Right now so we get onto the men's event at the 2014 French Open and this post will actually cover days 5 to 8 so I will get started without further ados.....
Right so starting with day 5 we had Rafa Nadal on court first as he took on the talented newcomer, the Austrian 20 year old, Dominic Thiem, who showed his potential in this match. However despite a couple of breaks of serve from the plucky Thiem who put in an impressive performance, Rafa was too good for the young yin in the end and he defeated him in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. Although Thiem ultimately came up short this match proved to be a promising stepping stone towards bigger things in his career ahead. After that Richard Gasquet, the Frenchman, took on the Argentine player, Carlos Berlocq who Gasquet managed to beat in straight sets 7-6, 6-4, 6-4. David Ferrer also continued his serene progress through to the 3rd round as he dismissed Simone Bolleli of Italy in 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. And lastly the French favourite, Gael Monfils took on Jan-Lennard Struff, whom he beat 7-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Moving onto day 6 we had Roger Federer face his first test against the Russian, Dimitri Tursinov and dropped his first set of the tournament and was forced to fight against the big hitting Russian, but ultimately came through in 7-5, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4. Novak Djokovic also faced his first threat in the tournament as he played the big Croatian, Marin Cilic, and after breezing the first two sets, Cilic fought back to claim the 3rd set on a tiebreak. In the 4th set both men traded breaks but the match ended on a cruel twist of fate as Cilic double faulted on match point just when a member of the audience called out, to end the match prematurely in 6-3, 6-2, 6-7, 6-4 and Djokovic naturally drew a big sigh of relief afterwards. Milos Raonic also had a tough battle on his hands as he played another Frenchman, Gilles Simon and was taken the distance before he was able to emerge triumphant in the 5th set with a 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 scoreline. And Jo-Wilfried Tsonga continued his good run as he defeated the big bean Pole, Jerzy Janowic winning in 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. Tomas Berdych also had to slog it out to reach the 4th round as he beat Roberto Bautista-Augt in four sets 6-1, 6-2, 6-7, 6-4. And lastly John Isner also had a tough match on his hands as he was up against Tommy Robredo and at two sets to love up, Isner looked comfortably in charge, but Robredo manage to win the 3rd set on a breaker, which could have seen him mount an amazing fightback from two sets down like he did last year three times in a row. However this year it wasn't to be as Isner ended the Spaniard's hopes in the 4th set as he won a tough scrap in 7-6, 7-6, 6-7, 7-5.
Now onto day 7 which started with Rafa taking on an Argentine player, Leonardo Mayer and for the first time in the tournament, Rafa looked uncomfortable as his back pain appeared to resurface which haunted him at the Australian open final earlier this year. But it didn't stop Rafa who still managed to beat Mayer, who did well in the match but not well enough and Rafa won the match in 6-2, 7-5, 6-2. Rafa's fitness with his back is now a bit of an issue again although he appeared to dismiss and play it down, I still don't think it will be play a big factor for him hopefully as it would a pity if he had to withdraw from the tournament, but at his favourite event, I'm certain Rafa won't do that and do all he can to ensure that doesn't happen.
As for other matches David Ferrer continued making his sold progress through the rounds as he defeated the Italian, Andreas Seppi, who posed a mild threat in the second set having taken it to a tiebreak, but it didn't stop Ferrer who went on to win the match in three, 6-2, 7-6, 6-3. Gael Monfils on the other had a pretty whacky match against his opponent, the firey Italian, Fabio Fognini, which was very topsy turvey in quality and saw both men trade breaks throughout. Fognini however is well known for his temper tantrums and at one point he even threw his racquet down which narrowly avoided hitting a ball boy, but play went to a deciding set where it was Monfils who finally defeated Fognini on his second go in Paris to reach the last 16 with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2 win. Richard Gasquet and Fernando Verdasco also played against each other but due to bad light they were forced to suspend the match with Verdasco leading two sets to love.
Now we get on to Andy Murray's match with the German player, Philipp Kolhscrheiber which promised to be a real tough encounter, especially given that it is PK's best surface (his initials!) and he had recently won a title on clay in Dusseldorf. And the match proved to be just that as Andy was given the sternest test of his season to date and he was forced to do battle with the German, who got off to a strong start as he broke Andy twice to win the opening set. In the 2nd set however Andy managed to gain momentum and he broke Kolschreiber to move ahead and take it to level and he went on to nab the 3rd with a two sets to one lead. And in the 4th set things again looked rosy for Andy as he went up a break, but he couldn't hold onto as Kohlschreiber mounted a fightback and he levelled the scores by breaking Andy and pushing the match into a 5th set. In the 5th set both men traded breaks and play went by serve until 7-7 when they were forced to suspend the match due to limited lighting at night. Play however resumed the next day and both men, now rested, came out and played some superb tennis, which went by serve, given there is no tiebreak in the final set of the French open (or the Aussie or Wimbledon for that matter) with Andy nabbing a chance to end the match with a match point at 9-8, which he wasn't able to take. But at 11-10, with Kohlschreiber looking to level up at 11-11, Andy finally got the chance he needed and secured the win with two match points he fired a backhand winner to close out an exhausting epic match in 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, 12-10.
There's no doubt while this was quite a frustrating encounter at times it was also quite exhilirating as well and both men produced some wonderful tennis for the crowd. Kohlschreiber also deserves much credit for his fight in this match as he battled back from two sets to one down to level the scores and he even had a break in the 5th set, which he surrendered, before he eventually got broken on his own serve to lose the match. Andy on the other hand, while his low 1st serve percentage and slow 2nd serve once again proved to be a real problem during the match (and his career!) he also deserves all the credit for digging out this win, although it really was a match he should have put to bed long before he finally did. However with this match he also completed another mini milestone in his career as it was the first time he was taken to beyond 6-6 in the 5th set of a slam, with no tiebreaks, the winner has to go two games clear to seal the match, and it was credit yet again to Andy that he was somehow able to hold onto his serve and close it out.
But the main thing is Andy is into the 4th round and the second week and next up he will face Fernando Verdasco who won his match against Richard Gasquet in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. So this promises to be quite a tough encounter even though Andy has an overwhelmingly positive head to head record over the Spanish player (9-1), but Verdasco has also been playing well and this will be their first meeting on clay, so Andy will really need to up his game again to reach the quarter finals, and Verdasco given his calibre as a clay court player might have an advantage over him tomorrow. But one thing is for certain is that Andy has proven while he lacks consistency on the ATP tour events, he has been very consistent in the slams in the last three years or so if he does make it through it will be his 13th consecutive slam quarter final, which is very impressive in itself, so we'll see if he makes it.
So now onto Day 8 which began with Roger Federer taking on the in form and very dangerous Latvian, Ernest Gulbis, who had beaten Roger previously on clay before as well. And right from the get go Gulbis was a big threat and he moved ahead a break, but Roger broke back and as play went to a tiebreak he won the first set. But Gulbis soon responded by taking sets two and three, although in the 4th momtenum swung back to Roger and he took it to level the match. In the 5th set however it was Gulbis who managed to pull off the biggest upset in the men's draw yet as he broke Fed and held his nerve to serve out the match to reach his first French Open quarter final in 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Although I'm not a big fan of Gulbis as I think he can be a bit of a dick in what he says in the media about other players and most recently how tennis isn't really a sport for women, his rising talent as a player is undeniable and he's got a good chance to move ahead into the final four.
In other matches Tomas Berdych also won his match against John Isner in quite convincing fashion as the American struggled to deal with Berdych's superior return game and movement and it saw the big Czeck put out the big Yank in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. And last but not least (well it sort of is actually!) we had Novak Djokovic take on the French No.1, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in what promised to be another epic encounter, similar to the one they had two years ago at the French. However this one couldn't have been more different as Tsonga was nowhere to be seen on court, or rather he was, but it was more like watching an imposter as he just couldn't get anything going at all against Djokovic, who was just relentless and near flawless from the first point to the last of the match. After losing the first set on a double break, there were glimmers of hope in the 2nd set, as Nole got a double break, Tsonga wrestled one of them back, but he couldn't do anymore and Novak confidently served it to take a two set lead in just over an hour! And in the 3rd set the match turned into a total write off as Tsonga looked the beaten man he was and surrendered to a double break which saw Nole stride into the quarter finals in just an hour and a half with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 rout.
This was a puzzling match and a real heavy defeat for Tsonga, who curiously enough was all dressed in white as if he turned up for Wimbledon (perhaps he got confused about which slam he was playing in today!!). And even as the match went on into the 2nd set you felt that the real Tsonga would arrive on court, but he just didn't show, and there were the odd flashes of brilliance here and there but it wasn't anywhere near enough. And with Tsonga the problem is for him that there is no plan B and its either all or nothing, with a see it, hit it mentality, and every time today he just went for too much and in the end he handed the match to Djokovic. So overall it was a big disappointment and a non-event, although I'm certain that Novak won't be too sad about that himself as he has now reached his 20th consecutive grand slam quarter final, which is remarkable in itself and he remains on course to be the favourite to win the title, despite Rafa's record here, Nole looks very much the man to beat.
Right so I will leave it there for now and will be back in a couple of days with the results of the 4th round and quarter final matches (well some of them).
See you laters.
No comments:
Post a Comment