Roland Garros 2009: Dinara Safina Bagels Her Way Into The Second Round

To be honest, there was hardly anything special about this match, unless we take into account Safina's two perfect bagels to finish off her British opponent Anne Keothavong.

The entire 61 minute duration of the match was presented in the form of a practice session from Safina's perspective with an added advantage of a specialised WTA player on the other end to complete her target practice.

However I will have to admit, Keothavong did try her best till the very last game when she saved four match points to try and thwart Safina for what could have been her only chance; but when you are facing a player who is riding high on confidence and hard worked success, it's a task is easier said than done.

It was sheer hard luck that Keothavong had to face the recently coronated World No. 1 as her first round opponent who, with back-to-back victories in Rome and Madrid, is pegged to be the favourite to win at RG this time.

But had Keothavong shown at least a minuscle amount of defiance and resistance to the Russian, viewing the match would have been a tad more interesting even for Safina's fans and would have given some consolation to the Brit's followers.

The rallying throughout the course of the match was long and hard, the hustle from both the players was superb yet the match lacked an overall thrilling element and with no surprises hidden, it became way too monotonous in the end.

If there was any competition, then it had to be in the occurrence of Double Faults by both the ladies; and it was really neck to neck in the end with Safina falling one short of Keothavong's tally of 5 Double faults.

There was no sign of any temperamental outburst either, from Safina; and the only time in the full course of the match when she showed signs of exasperation and frustration was when she missed converting the aforesaid break/match point chances, though she controlled her emotions well before they could distract her any further.

And finally when it all ended, it was on a note of "Too short, Too sweet" but unfortunately, both never in a single sentence for Anne Keothavong.