French Open: Scary for Serena and Kvitova, but both survive

Paris Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova survived big scares at the French Open on Thursday both needing to come back from a set down to reach the third roundSerena Williams PicAFPWilliams 19 times a Grand Slam winner survived an almighty fright before finally seeing off the challenge of world number 105 AnnaLena Friedsam of Germany The 33yearold topseeded American dropped the first set and faced break points against her unheralded 21yearold opponent in the second but she rallied just in time to go through 57 63 63 It had not been her best tennis she agreedA win is a win and as long as you live to survive the next day you can always improve I know my level is literally a hundred times better than I played today so I think I take more solace in the fact I can play better as opposed to the fact that thats the best I could play Then I would be in trouble Williams said She will next face twotime Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus who eased past Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 62 63 Azarenka who has given Williams trouble in the past is back in business after losing much of last year to a bout of depression and injuriesI know what shes gonna do Its a matter for me to really focus on my game and really try to be in control because thats what she loves to do She likes to take control She likes to be aggressive Azarenka said of her upcoming clash with the top seed Azarenka had three match points against Williams in Madrid earlier this month but lost in three sets In a day marked by cold blustery conditions fourth seed Kvitova made it through to the last 32 with a 67 47 64 62 win over Spains Silvia SolerEspinosaBut it was another nervy showing from the Wimbledon champion who was taken to the limit in her opening match against New Zealander Marina Erakovic The Czech Fed Cup winner a semifinalist at Roland Garros in 2012 dropped serve twice in the opening set before the more consistent SolerEspinosa took the tiebreak 74 Kvitova was hanging on early in the second set but finally started to find her range with her groundstrokes and broke to take a 43 lead That was shortlived however as SolerEspinosa battled back onto level terms in the next game but Kvitova took the next two to level the set scoresThe fourth seed took command early on in the deciding set and backtoback breaks saw her safely past the post and into the third round It was a tough match again Second round of a Grand Slam is always difficult she said Kvitova will go up against IrinaCamelia Begu for a place in the last 16 the Romanian 30th seed defeating Ana Konjuh of Croatia At one stage on the tournaments fifth day it looked like five out of the top 10 seeds could have departed the stage by the end of the day third seed Simona Halep and sixth seed Eugenie Bouchard already having lostBut as it turned out only fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki was packing her bags for home after the Dane lost 64 76 74 to an impressive Julia Goerges of Germany Like Kvitova German 10th seed Andrea Petkovic had stared defeat in the face only to bounce back from for a 46 64 64 win over Lourdes DomAtildeshynguez Lino of Spain Meanwhile Sara Errani who lost to Maria Sharapova in the 2012 final also had to claw her way back from being down to defeat German youngster Carina Witthoeft 63 46 62 There were slowburning fireworks out on Court One where Svetlana Kuznetsova outlasted Francesca Schiavone in what turned out to be the third longest womens singles match to have been played in the history of the French OpenIt took them 3 hours 50 minutes before Schiavone staggered past the winning post and into the third round 67 1113 75 108 but even that was no match going up against the epic they played at the 2011 Australian Open Schiavone also won on that occasion 1614 in the deciding set after 4 hrs 44mins the longest match to date in womens Grand Slam history Another seed to fall was No12 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic who lost to Andreea Mitu of Romania but American Sloane Stephens showed again she is returning to something like her best form by ousting Britains only representative in the main draw Heather Watson 62 64 in just 70 minutes