Top Female Players Are Finding Early Rounds Mean Easy Going

Memo to the Grand Slams: Anybody thought of starting the women’s singles at, say, the fourth round?

So far, it’s been almost embarrassingly easy for the top women’s players at the French Open, where eight of the first 10 seeded players are in the fourth round.

For her third consecutive match, top-seeded Monica Seles needed less than an hour to win, beating Karine Quentrec, 6-1, 6-2, on a cool, breezy Saturday. Seles has lost only eight games.

Gabriela Sabatini upheld her third seeding with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Mary Pierce that lasted 80 minutes, a marathon by current women’s standards. Sabatini has lost seven games.

Joining the group was 10th-seeded Jennifer Capriati, who defeated Maya Kidowaki, 6-3, 6-0, in 57 minutes, and seventh-seeded Conchita Martinez, a 6-1, 6-4 winner over Carrie Cunningham.

Other than the upsets of Zina Garrison and Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere, none of the other top 10 seeded players have lost a set. These matches have included 14 games won by 6-1 and seven by 6-0.

In contrast, there has been only one 6-0 victory by any seeded player in men’s singles--Andre Agassi’s third set against Patrick McEnroe.

The ease with which the top women have advanced has not impressed Sabatini, who contends there is equal depth in women’s tennis and men’s tennis.

“I think there is not much difference between two or three players and the others,” Sabatini said. “They are getting closer. You have to watch out for many players. That is why tennis for women has improved.”

Capriati said that the top players actually have had difficulty winning.

“I don’t think it has been easy,” she said. “(Women’s tennis) has just got better. Maybe they are just playing well here.”