TENNIS: They were queuing for the vapour showers, the freestanding kiosks that jet out fine particles of cold water, along the walkways of Roland Garros. As the temperature readings started pushing upward of 32 degrees and the trees in the nearby Bois de Boulogne shimmered in the heat, the most uncomfortable person in Paris yesterday was the world number 13, Venus Williams.
Williams, monosyllabic and morose, departed the French Open thanks to a criminally erratic display. Her game stuttered to life in the second set of three before completely breaking down under pressure from a 15-year-old Bulgarian, Sesil Karatantcheva.
Another young talent fresh from the Nick Bollettieri assembly line, the teenager won the first set 6-3 before bottoming out in the second 6-1. But Williams's insistence on repeatedly handing free points to her young opponent was such that she played herself right out of contention.
Nobody has ever tried to argue that the Parisian clay courts are Williams's best surface - she has only ever reached the quarter-finals. But Karatantcheva, with no singles titles to her name and playing in her first French Open, was seen as easy pickings before 52 unforced errors and a measly nine winners crept into the equation.
The four-times Grand Slam champion simply couldn't keep a ball in play in either the first or third sets. Too long, too wide - it didn't matter. All the while the youngster gamely kept up her strategy of hitting soft ball and patiently allowing Williams make the first mistake.
"I think she started hitting a lot of slow balls. I wanted to keep playing the aggressive game. I maybe went for it too much. Maybe I was just rushing too much, too many errors. It just wasn't good," said Williams afterwards.
"Right now all I can do is prepare for the next tournament. It's fairly disappointing. I had never heard of her or seen her before this match. I felt that if I'd played 10 per cent better I would have won this match easy. I kind of beat myself.
"I feel like I'm a great player. I just feel this is not a good result for me right now."
The Bulgarian, hardly believing what was happening, fell to the ground as her family embraced in the players' box. The win automatically lifts her from 98th in the world rankings to 70th or thereabouts.
As for Williams, she hadn't lost to a player of such lowly rank since falling to the 125-ranked Barbara Schwartz in 1999.
At least Lindsay Davenport kept US interest alive until the weekend, when she will meet the 14th seed, Belgian Kim Clijsters.
After handing the first four games to the French 22-year-old Virginie Razzano for 0-4, Davenport somehow found enough good material in a rag-bag performance she called "erratic" to close out the set 7-5. She escaped where Williams did not.
Razzano then picked up the second set 6-4 to again force Davenport into a deciding chapter, which she eventually grasped, winning 6-0.
"The whole match, even the first set, I'm not sure how I won it being 4-0 down, the second set being down 4-1. I guess I'm just feeling like it will go better," said the American.
