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French Open 2012: Players Who Must Step Up Their Game in Round 2
Published: May 29, 2012
Perhaps they dropped an early set. Perhaps they were close to digging themselves a hole they wouldn't have been able to escape. Or maybe they just didn't look like themselves.
Whatever the case may be, I've identified three players who need to pick up their games in a hurry if they want to continue to advance at Roland Garros.
Victoria Azarenka
A dropped first set. A 4-0 deficit in the second set and a point away from being down 5-0. Sixty unforced errors against Alberta Brianti, the 105th-ranked player in the world. The possibility that the top-seeded woman would lose for the first time in the first round at the French Open since the tournament started inviting foreign-born players in 1925.
That's what Azarenka, the WTA's top-ranked player, had to offer on Monday.
Yes, she won 12 of the final 14 games to escape with a 6-7, 6-4, 6-2 victory, but for a player of her caliber, it should have never been that close.
Thankfully, her resolve held despite the adversity. However, she was close to giving in and hanging it up in this one, as noted by the Associated Press:
"Sometimes I felt it was not my day," she explained. "Sometimes I thought, 'Yeah, maybe I still fight, I still have a chance.' Sometimes it was like, 'You know what? Forget it. I don't want to do it.'"
In the end, she did it. She was seemingly able to flip a switch and turn it on during a match where it was clear she didn't have her A-game. A top player can do that in the first round.
But no player can do that as the competition stiffens in the later rounds. Azarenka better find her groove and she better find it quick, or she'll be one of this tournament's biggest disappointments.
&nb...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis
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