Serena Is Still Adept at Crowd Control

The noise and the whistling were so pronounced that Serena Williams had to wait to serve. Showing some annoyance Tuesday, she got tired of the delay and pushed forward.

The crowd’s displeasure, though, had to do with the actions of her opponent, Frenchwoman Sarah Pitkowski.

Pitkowski, a local favorite, was questioning line call after line call, working the crowd and herself into a state.

Between her theatrics and Williams’ unforced errors--65 in all--the match went much longer than it should have in the first round at the French Open. They finished shortly before darkness fell, the sixth-seeded Williams finishing strong and winning, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-1, in 2 hours 21 minutes.

“I get that a lot,” Williams said, laughing, referring to this match and the Indian Wells controversy, in which she was treated harshly by the fans in her final against Kim Clijsters.

“I don’t know how I deal with it. Do a lot of praying. Sometimes, it gets a little rough. It’s a little trying at times, even a little disappointing.”

There was, apparently, a motive behind Pitkowski’s methods. She wanted some respect.

“[Williams] realized, in fact, that she had a real fighter as an opponent, whereas before, in fact, I didn’t exist,” Pitkowski said. “When I play somebody who is not as good as me, I try and win the psychological battle as well. At times, the opposite player looks down on you, as though there was nobody on the other side of the net.

“I was actually able to provoke her, so she had to look me square in the eyes a couple of times. I was quite happy about that.”

Unlike opening day, all of the seeded women in action advanced. The men’s side lost two seeded players, No. 8 Patrick Rafter of Australia and No. 9 Magnus Norman of Sweden, last year’s finalist.

Norman’s exit was no surprise, though. He has struggled in 2001. David Sanchez of Spain beat him, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-2. Rafter has been injured, so his quick departure was no huge shock either. Wayne Arthurs, his countryman and Davis Cup teammate, beat Rafter, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-1.

Two players retired because of injuries in the first round. Michel Kratochvil of Switzerland went out with a back injury, quitting in the second set against Fernando Meligeni of Brazil. Earlier, qualifier Christian Ruud of Norway had retired in the second set against Sargis Sargsian of Armenia because of a back injury.

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Today’s Featured Matches

MEN

* Gustavo Kuerten, Brazil (1) vs. Agustin Calleri, Argentina

* Michael Chang vs. Andy Roddick

* Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain (4) vs. Marcos Ondruska, South Africa.

* Jiri Novak, Czech Republic vs. Cedric Pioline, France

WOMEN

* Justine Henin, Belgium (14) vs. Paola Suarez, Argentina.

* Elena Dementieva, Russia (7) vs. Henrieta Nagyova, Slovakia.

* Anke Huber, Germany vs. Virginie Razzano, France

* Nathalie Dechy, France vs. Joannette Kruger, South Africa.