French Open: Day 5 Recap

Clijsters dropped 11 of the final 12 games.

The fifth day of this year's French Open was a roller coaster of wins and losses for the tournament's greatest champions. Before Sharapova struck down the surging French 17-year-old, Caroline Garcia, it was Kim Clijsters who struggled to maintain her composure against a rising star. But unlike Sharapova, who went from a double-break deficit to a 11 game winning streak, Clijsters crumbled from match point to melt down.

Leading 5-2 in the second set after winning the first 6-3, Kim had a match point on Rus's serve but missed her chance. She found another match point at 5-4, but once again could not convert. From there, the Dutch youngster took control, punishing an out-of-form Clijsters who leaked 60+ unforced errors in the match. At the end of the day, it was Arantxa Rus who prevailed in a surprising 3-6 7-5 6-1 turnaround, stopping Clijsters in her pursuit to finally claim French Open glory.

Victoria Azarenka handled her match today in the complete opposite manner. The slam-hungry Belarusian took a chokehold on the match early, taking the first set without dropping a game. The second set was nearly identical as Azarenka continued to dominate play, dropping one game on her way toa  6-0 6-1 victory. Her French opponent, Parrmentier, was favored by the Parisian crowd, but their cheers did little to help her overcome Victoria's on-spot striking.

Aside from Clijsters (and Dulgheru who lost 6-2 7-5 to Cirstea) all other seeded players won their matches today. For full results, click HERE.

-Kedzie Teller, ITB Senior Editor