OK here is a somewhat belated update on the latest from the French Open and there has been plenty more exciting matches on the go, and its great to see that the French this year has been so action packed and filled with dramatic stuff, such as epic 5 setters, players being sick on court, huge upsets and so on.
So starting with the ladies first, there was another big upset as one of the top seeds, and possible favourite to win the title, Agnieszka Radwanska was given a schooling by the former RG champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova who drubbed her opponent with a commanding performance, and winning in 6-1, 6-2. This really was a surprise, except that Svetlana has beaten Radwanska more times than Rad has, so in a way I guess its not so surprising, but Svetlana definitely exposed Aga's lack of power and weight of shot with some great power and finesse of her own.
So that's another top seed out, but some of the others are still in, and with the top contender (now!) Maria Sharapova, who has been in total control so far, put in another domineering effort against Peng Shuia of China, thrashing her in 6-2, 6-1, to safely land a place in the final 16. Victoria Azarenka also made it through although she had a little more difficulty against the Canadian, Alexandra Wozniack, but beat in 6-4, 6-4, but she will go on to play Dominkia Cibulkova, which could prove to be another tough test fo her, given the last time, the Slovak very nearly beat the World No.1. Sam Stosur also is still in and playing really well and is surely one of the contenders for the title as well, as she is yet to drop a set in her three matches, having just seeing off Nadia Petrova in 6-3, 6-3. Two other seeds who have gotten through to the 4th round had more trouble, as Petra Kvitova dropped a set against the Russian player Nina Bratchikova but bounced back in the 3rd to win in 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, and Li Na who had an early wobble against the talented American, Christine McHale, but came through to win in 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. And Angelique Kerber who is now a top 10 player (and ranked No.10 in the world) battled against Flavia Pennetta of Italy, but she came through in 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. And lastly, and rather sadly, Francesca Schiavone went out as she played the US player, Vervara Lepchenko (funny name for an American) and lost her battle in 6-3, 3-6, 6-8. So plenty more exciting tennis to follow on the ladies tour, and more on the matches that are to come soon.
As for the guys well, plenty of stuff again, starting Andy Murray, who took on the Colombian player, Santiago Giraldo. There were quite a few concerns for Andy coming into this match, given his near withdrawal from the tournament on Friday there because of his back, there was concern he could play this match. However any worries were soon dismissed as Andy went out on court and put on a very solid, professional performance for the audience on Court 1, although he was met with some plucky resistance from the young Colombian, who acquitted himself well with a good peformance, but in the end it was Muzza who came through comfortably in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. This match was the shot in the arm that Andy needed for his campaign at Roland Garros as he played easily the best match he has played all year on clay, as he served really well and defended brilliantly, and his back didn't seem to trouble him at all.
But his next opponent will be his first big test of the tournament, as he will take on one of the home favs, Richard Gasquet, who already defeated Andy in their previous meeting in Rome. However that was in an ATP event and not a grand slam, and its a much tougher proposition to beat Andy Murray in a grand slam than in a smaller event on the tour. So hopefully Andy will come through in 4 or 5 sets, and his motivation will be much higher than it was in Rome, and hopefully with the medication and pysiotherapy he has been taking, his back will be fine come Monday, and one thing is for sure, he will need to be on his game on Monday. There have already been plenty of upsets in this dramatic French Open, but here's hoping Andy will not be one of them, as it would be great to see him battle through.
Right so onto the other men's matches, as Roger Federer took on yet another Frenchie (yep loads of them here!) Nicholas Mahut in his 3rd round match. On paper you would expect it to be a fairly easy match for Fed, but it was actually quite the opposite as Roger was made to work pretty hard, and Mahut obviously being fuelled by the crowd, managed to break Roger and take the 2nd set. In the 3rd however Federer restored control, but again in the 4th, Mahut came back into the match and levelled it 5-5, but soon enough Fed got the break and that was that, but it was easily one of the most entertaining matches yet on the men's, with the scoreline being 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
I was quite impressed with Nicholas Mahut in this match, and he clearly had a gameplan on how to play Roger and take him out of his comfort zone, and the two of them provided some wonderful points for the crowd. But you always knew that Roger would come through it, but at the same time Mahut did incredibly well to give the crowd such a good match. And in the 4th round, Roger will play the lucky loser, David Goffin, who I know from the last Davis Cup tie with Great Britain, as the young Mr Goffin was the fella who defeated GB in the deciding rubber round. But I think Goffin's time will soon be up at Roland Garros as he plays the mighty Fed, but he has had quite a tournament so far, and its bodes well for him in the future.
So quickly to sum other matches, Gilles Simon, the French No.2 played his good friend and Swiss No.2 (funnily enough), Stan Wawrinka, who despite being 2-1 sets up, soon saw the Swiss man take the 4th and the deciding set for a place in the 4th round. Tomas Berdych played the South African giant, Kevin Anderson, and although their previous matches were relatively easy, with Berdy winning them, this was a real tussle, as Berdych was taken the distance, but coming through in 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4. And today (Day 7) Juan Monaco, the 13th seed came up against the very talented and very tough to beat Milos Raonic, the big serving mofo, and their excellent match went the distance with Juan Monaco finally powering through in 6-7, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. Djokovic on the other hand had his easiest match yet in the 3rd round against Nicolas Devilder, whom he steamrolled over, losing just five games, winning in 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. And finally Rafa played the doubles specialist, Eduardo Schwank of Argentina, in an entertaining match, which provided Rafa with a minor challenge, being pushed to deuce several times, but it was still a very comfortable victory with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-4.
Soooooooooo that's it for now, more exciting stuff to follow, with some great 4th round matches for tomorrow, such as Tomas Berdych vs Del Potro, Djokovic vs Andreis Seppi and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who will go up against Stan Wawrinka. And on the ladies there will be Sam Stosur vs Sloane Stephens, the American player, Victoria Azarenka vs Dominkia Cibulkova (should be good!), Svetlana Kuznetsova vs Sara Errani, which sounds like a belter (of sorts).
OK that's eeeetttt!
No comments:
Post a Comment