PARIS – Venus Williams was beaten in the first round of the
French Open on Monday, losing in straight sets to Barbara Schett
and draining the women's field of another marquee player.
|  | | Venus Williams reacts during her first round loss to Austria's Barbara Schett at the French Open on Monday. |
Williams, seeded second, lost 6-4, 6-4 to the Austrian on
opening day at the Grand Slam event, not long after the ouster of
fifth-seeded Amelie Mauresmo at Roland Garros.
"I just had a rough day, a very rough day," said Williams,
blaming her poor groundstrokes. "I couldn't get the ball in."
Williams, the reigning U.S. and Wimbledon champion, rallied
briefly after dropping the first set, taking a 2-0 lead in the
second.
The 24th-ranked Schett broke back at love, then broke again for
a 5-4 lead as Williams made a string of unforced errors. Williams
saved three match points in the final game before dropping the
match on her 43rd unforced error, a long forehand.
"It's too late to turn the tables," Williams said. "I've done
all I can do at this point. I can only move on."
It was only the second time Williams has lost in the first
round of a Grand Slam tournament. The other time was her first
Wimbledon in 1997. She reached the quarterfinals at the French last
year and in 1998.
Schett, ranked 24th, beat Williams for the first time in five
matches.
"I think Venus didn't play her best at all," Schett said.
"She made a lot of unforced errors."
Williams' clay-court season began with promise, when she won a
tournament at Hamburg, Germany, this month. She then ran into
trouble with a third-round defeat to Justine Henin in the German
Open.
Williams' defeat follows the withdrawal Sunday of third-seeded
Lindsay Davenport because of a knee injury. Also out because of
injuries are last year's champion, Mary Pierce, three-time champion Monica Seles and Anna Kournikova.
Williams' younger sister, Serena, is seeded sixth and opens
Tuesday against France's Sarah Pitkowski.
Mauresmo's big plans for the French Open ended with a 7-5, 7-5
loss to Jana Kandarr that left the tournament without one of the
tour's top players this season.
The Frenchwoman had won four titles this year and was seeded
fifth at Roland Garros.
"At 1-5 I thought I've got nothing to lose so why not win
this set?" said 24-year-old Kandarr, who had won their only
previous encounter, at the 1998 Italian Open, also in straight
sets.
"What helped was I had beaten her before, she made lots of
unforced errors and wasn't playing her best tennis."
The loss on center court left French fans booing and without a major home
contender, following last week's withdrawal of Pierce. Nathalie Tauziat, seeded ninth, is the next
highest-ranked Frenchwoman.
Another seeded woman to fall was No. 13 Magdalena Maleeva of
Bulgaria, beaten 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 by Silvia Farina Elia of Italy.
No. 7 Elena Dementieva was the highest-seeded woman to advance,
beating French wild card Celine Beigbeder 6-4, 6-1.
No. 15 Jelena Dokic, who won her first title this month at the
Italian Open, made an overwhelming start by beating Adriana Gersi
of the Czech Republic 6-0, 6-0.
No. 12 Kim Clijsters beat Argentine qualifier Maria-Emilia
Salerni 6-3, 6-4, and No. 14 Henin of Belgium downed Shinobu Asagoe
of Japan 6-3, 6-2.
Iva Majoli, who won the French in 1997, squandered a first-set
lead and lost 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 to Italy's Rita Grande. Her defeat
means No. 11 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario is the only former French Open
champ left in the women's draw. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Venus Williams fell victim to her own errors in the opening round of the French Open.
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