Right so now for Part 3 of my look at the men's French open tournament which will cover days 9 and 10 and the remainder of the fourth round matches and the first quarter final matches. So let's give them a look.....
So to start with Day 9 Rafa Nadal started play as he took on the young upcoming Serbian, Dusan Lajovic, who debuted in making this far at the French Open in the 4th round. And the young Serb even asked his fellow native, Novak Djokovic for a few pointers on how to handle Rafa. However in the end they weren't much use as Dusan is no Djokovic and Rafa hammered the young Serb with no mercy and he sped to a very straightforward victory dropping just four games in 6-1, 6-2 6-1. Whether or not this really shows Rafa's form so far remains to be seen, as there is no doubt he has been playing well at the French this year, but he also hasn't really been tested yet and has had a pretty easy draw so far, however that will soon change of course.
And this could very well change with the winner of the next match, who will go on to face Rafa, and the match was between David Ferrer and the South African giant, Kevin Anderson. And for the most part Ferrer was in ful control of the match and took a two set lead in fairly quick time, however Anderson did fight back well in the 3rd set and pushed play to a tiebreak, which Ferrer lost, and was the first set he dropped in the tournament. However it was no more than a blip as Ferrer regained full control in the 4th and went on to race to the finish line and another quarter final in Paris with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-7, 6-1 win. So this sets up a big clash between two of the clay's biggest rivals Rafa and Ferrer who will win??? Well you have to go with Rafa, but it could potentially be a tight match, although last year Rafa thumped Ferrer quite convincingly so a straight set win could well be on the cards here. But it will act as a barometer of where Rafa's game is at just now in the French as this will be his first real test, but I still think he can come through this one in either three or four sets.
After this we had Gael Monfils take on the Spaniard, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in what could have been a real tight encounter. However it was Monfils that produced the goods and produced some of his typical moments of genius to take a quick two set lead, dropping only two games. The 3rd set was a tighter one but it was Monfils that finally pulled the trigger and smelled sweet victory with a 6-0, 6-2, 7-5. This sees Monfils back in the quarter finals again for the first time in three years, but can he go further??? Well that will depend on the winner of the next match.
And this match was between Andy Murray and Fernando Verdasco, and although Andy leads their head to head 9-1, this was to be their first meeting on clay, so in a way the result would be difficult to decide given Verdasco's calibre as a clay court player. However that didn't really matter as it was Andy that put in a top performance to keep Verdasco at bay and he soon took the first set with a break. In the second set, things went by serve until 5-5 and Andy managed to secure the break and after a tricky service game he held to take the two set lead. And in the 3rd set Andy got an early break, and he was intent on getting a second, but Verdasco held firm and kept it to a single one. And at 4-2, there was a controversial call from the umpire as Verdasco's serve was called out but it was on the line and it lead to a heated argument with the umpire, but Andy diffused the situation by conceding the point and game. However it served (no pun intended) as the catalyst for Verdasco to make a fightback and he broke Andy's serve to level the scores at 4-4 in the 3rd. And play continued on serve into a tiebreak, where Andy put down the finishing touches and outclassed Verdasco to seal it and his place in his 4th quarter final at the French open with a hard fought 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 scoreline.
This was a really entertaining match and it was easily the most impressive match from Andy yet in the tournament as he served well, and moved and defended superbly throughout and it showed that he is growing more comfortable on the red dirt. And for Andy to beat a clay court player such as Verdasco in straight sets is even more impressive, especially given Verdasco's firey fightback in the third set. And it also continues to show Andy's excellent consistency in the grand slams as he has now reached his 13th consecutive major quarter final, which is quite a feat in itself. So this now sees Andy set up a rematch of his 2006 French open match against Gael Monfils, which promises to be a very entertaining match, as both players have great variety. Who will win it???? Well not to sound too biased but I'd favour Andy, however Monfils will be a danger for him, especially as he will have the home crowd on his side and if he is inspired by them, then Monfils could very well pull off an upset here. So even though I'm going with Andy its by no means a given, as Monfils on his day can beat just about anyone (with the exception of Djokovic that is, who he's never beaten!) so he will have to watch out and play very well if he wants to make it to the semis. So I'd say Andy might make it through in four sets (or Monfils in four or five if he scores the upset, but hopefully Andy can win it).
Right now onto Day 10 which saw the men's quarter finals get underway, starting with the headline match of the day which was Novak Djokovic who faced the big serving Canadian, Milos Raonic. This was a much anticipated clash and promised to be a real test for Nole, especially after their last brutal encounter in Rome, which Novak scraped through. However in this match Novak was far more in control and in the first set as play went by serve, Nole managed to eventually secure a break of Raonic's serve to take the opening one. In the 2nd set however play went to a tiebreak, with Raonic now with a real chance to level the match, however Djokovic snuffed out his chances and took the two set lead with a 7-5 score. In the 3rd set Djokovic took the early break and moved ahead to go 5-2, but as he served it out he made a few errors to let Raonic get one of the breaks back and the big Canadian was given a stay of execution as he held to keep it to the single break at 5-4. But in the end Novak had no problem in serving it out a second time and reached the semi finals at the French for the fourth straight year running with a comfortable 7-5, 7-6, 6-4 result.
So that means that Nole would play the winner of the next match which was between Tomas Berdych, the No.6 seed and the in form Ernest Gulbis, who took out Roger Federer in his previous match. And Gulbis showed his impressive form once again here as he took an emphatic lead against Berdych and raced into a two set lead, and he went on to break early in the 3rd set with Berdych managed to keep it to the single break. However Gulbis had no trouble in serving it out and he reached his first ever grand slam semi final with a very impressive 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory. While I'm not a big fan of Gulbis I do appreciate this is a very impressive result for him and his next clash will be a potentially very good one with Novak Djokovic.
So who will win that one??????? Well I have to go with Djokovic as his confidence is pretty good just now and I think not even an in form Gulbis will be able to stop Nole in his quest to win his first maiden French title. However I think it promises to be a really good match and I'm sure Gulbis will give Novak a really tough match and it might even be one of the matches of the tournament, but I think the Serb will come through in four or five sets to reach his second final in Paris.
Right well that's it for now and I'll be back in a day or two with the results of the quarters and semis for the men's and ladies.
Till then au revoir!
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