Nothing disappoints a Roland Garros crowd more than to be denied an opportunity to boo, jeer and whistle players they don't take to.
Imagine, then, the anti-climax yesterday when Justine Henin beat Serena Williams so emphatically that they could barely raise a murmur against the American.
Henin won 6-4, 6-3 to move through to the semi-finals of the French Open in a contest that barely merits the description. It was more of a mismatch than a shouting match.
Williams did try to inject some much-needed drama into proceedings afterwards by drawing deep into her reserves of hyperbole to describe her own poor performance.
"I just pretty much stood back and let her take advantage of me," she said, without any trace of humour or sense of perspective. "I feel violated."
Williams does not take well to being beaten, even by a woman who is on course for a fourth French Open title and who has shown herself to be the outstanding clay-court player of her generation. According to the American, that is far easier to achieve than one might assume. "All she had to do was show up," she said.
When Williams says things like that, it is easy to understand why she is not a fans' favourite, though the one-sided nature of her match against the French-speaking Belgian meant the crowd which booed her so mercilessly when she and Henin met in the 2003 semi-finals could barely manage a peep. She was booed only once, for a petulant smash of her racket, and it seemed little more than a token gesture.
Meanwhile, after saving two match-points in the previous round, Maria Sharapova was glad of an easier day yesterday. She beat her fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze 6-3, 6-4 and will meet Ana Ivanovic in the semi-finals, one of two Serbian women through to the last four. Ivanovic's countrywoman, Jelena Jankovic, plays Henin after beating Nicole Vaidisova 6-3, 7-5.
Men's No.1 Roger Federer was not flawless in his 7-5, 1-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Tommy Robredo, losing the second set to the Spaniard. It was the first set the imperious Swiss had dropped in grand slam play since last year's US Open final but, by that time, he had already broken John McEnroe's 23-year-old record, winning 36 consecutive sets in grand slam tournaments.
With his isolated 34-minute blip over with, Federer regained his composure and began to savage Robredo's rather one-dimensional clay-court game. He never looked entirely happy, but even players as good as Federer deserve the grace of having a bad day every now and again, especially when his off-days are still better than other people's great ones.
His mood would have improved markedly at the news that he will not be troubled by Guillermo Canas at this tournament. The Argentine, who knocked Federer out of successive Masters Series tournaments in March, seems to have the hex over the world's best player but, when confronted by any other player of note, he becomes merely a grinder of great stamina but limited skill. The point was proved by world No.4 Nikolay Davydenko, who easily beat Canas 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.
Nobody booed him either.
- Jamie Baker, the Scottish No.2 and British No.6 from Glasgow, beat Yorkshire's Jonathan Marray 6-2, 7-6 in the first round of the LTA Surbiton Trophy challenger in London yesterday.
Baker, 21, faces Santiago Giraldo of Colombia, the No.8 seed, tomorrow for a place in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Elena Baltacha, the 23-year-old from Paisley, continues her comeback after injury and illness against Ahsha Rolle, the No.3 seed and world No.116 from the USA in the second round of the women's $25,000 challenger today.
Meanwhile, Graeme Dyce, from Edinburgh, could not repeat his Australian Open boys' doubles victory from January as he and a new partner, Eugen Brazdil of Slovakia, were beaten 2-6, 6-1, 10-7 by Danila Arsenov and Mateusz Kecki in the first round of the French Open.
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