Well its Day 8 of the French Open and already we have seen a few more seeds tumble fall by the wayside so here's a bit more on that.
First off Caroline Wozniacki went out yesterday in a very topsy turvey match against the Estonian player, Kaia Kanepi, who in the first set dominated Caroline, breaking her twice, and in the 2nd , Kanepi went up a break and was set to close out the match at 5-3. However Caroline managed to break back and soon levelled up at 5-5, and before we knew we were into a tiebreak, which the former No.1 won to take it into a deciding set. However in the 3rd set there was a controversial line call as Kanepi saved a break point on her serve, but Caroline clearly thought the ball was long, but the umpire overruled the decision, which levelled the scores 1-1 all. And soon enough Kanepi broke again, but she had a bit of trouble serving out at 5-1, when there was another twist with Caz breaking again! However Kanepi had no such trouble closing it out at 5-3, and went on to seal her place in the 4th round, winning a dramatic match in 6-1, 6-7, 6-3.
Well this match certainly was a bit of an upset for the former World No.1, but Caroline has been on the downward spiral over the last year or so, and its incredible what one year can make to your game. Although this time last year the spiral had just begun for Caroline Wozniacki as she funnily enough in the French Open, also went out in the 3rd round last year. But this surely will now see her fall out of the top 10, and this is a real worry for her now and at this rate she will have fallen back into the top 50 by the end of the year! It really is a shocking fall from grace for the Danish player.
Anyway onto the next upset which was another ladies match between the current World No.1, Victoria Azarenka and the 15th seed, Dominika Cibulkova. And these two in the past have had some pretty tough matches, so right off the bat we knew it would be a bit of a rollercoaster. And after breaking twice in the opening set to clinch it, Cibulkova was pushed more in the 2nd by Vika, and it went to a tiebreak where Slovak pint sized player pulled off another big upset by dumping the No.1 player in 6-2, 7-6(4) to reach another French Open quarter final.
This was another shock result and this French Open so far really has produced some dramatic stuff, however it has to be said that Victoria Azarenka really isn't a clay court player, so I never really pegged her as a favourite to win this title. The real favourites for me however have to be Maria Sharapova, Sam Stosur and Li Na, particularly Sharapova and Stosur stand out for me, as they have both played incredibly well and have yet to drop a set. But the overall favourite stands out as Sharapova as she has looked so formidable so far, and has barely dropped more than 4 games in each match. And further results on the ladies today saw Sam Stosur play against the American Sloane Stephens, who put up some resistance before losing out to the World No.6 in 7-5, 6-4, to seal Stosur's place in the quarter finals. And Angeilque Kerber also came up against a spirited fight from the qualifier Petra Martic, but the big hitting German proved to be too good in the end, winning 6-3, 7-5, which sees her through to the quarter finals of the French Open for the first time in her career.
As for the men there was nothing but dramatic action play today, starting with Novak Djokovic who really tested by the talented Andreas Seppi fom Italy, who gave the No.1 quite a scare, as Djokovic went two sets to love down. However Djokovic came back in the 3rd and from there mounted his fight back and levelled the match at 2 sets all, and in the 5th set he made the final decisive break and secured his place in the quarter finals after an exhaustive 4 hour 18 minute marathon, the lengthy scoreline reading 4-6, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3. Well every top player has at least one scare in a slam and this was definitely Djokovic's, from here though it doesn't get any easy, but I'm sure Djokovic will be able to fight through once again, and its real credit to his mental strength and competitiveness that he can outlast any player that opposes him.
And Roger Federer had quite a day today as well as he took on the very talented young Belgian player, David Goffin, who was a lucky loser who failed to qualify, but was granted entry to the main draw after Gael Monfils withdrew with injury. And boy did Goffin make good on his entry as he made it to the 4th round and played the greatest player of all time, and showed little signs of intimidation as he played a terrific match and took it to the mighty Fedora, taking the 1st set. In the 2nd set it was tight, and Goffin at 5-5 on Federer's serve had a break point, but Roger did his usual and saved it, only to break Goffin to level the match at a set all. And from then on Roger established his foothold on the match, breaking the young Belgian twice in the 3rd and once in the 4th to garner his place in the quarter finals, in what was a very entertaining high quality match with a scoreline of 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4.
This was a terrific effort from David Goffin who really announced himself at the French Open this year, as it was his first grand slam tournament, he shows unbelievable promise for the near future. And after the match the interviewers spoke to both Roger and David as it was such an entertaining match, which kept the crowd enthralled, who were also behind Goffin as much as they were behind Federer. Goffin also admitted that Federer was his idol growing up, he also had pictures of him hanging up in his bedroom! The two men also shared a hug after, which was a nice scene, although the interviewer was looking for them to kiss! A bit far methinks, but it was a very entertaining match.
In a day where terrific matches abound everywhere, there was another belter on the men's as the home favourite and French No.1, Jo Wilfried-Tsonga battled against the Swiss No.2, Stan Wawrinka. This was a rematch as they met last year in the 3rd round of the French, and in that match, Stan came from two sets down to defeat Tsonga, and the pattern of this match looks similar. The start of the match we saw that Wawrinka looked a bit wary having spent more time on court than Tsonga, playing two five matches prior to this, and early on Tsonga dominated the play, although pushed to a 2nd set tiebreak, he came through it. But it was in the 3rd set where Tsonga lost his focus and let Wawrinka right back into the match, taking the 3rd and the 4th set, bringing the match into a decider. The match itself is still to be finished, however the 5th set so far was terrific and featured some wonderful shotmaking from both players, but because of bad lighting they had to call it a night, with Tsonga leading 4-2 in the final set.
This really was a great match to watch, despite a few lulls, Tsonga came and went from the match as did Wawrinka, but the two of them particularly in the latter half of the fourth and the early 5th set produced some wonderful tennis for an estatic crowd. For me I hope that Tsonga wins as I think it would be great to see him make it through to the quarter finals, and if only one Frenchman get's through, I'd rather it was Tsonga any day, rather than Gasquet, because well I'd rather see Andy through of course from his match tomorrow against the Frenchman and 20th seed.
And quickly Del Potro and Berdych were having quite a battle as well and their matches is to be continued tomorrow too, with Delpo 2 sets to 1 up against the big Czeck, the score currently 7-6, 1-6, 6-3. So its all good so far, and I really have to say this is one of the best French Open's I have seen, as there has been plenty of drama and terrific matches day in day out, so I really look forward to tomorrow. And one thing is for sure, there is never a dull moment in Roland Garros.
Right! More updates will follow soon......
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