Right, now its time for me to catch up with this year's French Open from the men's side as it would see the world's best players duke it out for the title. So, now we are into the 2nd week, let's see how the tournament has gone so far....
1st WEEK - UPSETS AND SEEDS OUT SO FAR
Well in this first we had some upsets of course but one of the biggest ones came in the form of Alexandr Zverev, who had just come off a big win in Rome after defeating Novak Djokovic in the final. However here, Zverev came up against Fernando Verdasco in the 1st round, who played an inspired match and stunned the young rising German star in four sets to put him out of the tournament.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also suffered an early exit as he took on an Argentine qualifier, Renzo Olivo and Olivo took a two sets to love lead in the match before Tsonga fought back and took the 3rd set and it looked poised for a decider. However Olivo managed to grab a final break of the Tsonga serve and with it he sent the 12th seed packing in four sets.
Nick Kyrgios also went out early from the tournament in the 2nd round as he was beaten by Kevin Anderson in four sets, which saw the young firey Aussie go out in the 2nd round of a major for the second consecutive time as he was also put out at that stage in the Australian open. Jack Sock, the 14th seed tumbled early too, as he was defeated by the big Czeck player, Jiri Vesely in straight sets.
As for other seeds that went out, Gilles Simon, one of the home hopes, was stunned in the 1st round by Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia in four sets. David Ferrer, a former finalist, suffered an early exit in the 2nd round as he was beaten by Feliciano Lopez in five sets. Lucas Pouille, another French home favourite, suffered an exit in the 3rd round at the hands of Albert Ramos Vinolas.
And last of all David Goffin, the talented Belgian and 10th seed was one of the casulaties of injury as he sprained his ankle badly as he slip and fell onto the ground covers, which forced him to retire from his 3rd round match in the 1st set against Horacio Zeballos.
TOP SEEDS PROGRESS INTO 2ND WEEK
As for the remaining top seeds, the World No.1, Andy Murray had come into the tournament in poor form as he had failed to win a match in his last two events in Madrid and Rome, which didn't say much for his chances in Roland Garros.
However, so far Andy has been able to prove the doubters wrong as he has succesfully made it into the 2nd week and with every match he has improved his form. Andy started off impressively enough with a four set win over Andrey Kuznetsov in the 1st round, however he was then pushed hard by Martin Klizan in the 2nd round, which he defeated in four tough sets.
In the 3rd round however, Andy really started to find his form as he defeated Juan-Martin del Potro who was on the comeback trail and big Delpo was unable to maintain his form against Andy, despite playing a great first set, the World No.1 went on to win the match in straight sets, handing a bagel set to Delpo in the 3rd. The 4th round however saw Andy put in an even better performance as he swept aside the talented, big hitting Russian, Karen Khachanov in straight sets to reach his first major quarter final of the season.
This now will see Andy take on the 8th seed, Kei Nishikori, who battled his way past Fernando Verdasco in four sets. Andy suffered a quarter final defeat to Nishikori at the US Open last season, however clay is not considered as Kei's best surface, so given Andy's current form its possible we might see him reach the semi finals but we'll just have to wait and see about that one first!
Whatever happens next, this has been a very impressive return to form for Andy so far in the tournament and its good to see that he is finding his mojo again on a tennis court as he continues to get better with each match.
As for the other top seeds, Novak Djokovic, the defending champion so far has shown some fairly solid form although he hasn't been quite at his best just yet. And after a couple of straight set wins in rounds 1 and 2, Nole was pushed to the limit by the talented and diminutive Argentine, Diego Schwartzman, who grabbed a two sets to one lead over Novak before the Serb hit back and sealed the win with the last two sets dropping only two more games to reach the 4th round. In the 4th round, Novak would face the Spaniard, Albert Ramos-Vinolas and despite a close first set, it was really no contest after that and the Serb closed out the match in straight sets 7-6, 6-1, 6-3, which was very entertaining and had its share of fun rallies.
So, this now sees Novak head into the quarter finals against a familiar foe, Dominic Thiem, who has been in very impressive form so far in the tournament and Thiem is yet to drop a set. However, Novak has dominated their head to head so far 5-0 and Thiem has only won a single set in all of their previous meetings. Despite this though, Thiem could still be dangerous to Novak in the tournament and it remains to be seen how Nole will respond to the Austrian's resistance.
Rafael Nadal on the other hand has shown totally dominant form so far at Roland Garros and he has managed to reach the quarter finals without even dropping a single set! In fact Rafa going into the semis hasn't lost any more than four games in one set to any of the players he has faced so far. And Rafa has looked mighty convincing against his opponents, particularly Nikoloz Basilashvili, whom he only dropped one game against in the whole match. Rafa also demolished his fellow Spaniard in the 4th round, Roberto Bautista-Agut as he dropped only five games for the match and won in 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the last eight, where Rafa will take on another Spaniard, Pablo Carreno-Busta.
And from here I think its safe to say that Rafa may well not be tested until he reaches the semi finals where he could potentially face Novak Djokovic or Dominic Thiem with Thiem being the last man to inflict defeat on Rafa. However given that Rafa has expended little energy going into the 2nd week is a big plus as he will be very fresh for he later rounds although you could also argue that his not being tested yet could go against him when he does face the likes of Djokovic or Thiem. Anyway's right now though, Rafa looks well on course to claim his 10th title at Roland Garros.
And last of all, Stan Wawrinka, the former champion two years ago, has also been in great form as he also has managed to reach the quarter finals without dropping a set to any of his opponents althoug he has dropped alot more games than Rafa has so far!
Regardless of this though, Stan again has shown his big match playing skills as he has convincingly defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov, Fabio Fognini and home favourite, Gael Monfils all in straight sets to reach the last eight. And we all know that Stan has the ability to quietly weave his way into a major and play better and better as he goes on, so it would not be surprising to see him reach the final and if he does that 2nd French open title just might be on the cards.
QUARTER FINAL PREDICTIONS
As for the quarter final matches in the men's draw, here are my thoughts on them....
Rafael Nadal vs Pablo Carreno Busta
This would appear to be another one-sided match up for Rafa as the Pablo Carreno Busta has only been able to take a single set off Rafa in all of their previous meetings. Also given that Rafa has been unplayable so far in the tournament, I find it unlikely that Carreno Busta will be able to make much of an impression in this match.
However Pablo has shown good resolve so far in the tournament and he did take a big scalp by defeating Milos Raonic in five sets in their 4th round match. However again problem here is that physically he will be left at a big disadvantage to a much fresher Rafa, who has not even dropped a set so far in the tournament.
So, for me this match should be another straight sets win for Rafa but I do think Pablo should be able to nab a few extra games more than Roberto Bautista Agut did in the 4th round match (or mis-match as it was!) before the King of clay marches on to the last four.
Novak Djokovic vs Dominic Thiem
This match is highly intriguing, although so far Novak has dominated their head to head 5-0 with Thiem also only scoring a single set against Nole in all of their meetings, so the signs look better for Novak than Thiem. By the same token though, Thiem has not dropped a set going into this match either, so he will be pretty fresh and up for this one, which could make it all the more dangerous for the defending champion.
So, this time around I'd expect a much sterner test from Thiem than their previous match, which was a demolition derby for Thiem as Novak thrashed the young Austrian in straight sets in Rome, dropping just one game. However I also still see Novak coming through this one but it won't be as anywhere easy as their Rome match, so I think Thiem will nab a set before Novak takes him out of the equation in four sets.
Andy Murray vs Kei Nishikori
This could be another very tough match between these two men and Kei managed to get one over Andy at the US Open last year although the Japanese No.1 couldn't even remember that he had beaten Andy in New York, during his press conference yesterday after he defeated Verdasco! So, this is again a very dangerous match up for both men and we should expect another big scrap.
However it has to be said though that Kei's form has been pretty up and down in the tournament so far as he was pushed to five sets by the talented youngster, Hyeon Chung of Korea (I think!) before he came through. Also in his previous match against Verdasco, Nishikori started badly as he was handed a bagel set by Fernando Verdasco but Kei managed to go on and win the next three sets with the 4th also being a 6-0 set.
Andy by contrast has just been getting better and better as the event has progressed after two ropey matches in the 1st and 2nd rounds, he has picked up his level dramatically is started to look more and more like the World No.1. Andy has also progressed much further historically at the French open than Kei has, who has only made it to the quarter finals, which should go in his favour.
So, I think this should be a tough match for Andy but I think he will come through it in at least four, maybe even five sets if Kei has the legs for it and hopefully for the World No.1, he will make it into the semis in Paris once more.
Stan Wawrinka vs Marin Cilic
As for this last match in the quarter final line-up of the mens', the former champ, Stan Wawrinka will take on the former US Open champ, Marin Cilic. Stan has yet to drop a set going into this match and in fact so is Cilic, so this should actually promise to be a pretty close match. The only problem here is for Cilic, who has not been able to defeat Stan in their five previous meetings and Stan has a commanding lead in their head to head 11-2.
So, for me there is only really one winner in this match and that is Stan but given how fresh Cilic is likely to be having not dropped a set yet, this should be a close one and I can easily so it go at least four sets. However in the end I do think that Stan will continue his dominant lead over the Croatian and he will find his way into the semi finals.
SIGN OFF
OK, so that's it for now and I will be back again soon with another update once the ladies and mens quarter final matches have been played.
Till then its bye for now!
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