French Open - Brit girls on course, Bogdanovic out

Eurosport - Fri, 22 May 23:20:00 2009

British duo Elena Baltacha and Katie O'Brien remain on course for the French Open after winning their second qualifying round matches.

TENNIS 2009 Australian Open - Elena Baltacha of Britain plays a return stroke against Amelie Mauresmo in Melbourne - 0

Baltacha, who trounced Greece's Anna Gerasimou 6-2 6-0 in the opening round, swept aside home competitor Stephanie Vongsouthi 6-1 7-5.

Baltacha will now face top seed Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan for a place at Roland Garros.

O'Brien survived a tight first set before eliminating Japan's Rika Fujiwara 7-6 (7-3) 6-2. The 23-year-old will now face Netherlands' Arantxa Rus.

However, Britain's only male player in the qualifiers, Alex Bogdanovic, failed to make it through after losing 2-6 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 to India's Somdev Devvarman.

The big disappointment for the home support was that Nicholas Mahut also failed to reach the final qualifying round, going down 6-4 7-6 (7-3) to Algeria's Lamine Ouahab.

French Open: Watch the whole tournament LIVE, with coverage starting at 10am on Sunday 24 May on British Eurosport and Eurosport HD (Sky 410/412, Virgin Media 521); Also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player - click on the link under the picture to subscribe.

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  1. All specialists admit that Monica would have broken all­ records without her stabbing.Seles had 8 GS at 18 years­ old,many more than Graf at the same age......With her­ hyper aggressive tennis,its unbeleivable pace,her­ physical fitness, perfect technique,and most­ importantly her exceptionnal fighting spirit,,she had­ no rival,Steffi used to lose to her each time and had­ no answer.For sure,without that mean, Günter Parsche,­ we would be talking of Seles as the greatest player­ ever.Graf can "thank" Parsche,he definitely­ succeeded....pffff. Monica,the best forever.

    From Jeremy, on Sat 23 May 11:18AM
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Love Monicabut Steffi was the best!!

    From J, on Fri 22 May 10:43PM

  3. My idol(Monica)doesn't speak my language but it­ doesn't matter,I'm very proud of her as­ well.The French love her.

    From Jeremy, on Fri 22 May 7:41PM

  4. Monica4everthebest

    From Jeremy, on Fri 22 May 7:39PM

  5. Seles is a Yugoslavian born Hungarian.
    Her name's­ proper spelling is Szeles Mónika, but as I've said­ it before, it does not matter. You are proud of her,­ because she was born there, we are proud of her,­ because she speaks our language.
    Nothing's wrong­ with it.

    From x. y, on Fri 22 May 4:39PM

  6. Jelena,
    1 more thing.
    "seles wasnt from the­­ US" - Her mother-tounge is Hungarian:-) But it­ does not matter where she was from or what language she­ speaks. She was/is a great player and a true champion.

    From x. y, on Fri 22 May 4:35PM

  7. Are there any British or Australian women tennis­ players whose parents were actually born in Britain or­ Australia ?

    From Tim, on Fri 22 May 4:02PM

  8. Come on our british girls all the boys out now so give­ it your all good luck.

    From AJ, on Fri 22 May 4:02PM

  9. I have the same last name like Alex!!! :)

    From Milosh, on Fri 22 May 3:32PM

  10. i don't care what flag Dokic, Seles, or Bogdanovic­ etc play under. it's their choice and you have to­ respect them, and if you are really their fan,­ you'd support them throughout their career no­ matter what.

    From aleksicn93, on Fri 22 May 2:40PM

  11. jelena it must really hurt you then that both seles and­ dokic play under another flag and everything they­ win/have won is under that flag.

    From ajpbolton, on Fri 22 May 2:20PM

  12. Seles is an ethnic Hungarian who is a naturalized­ American who was born in Yugoslavia. I am fairly­ certain she'd be the first to tell you she's­ NOT serbian.

    From jay, on Fri 22 May 1:43PM

  13. "give it a rest about the nationalities,­ navratilova­ wasnt from the US, seles wasnt from the­ US, dokic isnt­ from australia. they play for team GB­ GET OVER IT!!!"
    I have to agree with you,­ nationalities really shouldn't matter. However, as­ I am Serbian I can't help my self, I have to point­ out that Seles and Dokic are Serbian. Not that it­ matters, I just had to say that... :)))

    From Jelena, on Fri 22 May 1:18PM

  14. she has british face

    From ivanajaa, on Fri 22 May 11:34AM

  15. give it a rest about the nationalities, navratilova­ wasnt from the US, seles wasnt from the US, dokic isnt­ from australia. they play for team GB GET OVER IT!!!

    From ajpbolton, on Fri 22 May 11:16AM
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