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
28th
May 2014 @ 22.45 pm
Picture credit
: http://www.rolandgarros.com/
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