Pete’s 2nd round opponent was a qualifier from Great Britain who had squeaked out a 5-set victory in round one. Pete had no problem, winning in straight sets: 6-3, 6-4 and 6-1. It was a good draw for Pete and the direct result of beating Agassi who had been seeded #6. Pete was lucky not to have drawn a clay court specialist. Nobody at the French open wants to play a Spaniard or Argentinean in the early rounds.
32 of the 128 players are seeded in both the men’s and women’s draws. If all went according to form, the #1 seed would face the #32 seed in the third round and the #16 seed in the fourth round. The theory of seeding is to reward players for their performance over the past two years and eliminating the chance that the top players would play each other in the early rounds, saving the marquis matches for later rounds and prime time television
Seeding is based upon world rankings, but there is always controversy because of the different court services. A clay court player will not necessarily do well at Wimbledon and a grass court player might not do well at the French Open. The French and English made an attempt in the late 90’s to seed players based upon their performance on clay or grass respectively, but the players revolted. Wimbledon still adjusts the seeding slightly, but not enough to make a huge difference.
Pete Sampras was the #1 ranked player in the world for many years and was seeded #1 in ten French Opens. Realistically, he never had a chance. Neither his game nor temperament was suited to clay. He relied on one big shot to end the point, where clay rewarded the grinder that was willing to move his opponent around before finishing off a point. Sampras was never in good enough physical shape to play this type of game, but he was still seeded #1. Another example is Tim Henman, who attained his top-10 world ranking in grass and hard court tournaments. Although Henman did make it to the semis in 2004, he was always seeded higher than his clay court prowess merited. Some players such as Bjorn Borg and Roger Federer are a threat on all surfaces, but these are the exceptions.
The top two lady seeds were fortunate to survive their second round matches. Lindsay Davenport was down a set and two points from defeat, before she rallied. Sharapova won in two tough sets. Ambre sailed into the third round with an impressive performance, winning 6-2, 6-2. The Belgiums won easily as did the other French hope, Amelie Mauresmo, who blew out her second straight opponent. Serena Williams was out with an ankle injury, but big sister Venus, fresh off a clay court victory in Istanbul the previous week, looked in championship form and won convincingly.
Earl Donavon, the CIA regional director in charge of Roland Garros security, called Chris Lewis into his office. The CIA had been asked to assist the French police in providing security for the 14-day tournament. “Chris, this morning we received the coroner’s report and your hunch was correct. Agbu was not one of the terrorists in the van we blew up. The French found the apartment where he holed-up Monday night and DNA lab tests confirm that the blood on the bed is Agbu’s. It looks like he is hurt pretty bad, but we need to assume he is still dangerous”
“Does that mean the case is reopened?”
“That’s right, Chris. You’ll be heading up a five-man team to protect the Simpson family. Isn’t that what you have been doing the last couple days anyway?”
Chris nodded sheepishly. “I wasn’t aware it was that obvious, but if Agbu is alive, I figured the Simpsons are in grave danger. This is almost like a vendetta with him.”
“You seem to know this guy pretty well. That’s one reason I want you more involved in this case. I’m promoting you to my senior assistant. You’ll be the CIA liaison with the French police and have total authority on everything related to security.”
“I won’t let you down.” Chris should have been happier with the promotion, but was overwhelmed with responsibility of finding Agbu before he harmed her friends. She vowed that she would not fail.
“May I see the apartment for myself?”
“Let’s go,” Donavon said as he grabbed his coat. “I’ll drive and fill you in on how we found this place. It seems like Agbu has added murder to his resume.”
Chris listened as Donavon told her how they had found the 14-year old boy shot to death near the playground and the trail of blood leading from the woods. “It looks like Agbu took the boy’s scooter and escaped from the park before our roadblocks were in place. It’s hard to justify shooting a 14-year old kid as part of the fight for Basque freedom.”
“No, I think he has gone over the edge, which won’t make our job any easier,” Chris replied thoughtfully. “It’s no telling what he will do next.”