By Ivan Rafalsky
Victoria Azarenko is a women’s favourite at the tournament, still being ranked first seed. The Minsk player began confidently at the Rolland Garros; after the defeat of American Serena Williams (who failed even to get through the first round of the competition — first in her tennis career) Victoria had a wonderful chance of winning the second Grand Slam tournament.
Unfortunately, Azarenko has failed to reach further than 1/8 finals and Dominika Cibulkova has become an irresistible obstacle for Belarusian player’s ambitions. The Slovak tennis player, who until now has only once defeated Azarenko, has managed to sensationally get through to the 1/4 finals by winning a difficult match — 6:2, 7:6 (7:4). Other Belarusian tennis players have also left Paris: Olga Govortsova and Anastasia Yekimova.
Nevertheless, Belarusian fans are sure to be delighted by the men’s doubles, where Max Mirny and Daniel Nestor of Canada (ranked first seed as a pair) are ready to take the event by storm. In previous years, Max Mirny — who will celebrate his 35th anniversary on July 6th — thrice won the tournament in Paris: in 2005 and 2006 together with Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman and, last season, with his current partner Daniel Nestor of Canada. This year, the Belarusian has a powerful start and Mirny and Nestor have defeated American duo of Scott Lipsky / Rajeev Ram — 6:2, 6:4 in 1/8 finals and aren’t going to slow down.
