Sara & Roberta Roll In Round 2
Published May 27, 2011 08:16
PARIS, France - Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci have had a successful partnership during the two years they've teamed up, highlighted by four titles - two of them coming this year.
However, the 15th-seeded Italians have never had a win as one-sided as Friday's second-rounder at the French Open. They double bageled Mirjana Lucic and Aravane Rezai in 45 minutes, losing only 18 points. In doing so, they equaled their best result at a major - a round of 16 showing at last year's Wimbledon. They will have their hands full in their efforts to surpass that, as next up for them are top-seeded Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta.
Julia Goerges and Andrea Petkovic had only played two matches together in their careers before this week, losing them both, but on Friday they pulled off the biggest surprise of the tournament so far, edging No.6 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Meghann Shaughnessy, 61 16 76(6). The Americans' one title this year came in Paris, at the Open GDF SUEZ, but they were unable to carry over that success to nearby Roland Garros.
Also Friday, fourth-seeded Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond, fifth-seeded Victoria Azarenka and Maria Kirilenko and seventh-seeded Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina were all victorious.
"Very happy to win our doubles today," Azarenka tweeted. "It was a very long first set, over an hour, which is unusual for doubles. I played well and Maria was playing brilliant as always. It's so much fun playing with her."
As for Huber and Raymond, they will play Casey Dellacqua and Rennae Stubbs in a compelling match-up on Saturday. Raymond and Stubbs have quite a history with and against each other. They won 33 titles together, including three Grand Slams, while Raymond has won 22 of their 32 matches when on opposite sides of the net.
