Sports

Spotted in the French Open alleys, Serena Williams’ coach milking attention

PARISĀ  (AP)_ 11:41 a.m.

Spotted in the alleys of the French Open: Patrick Mouratoglou, coach of 19-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams, perched precariously on a concrete post, racket in the air, striking a warrior’s pose for a French newspaper photographer.

Our AP Sports Writer Samuel Petrequin caught the moment here: https://twitter.com/sampetrequin/status/602765901914595328/photo/1

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11:00 a.m.

Bonjour.

The tennis equivalent of breakfast, lunch, dinner and plenty of snacking in between on Day 2 of the French Open, with a whopping 57 first-round singles matches spread across 15 courts filling with expectant crowds. In short, a quick-moving feast of bright yellow balls, blood-red clay and no shortage of tennis drama.

The big question: will rain hold off? Skies over Roland Garros on what is a national holiday for many French are thick with menacing dark clouds. Cloying dampness in the air could make for heavy and tiring playing conditions.

Andy Murray, Venus Williams and defending women’s champion Maria Sharapova are among big names in action. Frances Tiafoe, at age 17 the youngest man here, flies the flag for tennis’ next generation of potential stars. The oldest man in the draw, 36-year-old Radek Stepanek, is first out on Court 14, against 119th-ranked Ivan Dodig.

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