RG.2- Maidens Maidens Everywhere!

The rain may have brought an early end to Day Two action at Roland Garros, but that didn't stop the Czech Maidens from continuing to make their mark on the 1st Round.

The opening round of action hasn't yet been completed, but it looks as if the "Upset Queens" have already been crowned. So far, three women's seeds have fallen... all of them victims of Czechs. On Day One, it was #15 Nicole Vaidisova (a Czech herself) who fell to qualifier Iveta Benesova, and #24 Virginie Razzano, a victim of another veteran, Klara Zakopalova. On Day Two, it was Petra Cetkovska who kept the drumbeat going, eliminating #23 Alona Bondarenko by a convincing 6-3/6-0 score.

Heck, even Lucie Safarova got a win today over Sandra Kloesel. Sure, the 2007 Australian Open quarterfinalist SHOULD have won the match... but her results over the course of this season surely made it a dicey situation going in.

*CZECHS IN TOP 100*
#16 VAIDISOVA, NICOLE CZE
#41 SAFAROVA, LUCIE CZE
#55 ZAKOPALOVA, KLARA CZE
#70 BENESOVA, IVETA CZE
#77 CETKOVSKA, PETRA CZE
#87 KVITOVA, PETRA CZE

Even without the "top tier" Czechs pulling their full weight throughout 2008, this particular Eastern European mini-revolution has been picking up a little steam. And we might not have all the movers-and-shakers cast yet in Paris, either. Petra Kvitova, a multiple ITF title winner a season ago and an upset victor over the likes of Top 20ers Venus Williams and Shahar Peer this season on the WTA tour and in Fed Cup action, has yet to play. She faces veteran Akiko Morigami once the weather permits, and might get a shot to add a fourth seeded player to the scrap heap should #17 Peer and she meet again in the 2nd Round.

Looking at the draw, there appears to be a good chance that Benesova and Cetkovska could meet in the 3rd Round for a trip to the Round of 16. And as for Safarova? She faces #2 Ana Ivanovic in her next match... with the winner potentially crossing paths with Benesova or Cetkovska two matches later.

Hmmm, "Upset Queens" now... "Revelation Ladies" later?



=DAY 2 NOTES=
...Interesting that Svetlana Kuznetsova, tabbed by Roger Federer as his favorite women's player to watch last season, is also now being touted by none other than Justine Henin as her favorite/pick to win Roland Garros this year. It says a great deal about the Contessova's talent and potential, but it also makes her woeful record in finals over the past two seasons even more vexing, not to mention the fact that her U.S. Open title coming nearly four years ago now would seem to be a very blatant sign that she's been stuck in a deep hole of underachievement for far too long... Well, poor Sara. Blame it on Mother Nature. After leading Gisela Dulko 3-1 in the 3rd set when play was suspended on Day One, Errani went on to lose to the Argentine by a 7-5 score today... In a day of see-saw scorelines, Venus Williams blew a 4-1 2nd set lead over Tzipora Obziler, but went on to win the match in three sets. V generally starts slowly in slams that she ultimately wins, but Roland Garros isn't SW19, either... A day after Gustavo Kuerten was given a warm farewell, Guillermo Coria returned to play his first RG match since his monumental meltdown in the men's final against Gaston Gaudio in 2004. He lost to Tommy Robredo, but he gave a good match. Comebacks have to start somewhere... Pastry Emilie Loit won an 8-6 3rd set over Yan Zi on Day Two... Two more women's qualifiers advanced to the 2nd Round. 25-year old Croat Jelena Pandzic, who'd never even played a tour main draw match until a few weeks ago in Prague (and didn't play at all from 2004-06), got her first career tour main draw win on Day Two -- and did it against Pastry Severine Bremond, in Paris, in a grand slam! 16-year old Hordette Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova had never won a slam main draw match until her win over Maria-Emilia Salerni... Men's qualifier Nicolas Devilder won his 1st Round match, as did another "lucky loser," Pablo Andujar... Tamira Paszek continued to suffer through her Fed Cup hangover, losing in three sets to Timea Bacsinszky. Of course, it probably went down a little smoother than that 1st Round match in Melbourne in January. Remember? She lost a 12-10 3rd set to Jelena Jankovic after holding three match points and serving for the match five times. In 2007, Paszek was Henin's 1st Round victim in Paris, as the Austrian teen erased a 5-0 opening stanza deficit to lose a tight 7-5 set... And, finally, one year after seeing zero of eight American men reach the 2nd Round in Paris, two U.S. men (James Blake and Wayne Odesnik) have already advanced. John Isner was close to heading to a deciding 5th set when his match against Juan Ignacio Chela was suspended today, and Donald Young and Robby Ginepri are scheduled to play each other on Day Three.



*MOST "UPSET QUEENS" CROWNS - 2004-08*
4...Russia (04 US, 05 Oz, 07 US, 08 Oz)
3...United States (05 Wimb, 05 US, 06 RG)
2...CZECH REPUBLIC (07 Oz, 08 RG)
2...Great Britain (04 Wimb, 06 Wimb)
2...France (05 RG, 06 US)




TOP QUALIFIERS: Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez/ESP & Yanina Wickmayer/BEL
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): xxx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xxx
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xxx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F): xxx
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: #15 Nicole Vaidisova/CZE (1st-Benesova)
UPSET QUEENS: The Czechs
REVELATION LADIES: xxx
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: xxx
IT GIRL: xxx
MADEMOISELLE OPPORTUNITY: xxx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xxx
CRASH & BURN: xxx
ZOMBIE QUEEN: xxx
DOUBLES STAR: xxx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xxx





All for Day 2. More tomorrow.