Roger Federer breezed through the first round, equalling Jimmy Connors’ record of 233 Grand-Slam match wins with a 6-2 7-5 6-3 defeat of German Tobias Kamke. Can the Fed Express win a record 17th title at this year(***)s tournament? [GETTY]
Published On 12 Jun 201212 Jun 2012
World number one Novak Djokovic also turned his thoughts towards trying to complete his Grand Slam collection and becoming the first man in 43 years to hold all four titles at once. His straightforward win over Italian Potito Starace was a good starting point [GETTY]
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It was plain-sailing in the first round for defending champion Li Na and third seed Agnieszka Radwanska, above, with both players kept on court for less than an hour against Romania(***)s Sorana Cirstea and Serbian Bojana respectively [GETTY]
(***)I feel fresher than last year(***), said Rafael Nadal who is gunning for his record seventh French Open title. Nadal sped into the second round with a 6-2 6-2 6-1 thrashing of Italian Simone Bolelli. Nadal comes to Roland Garros with three claycourt victories behind him this season and with confidence sky-high [GETTY]
(***)There is no excuse(***) said Serena Williams after her shock exit in the first round at Roland Garros. The 13-time Grand Slam winner lost to home-crowd favourite Virginie Razzano 4-6 7-6 6-3 [GETTY]
Federer reached the last 32 on day four beating Romania(***)s Adrian Ungur. The Swiss champion said he always backed himself to win: (***)I expect myself to win and I usually manage to do it. It(***)s not like at the start of your career when you think you are good enough but you are not that good yet(***) [GETTY]
Federer was closely followed by rival Novak Djokovic who fired 41 winners past Slovenia(***)s Blaz Kavcic. Argentine ninth seed Juan Martin Del Potro also made the last 32 but was battling a knee injury and had to call the trainer [GETTY]
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Capping a miserable 24 hours for the Williams sisters, Venus, playing in her 15th French Open, fell to third seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-3 [GETTY]
Fourth-seed Andy Murray battled through the agony of a back problem to beat Jarkko Nieminen 1-6 6-4 6-1 6-2 in the second round. Murray said he came within a few points of retiring and needed three bouts of massage from the trainer [GETTY]
French wildcard Paul-Henri Mathieu staggered through a record 76 games to beat 10th seed John Isner. He took five hours 41 minutes to knock out the American, who is no stranger to record-breaking matches having played the longest match in history at Wimbledon in 2010 against another Frenchman, Nicolas Mahut [GETTY]
Federer battled past Nicolas Mahut of France 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the third round as the 16-time Grand Slam champion tries to become the first man over 30 to win major title since Agassi in 2003 [GETTY]
Mikhail Youzhny was having such a bad day in the third round on Saturday that he scraped the word (***)sorry(***) into the clay after slumping to a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 defeat to No. 6 David Ferrer [GETTY]
(***)I’m going to kill myself(***) said top seed Victoria Azarenka sarcastically when asked what she would do to recover from her 6-2, 7-6 (4) to 15th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova, (***)This tournament is over for me. What(***)s to recover from? It(***)s (time) to really look forward and improve. That(***)s it.(***) [GETTY]
French Open reigning champ Li Na was similarly short with the media after defeat to world 142 Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan. The Chinese star snapped at a tense news conference (***)I lost one match so don(***)t try to put me down(***). Tournament favourite Sharapova went through to quarters despite stumbling against Klara Zakopalova [GETTY]
Spaniard David Ferrer celebrates cracking into the final four of the French Open after victory over Brit Andy Murray. While Murray produced too many careless errors (59 to be exact), Ferrer played classic clay court tennis to triumph [GETTY]
Fourth seed Petra Kvitova was back to playing some of her best tennis defeating Yaroslava Shvedova 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the quarter-finals. Kvitova faces favourite for the tournament Maria Sharapova in the semi-final [GALLO/GETTY]
Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga provided world number one Novak Djokovic with an epic battle in their quarter-final. Djokovic survived four match points to win the match in five sets after over four hours of ferocious tennis [GETTY]
Italian Sara Errani celebrates her shock semi-final win over US Open champion Sam Stosur. Ranked 21 Errani prevailed against the sixth seed Australian with a 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 victory to reach the grand slam final [GETTY]
Maria Sharapova returned to world number one as she made the final with victory over Petra Kvitova. It is the only major the Russian has not won and she(***)ll return to the top of the rankings on Monday with a career Grand Slam if she defeats Errani in the final [GETTY]
After defeating David Ferrer in the semifinals, Rafael Nadal has the chance to win a record seven French Open titles. All that stands in front of him is world number one Novak Djokovic who is aiming to hold all the major trophies at once. Game on! [AFP]
Maria Sharapova became the 10th woman in tennis history to win all four Grand Slam titles with victory over Sara Errani of Italy. (***)It is a magical moment in my career,(***) an emotional Sharapova said after the win. The Russian is now the world number one after overtaking Victoria Azarenka [AFP]
Rafael Nadal makes history by becoming the first man to win seven titles at Roland Garros. Describing the win as the ‘greatest moment’ in his career, the Spaniard powered past a dejected Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 shattering the Serb(***)s dream of Grand Slam history [GETTY]
