Francesca Schiavone's beautiful first-round

          Francesca Schiavone said she was thrilled to be playing her first-round match in the Grandstand, because she loves to hear the crowd cheering her on.

      "I attract them because I'm beautiful," Schiavone said yesterday when asked why she was a fan favorite.

        Schiavone's game hasn't even been pretty since she won the French Open. The No. 6 seed has gone 3-6 in the time span,  losing in the first round at four tournaments including Wimbledon.

       Today, however, it took her only 58 minutes to defeat Japan's Ayumi Morita, 6-1, 6-0.

Barbara Barker, aka meanbarb