2012 French Open

[Sir David Gray]

Not a great start for Britain, although it wasn't unexpected.

Elena Baltacha has just lost on day one against Sam Stosur, 6-4 6-0.

[Sir David Gray]

Another British loss today as Laura Robson followed Elena Baltacha out in the first round.

Robson lost 6-2 6-1 to Anabel Medina Garrigues.

Number one seed in the women's draw, Victoria Azarenka, got a major shock against Alberta Brianti. She was 7-6 4-0 down and within two games of going out in round one but that was about as good as it got for Brianti as Azarenka went on to win 12 of the last 14 games to win 6-7 6-4 6-2.

Defending champion, Li Na, won 6-2 6-1.

In the men's draw, world number one, Novak Djokovic, had a tough opening set against Potito Starace before eventually coming through in a tie-break and then it was straightforward from there as he went on to win 7-6 6-3 6-1. He now plays Blaz Kavcic, who beat Lleyton Hewitt, in round two.

Former champion, Roger Federer, also had a straight sets win over Tobias Kamke, 6-2 7-5 6-3 and he now plays Romanian Adrian Ungur, who beat David Nalbandian.

Defending champion, Rafael Nadal, and British number one, Andy Murray, are both playing their first round matches tomorrow along with the remaining British women, Anne Keothavong and Heather Watson.

[Sylar]

Out of interest FH, what's the script for the Olympics and tennis?

Does the ATP tour stop to allow them to play or do the players have to make a choice?

[Sir David Gray]

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Out of interest FH, what's the script for the Olympics and tennis?

Does the ATP tour stop to allow them to play or do the players have to make a choice?

There's not going to really be much of a change from what normally happens to be honest.

The tour doesn't stop but the only other tournament that is scheduled in at the same time as the Olympics is a 500 event (the level below a Masters event) so a lot of the top players wouldn't necessarily be playing in that anyway. But obviously for any of the lesser players, they will have to choose between the Olympics and the tournament in Washington DC. I don't think there will be much competition there to be honest!

It will be quite hectic after the Olympics though as the Canadian Masters are beginning the day after the tennis in London finishes and this is one of the main tournaments in preparation for the US Open at the end of August.

It will be quite funny to see tennis being played in Wimbledon, without the players all being decked out in white for a change, although I don't imagine that the courts will be as pristine as they will be in a few weeks' time when Wimbledon begins.

[PatHead]

Would love to go to Wimbledon sometime but the snobbery would probably do my head in. Take it Olympics are sold out?

[Sir David Gray]

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Would love to go to Wimbledon sometime but the snobbery would probably do my head in. Take it Olympics are sold out?

There's no more tickets available in the courts themselves, however there are still tickets for access to "The Hill" on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Priced at £10.

[PatHead]

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There's no more tickets available in the courts themselves, however there are still tickets for access to "The Hill" on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Priced at £10.

Would be interesting but don't think I'll go to London to sit on a grassy hill rather than a court. London will be manic during Olympics.

[PatHead]

Murray through but not as easy as straight sets looks on paper. 2nd set was squeaky bum time.

Anyone know about his next opponent other than Murray has 3 0 record according to ITV3

[Twiglet]

Oh my word! I thought that game was going to go on all night! Serena Williams out! So many mistakes from both players. great win, but I think that Razinne won't go much further though. too many mistakes and she looks shattered' even with a days rest it's alot to recover from.

[Sir David Gray]

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Murray through but not as easy as straight sets looks on paper. 2nd set was squeaky bum time.

Anyone know about his next opponent other than Murray has 3 0 record according to ITV3

Jarkko Nieminen isn't a bad player, very experienced and has been ranked as high as 13th in the world.

However in the past two or three years, he hasn't been as successful and he hasn't been past the 2nd round of a Grand Slam since 2008.

If Murray plays anywhere near his best, he should win quite comfortably.

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Oh my word! I thought that game was going to go on all night! Serena Williams out! So many mistakes from both players. great win, but I think that Razinne won't go much further though. too many mistakes and she looks shattered' even with a days rest it's alot to recover from.

It's a stick on certainty that Razzano will lose in the next round now!

She now plays a young Dutch girl called Arantxa Rus who must be absolutely delighted with tonight's result.

Also a really good result for Heather Watson today as she beat Elena Vesnina in straight sets. She is now the only remaining British woman in the draw as Anne Keothavong went out today.

[Sir David Gray]

Roger Federer was made to work for his progress into round 3 against little known Romanian Adrian Ungur.

After winning the opening two sets and dropping just five games along the way, Ungur forced an unlikely fourth set by winning the third set on a tiebreak. However Federer wasn't to be denied and he came through 6-2 6-3 6-7 6-3.

It was Federer's 234th Grand Slam victory in his career, which is a new record. It is an incredible stat when you think that it's only possible to win 28 Grand Slam matches every year.

He won his first Grand Slam match in 2000 so that works out as him winning 18 out of 28 Grand Slam matches every single year for 13 years. That is just amazing consistency and he is undoubtedly the greatest tennis player of all time.

Novak Djokovic is also looking for his own piece of history as he aims to be the first man in the Open Era to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time. He saw off Blaz Kavcic in straight sets, 6-0 6-4 6-4.

Tomorrow is the turn of Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal. Murray is first up on the main Philippe Chatrier court as he plays Jarkko Nieminen at 10am (British time) and then Nadal plays Denis Istomin at around 2pm (British time).

Heather Watson also plays her second round match against Julia Goerges and she will be on at some point around 3 or 4pm (British time).

[HibbyAndy]

Murray to me looks like he's wincing.

[HibbyAndy]

Medical time out for Murray..Serving at about 50 miles an hour. He's gonna retire i think.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Why did he not pack it in at the end of the set? He isn't doing himself any longer term favours.

[HibbyAndy]

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Why did he not pack it in at the end of the set? He isn't doing himself any longer term favours.

Agreed.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Seems to be a bit looser as the temperature rises, not too sure its sensible though.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Murray takes set 2, admirable effort!
Nieminen's head seems to be all over the place, could be interesting!

[HibbyAndy]

Nae danger is Nieminen winning now, Murray playing at 60% percent and still took 9 out of the last 10 games!..Make that 10/11 and takes the set 6/1 !

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Aye, its some turnaround.

[HibbyAndy]

Nieminen's heid must be pickled, Im certain he thought he was gonna get a walkover way back at the start of the match, Now he looks totally bubbled.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Murray wins 3 1, I wonder what price he was on Betfair at the end of the first set.

[PatHead]

Avoided the score all day and watched it on Sky+ this evening. Wouldn't have put 10p on him finishing the match. From post match interviews seems he had problem before match. Hope he gets it sorted in time for his next tie. Anyone know anything about him? Must admit I thought the Aussie would have won

[Sir David Gray]

Didn't see the match today but I gather that he was really struggling at the end of the first set and even at the end of the match, he was moving quite gingerly.

He now plays Santiago Giraldo in round three and Murray has only played him once so far, which was earlier in the year at Barcelona and he beat him quite comfortably.

If he's recovered by Saturday, he should beat Giraldo but I think that might be as far as he'll go as a meeting with Richard Gasquet looks likely in the last 16 and if Murray's not 100% then he will struggle to get past him.

Rafael Nadal looked pretty impressive today against Denis Istomin, winning 6-2 6-2 6-0 and he'll now play Eduardo Schw*nk in the third round.

Murray is now the last remaining Brit left in the singles draw as Heather Watson lost in straight sets to Julia Goerges.

Also another mention for John Isner.

After his amazing match at Wimbledon a couple of years ago against Nicolas Mahut, which he won 70-68 in the final set, it was looking like it was going in a similar fashion during his match against Paul-Henri Mathieu today. However, it wasn't quite as long as that match and Mathieu eventually won 18-16 in a final set that lasted about 2 and a half hours.

[HibbyAndy]

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Avoided the score all day and watched it on Sky+ this evening. Wouldn't have put 10p on him finishing the match. From post match interviews seems he had problem before match. Hope he gets it sorted in time for his next tie. Anyone know anything about him? Must admit I thought the Aussie would have won

Aken a wee bit about him mate.. He beat Tomic who IS a better player but Tomic is not that good on clay and not that experienced..Andy Murray at 70% would still beat him in straight sets no bother atall..Just hoping Andy is fit enough come Saturday for the next match tho..Showed that never say die attitude today and had no right whatsoever!!! to finish the game today but that will be the patriotic side in Andy burning through..A fit Andy Murray is good enough (Again) To reach the semi's but i wouldnt be to disheartened if he pulled out as he wont win it..Get yersel fit and ready for Wimbers where he has a fantastic chance of winning. Still nice to see Nieminen going from being smug to thinking he was getting a walkover in the 1st set to getting battered barely an hour later. Love him or hate him Andy Murray is a born winner!.

[Sir David Gray]

Why am I not allowed to name Rafael Nadal's next opponent in full?

Fair enough, censor really bad words but that is the guy's name and there MUST be a way of allowing names that just happen to contain bad words, to be printed in full on here!

That is just ridiculous!

[CropleyWasGod]

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Why am I not allowed to name Rafael Nadal's next opponent in full?

Fair enough, censor really bad words but that is the guy's name and there MUST be a way of allowing names that just happen to contain bad words, to be printed in full on here!

That is just ridiculous!

Just be grateful he doesn't come from S****horpe

[Sir David Gray]

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Just be grateful he doesn't come from S****horpe

That's another one that really annoys me.

I used to run a really cheap message board and I had the option of allowing innocent words (like sc*nthorpe and Schw*nk) to be printed in full but words like ****** and w**k were censored.

Surely the admins have the option of doing something similar!?

In fact, I know they can because "feckless" used to be a word that was censored on here and now it's not but the word fe*k is still censored!

It's extremely irritating.

[lyonhibs]

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That's another one that really annoys me.

I used to run a really cheap message board and I had the option of allowing innocent words (like sc*nthorpe and Schw*nk) to be printed in full but words like ****** and w**k were censored.

Surely the admins have the option of doing something similar!?

In fact, I know they can because "feckless" used to be a word that was censored on here and now it's not but the word fe*k is still censored!

It's extremely irritating.

Far more importantly, Nadal's next opponents surname is "Scw-an act of self pleasure"??

That's brilliant - makes me think back to a 3-1 victory of Dundee United at ER a few years back when a very young David Goodwillie got their consolation. No-one had much of a clue who he was, so when the announcer gave his name, there was a quality ripple of childish s******ing (there's one that avoids the admin's vice like pedant grip) in the East.

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Happy days! Its Ana Ivanovic time! :-)

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Oh well, Ana has left the building.

New balls please!