Medina Garrigues courts controversy at French Open

After her attempts to gain an edge in a Madrid match against Serena Williams two weeks ago, Anabel Medina Garrigues todoay summoned Maria Sharapova's name in a different controversy, this one in her opening match at the French Open in Paris.

At Roland Garros, AMG faced Li Na, the 2011 champ here and a former finalist. Though AMG has the most titles on clay (10) among active players, she needed to draw on all her powers to win a tough first-round bout. The only thing she drew, though, in the midst of losing 6-3, 6-4, was Sharapova's name to her lips. See the full story at SI.com about Medina Garrigues' latest spat, this one involving another of the WTA's patented hindrance calls from the chair umpire.

That arrived on the heels of AMG's "fluffing" of new balls on a changeover against Serena in Madrid, a brazen act, subtle in its newness to the WTA Tour, that involved her seeking an advantage against the powerful No. 1 star in pulling the felt from the balls so as to slow them down on the court. Here's footage of that escapade:

It didn't work. Serena rebounded from dropping a 6-0 middle set to Medina Garrigues and stormed to the Madrid title. She now seeks her second French Open title—amazingly she hasn't won it since 2002, nor been past the quarterfinals since 2004—while her Spanish opponent can now seek only the solace of the practice court. AMG is also seeded 16th in doubles at Roland Garros with partner Daniela Hantuchova, with whom she opens against Jelena Jankovic and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.

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