Swiss star blew commanding leads in each set, breaking Nadal to lead 4-3 in the first and racing to a 4-0 lead in the second.

"Disappointing second set," Federer said. "After playing the right way against him and then letting him back into the match, it was disappointing. Maybe I didn't play my best."

Federer committed too many unforced errors, surprisingly on his forehand, and let Nadal back into the match.

"He deserves to win," Federer said. "I'm pushing Rafa today, having the feeling I can beat him if I play the right way. And I think that's the feeling I didn't have after (Monte Carlo) last year."

Nadal is the only player in the Open era to win four straight titles at Monte Carlo, and the first since Anthony Wilding of New Zealand (1911-14).

Nadal has won 22 consecutive matches at Monte Carlo since losing to Guillermo Coria in the third round in 2003. Federer was the last person to take a set from him in the 2006 final. Nadal missed 2004 with injury.

The three-time French Open champion is 19-1 in clay-court finals, while Federer dropped to 7-8 on his least favorite surface. The 12-time Grand Slam champion has never won the French Open, the only major title missing from his resume.

Still, Nadal thinks Federer remains the best, despite a slower start to the season. Federer picked up his first win of the season last week at the Estoril Open.

"I think he doesn't get enough credit," Nadal said. "It is impossible to be at 100 percent all your career, he is still No. 1, the best in the world."

Relying too much on his forehand, Federer also missed routine volleys at the net, and made 44 unforced errors.

Federer seemed poised to even the match after hitting some near-perfect winners down the line and taking a 4-0 lead in the second set. Nadal struggled to hold his serve in the fifth game, but turned the match around.

Nadal rallied to 4-3, and Federer had four consecutive errors in the eighth game to lose his serve at love.

A weak backhand gave Nadal the match point and he took it at the first opportunity, before sliding on his back and raising both fists in the air.

Federer lost his serve six times during the match.

"The amount of times I got broken today wasn't what I was hoping for," Federer said. "But at least I was finally able to break him also on (four) occasions, which is the good part."

Federer won only 29 percent of his second-serve points, which even alarmed Nadal.

"A little bit strange because that's not normal, no?," Nadal said. "He's a big server."

Both players looked nervous on serve in the first set, swapping breaks for 1-1.

Federer saved a break point in the sixth game and dominated Nadal at the net in the seventh, breaking him to move ahead 4-3.

Nadal enjoyed some luck to break back to 4-4.

A loose return bounced on the baseline and surprised Federer, who returned it into the net. Then, on breakpoint, Nadal's powerful forehand clipped the net and sent Federer the wrong way.

In the 12th game, Federer drew Nadal into the net but hesitated before trying a slice backhand that Nadal easily read and flicked back to take the opening set.

Federer started out strongly in the second set with crisp volleys and confusing angles. He broke Nadal at love in the third game, then easily held for 4-0 before Nadal rallied.