体坛英语新闻：French Open suffers downpour

PARIS, May 27 (Xinhua) -- The French Open suffered a lot for the downpour at Roland Garros on Thursday with more than 40 matches being cancelled and eight to be suspended for Friday.

About 20 minutes before the start of the first batch of matches scheduled at 11 a.m., heavy rain fell on the courts. After nearly five hours, the fifth day's competition finally got on the track.

China's top player Li Na dominated the match against Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, sweeping the French 6-2, 6-2 just within one hour. The 11th seed is going to meet her old rival Francesca Schiavone as the 17th-seeded Italian outplayed Australian Sophie Ferguson also in 6-2, 6-2.

"We know each other very well," Li talked about her third round opponent Schiavone. "We get along very well and often practice together during the tour. It's hard to predict who's the favorite. Let's see on court."

The 28-year-old Li should have played her second round match on Wednesday, but the match was among the nine cancelled matches as the whole competition was delayed three times in a day.

Former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic from Serbia was ousted in 6-3, 6-0 by Russia's 28th seed Alisa Kleybanova.

"I don't think I played that bad, actually. For a while I think she didn't miss a ball at all. She made so many winners too," said Ivanovic.