Ana felled by Azarenka

Ana's French Open came to an end thanks to a 6-2, 6-3 defeat against ninth seed Victoria Azarenka. The match lasted 72 minutes and means that, for the first time since 2006, Ana will not be present in the final day of the second Grand Slam of the year.

The loss in her first meeting against Azarenka also denied Ana the chance of a rematch of the 2008 final against Russian and No.1 Dinara Safina, who would have been her opponent in quarter-finals.

Azarenka displayed steady aggression, harmful backhand shots and the confidence she had earned after her victory at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami to upset the defending champion.

The Belarusian earned the first break of serve thanks to a sizzling cross-court backhand passing-shot to take a 3-1 lead. From that moment on, Azarenka had control of most rallies as the 21-year-old appeared short of energy.

The 2008 champion could not control Azarenka's powerful, flat backhand and lost her serve once more when he sent a backhand wide after an intense rally. She asked for the trainer during the change of ends and later spoke of feeling dizzy. Azarenka closed the set when Ana netted a forehand.

Unfortunately for her supporters, the very first game of the second set offered no change. Ana saved three break points but couldn't succeed on the fourth one. The Belarusian grew in confidence and added points and games to her quest, while Ana continued to appear jaded.

The crowd gathered in the Suzanne Lenglen Stadium only had one favourite and her name was Ana. They started cheering for her noisily and she used that energy to get one break back and serve at 2-4. but her opponent hit two backhand winners to take a decissive 5-2 lead.

Ana raised the fan's voice once more when she earned her last break of serve, but missed two backhands in a row to finally lose the match.



Ana ended the match with 24 winners and 20 unforced errors. She enjoyed a warm ovation from the crowd as she left the court.

"I started really well, and I felt really good in the beginning," said Ana. "But later on during the match I started to feel very dizzy.

"She played very well today and the better player won. I'm obviously extremely disappointed with this loss, but there isn't much time to get too down about it because the grass season is just around the corner. That's a positive thing."

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