Williams (Serena & Venus) Crash out of French Open; KKR Wins ~ is CSK on Path ?

At Brabourne – CSK are chasing 174 – at the time of posting   -  CSK are 98/3 -  David Hussey and Suresh Raina at the crease, needing 75 runs with 7 wickets in hand to be scored in 53 balls. Brendon McCullum is  back, returning from New Zealand after birth of his child. McCullum replaced Mithun Manhas, which meant an Indian bowler - Ishwar Pandey - replaced Samuel Badree in the XI. All four overseas players in the XI were batsmen.  Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders eased into the IPL final with their eighth-successive win, beating a listless Kings XI Punjab at Eden Gardens. Robin Uthappa prolonged a stellar season and took the record for the most runs scored by an Indian batsman in an IPL season. Gautam Gambhir, though scratchy with the bat, had helmed an impressive turnaround by Kolkata Knight Riders. The satisfaction of making the final was sweetened all the more when both players returned into national reckoning. Uthappa found a place for the ODI tour of Bangladesh and Gambhir could contemplate a Test comeback in England.  Miles away, when the draw for Roland Garros 2014 was made,  one could observe  a potential third-round match-up between Venus and Serena Williams – today it is clear that none would make it. Even before the younger sister created the shock of the tournament by going out to Garbine Muguruza, Venus had succumbed to Anna Schmiedlova on Philippe Chatrier today.  Venus Williams, seeded 29 here, looked to be on course for the sibling encounter when she broke early and took the first set from the world No.56. But Roland Garros has never been Williams’ happiest hunting ground – her best result was runner-up to Serena 12 years ago – and she has not made it through to the second week since 2010.  She turns 34 shortly and her opponent was a 19 year old looking for her way into the top 50.  Le Stade Roland Garros ("Roland Garros Stadium") is a tennis venue complex located in Paris, France. It hosts the French Open, also known as Roland Garros, a Grand Slam championship tournament played annually around the end of May and the beginning of June. The facility was constructed in 1928 to host France's first defense of the Davis Cup. It is named for Roland Garros, a pioneer aviator (completed the first solo flight across the Mediterranean Sea), engineer (inventor of the first forward-firing aircraft machine gun), and World War I hero (the first pilot to shoot down five enemy aircraft, and to be called an "ace" for doing so), who was killed in aerial combat in 1918.  While the Roland Garros surface is invariably characterized as "red clay", the courts are in fact surfaced with white limestone frosted with a few millimeters of powdered red brick dust. Not many would identify this young pro – of Spanish-Venezuelan - Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco.   The 2014 French Open is now on being played on outdoor clay courts. It is the 113th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It is taking place at the Stade Roland Garros from 25 May to 8 June.
Rafael Nadal is the four-time defending champion in the men's singles and Serena Williams is the defending women's singles champion. Williams failed to defend her title, losing to Garbiñe Muguruza in the second round. This has become the first time  that both singles winners of the Australian Open (Li Na and Stan Wawrinka) lost in the first round of the French Open. That bug bit Serena too. Serena Williams admitted she had suffered "one of those days" after crashing out in the second round of the French Open. The world No 1 and defending champion lost 6-2 6-2 to Spaniard Garbine Mugurza in only 64 minutes on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Serena, who has won 17 Grand Slams, said: "It was just one of those days. You can't win every game. It is what it is. I could not serve. Mugurza, 20, had her best Grand Slam performance by reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open in January. "The plan was to play aggressive - I am so happy," said the world No 35. The women's tournament is now wide open after No 2 seed Li Na lost yesterday.
With regards – S. Sampathkumar 28^th May 2014 @ 22.45 pm
Picture credit : http://www.rolandgarros.com/