Day 4 Roland Garros Update

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

Twas a sunny day in beautiful Paris and plenty of action ensued on both sides. Federer came and conquered with the usual Swiss efficiency, whilst Monfils made the third round in a great match between two of the most mercurial players out there. The seeds, it appears, are still managing to avoid any major upsets but in the next couple of rounds many seeds will depart from Roland Garros having fulfilled their seedings or having fallen short of their predicted round of exit. In the doubles, Lipsky/ Gonzalez -seeded 11- went down in three and Knowle/Polasek, the fifteenth seeds, also crashed out in two tiebreakers to Murray/Peers. All the other seeds including the second, third, fifth and eighth seeds advanced.

The French crowd were, as usual, a factor in the match of the day. I personally am a fan of the French crowd and think they add a lot of spice to the event. The British crowd are polite and never boo or hiss. They also have a code for the crowd- no clapping on faults and only polite clapping on errors. The NY crowd are very vocal for home favourites and love the chants, whilst the Aussies just want to see good tennis and love live sports with a passion whilst still cheering for their own, of course. But the French are a different animal altogether. They treat their own like demi-gods and for some like Gasquet the pressure is almost too much to handle. However, players like Monfils thrive on the pressure. Actually, I get the feeling now that Gasquet is becoming better at using the crowd in some ways. I do remember Hingis in that '99 final aggravating the crowd by arguing with the umpire. From then, seemingly in unison, the entire crowd went against Hingis. She never did win the French.

Which big seeds fell in the mens singles? None. The closest was when Benny went two sets to none up but crumbled then recovered to win through 6-4 in the fifth.


MARQUEE MATCH: Monfils def. Gulbis
...This one had classic written all over it. If I had to nominate the top five matches of the season based on quality then this and Monfils' opening round would be up there. He and Gulbis battled through two tiebreakers -splitting them- playing imaginative tennis. Some of the balls Monfils managed to track down were just amazing. He is the most amazing athlete and right now French tennis is so strong. It isn't just that, it's the sheer strength in depth. Benny is ranked 32 yet he is the French number six. Anyway, Gulbis will be a seed for the US Open, if not Wimby whilst Monfils faces Robredo next and he could make it to the quarters, too.
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ROSOL MOMENT: Pablos Cuevas, URG
...Cuevas nicked the opening set off fifteenth seed Simon before succumbing 6-7, 6-1, 6-1 and 6-1. I suppose pushing the fifteenth seed to four could be considered a bit of a Rosol moment but there were no real upsets yesterday unfortunately.
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ISNER-MAHUT WANNABES: Zeballos/Pospisil, ARG/CAN
...On court eight it was a South vs. North Americas duel. For 4 Hours and 34 minutes, too. Zeballos won the first two sets 7-6, 6-4 before losing the next two 7-6, 6-2 to find himself at two sets apiece. He finally edged the final set 8-6 in seventy minutes to see himself through. The only man other than Nodjo to defeat Rafa on clay this year is a floater and can maybe knock out a seed or two here.
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BLINK AND YOU MISS IT: Federer/Devvarman, SUI/IND
...6-2, 6-1,6-1 in an hour and 20 minutes. There is something, almost purely natural, almost like poetry in motion about watching Federer play. The way he plays is special, it's gorgeous. This is all a cliche but I think Federer is one of the most if not the most elegant and stylish player ever. What I wouldn't give to watch Federer and Henin play mixed doubles together.
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ELVIS AWARD: Tommy Robredo, ESP
...He came from two sets down to Sijsling to win. He lost the first two 7-6, 6-4 before rolling through the last three 6-3, 6-1 and 6-1. He will face Monfils then probably Almagro so he is in a loaded section of the draw.
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HOME GROWN HERO: Jeremy Chardy, FRA
...Chardy could be headed for a top twenty debut soon. Seeded 25 here, he faces Tsonga in all-French clash tomorrow for a place in the fourth round, presumably on Chatrier. The French crowd will really be getting into that one, too.
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I shall now quickly preveiw some of tommorrow's action...


*Round 2*
=Phillippe Chatrier=
Djokovic [1] d. Pella
...He shouldn't really break sweat either here...

Gasquet [7] d. Przysiezny
...The Pole shall have to contend with the crowd, the occasion and Gasquet himself. This will be a straight sets victory for the Frenchman who is surely heading for the quarterfinals here.

=Suzanne Lenglen=
Nadal [3] d. Klizan
...Klizan is a good player and he will able to improve on his set of skills after this free tennis lesson from Nadal.

=Upset Potential=
Zeballos v. [9] Wawrinka
...You never know, especially with that tricky lefty game Zeballos has.

Verdasco v. [8] Tipsarevic
...With Verdasco, who knows what could happen.

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