Roland Garros Day Trois

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.



Yes, someone actually wore that. I think, in fact, we should take a minute and appreciate that this was worn by someone, somewhere, at least once. Thank you to Courtney Nguyen for that gem.

(Ed.note: And Bernard Tomic, too, of course. Haha. - TDS)

The seeds continue to tumble. The dark horses keep falling. Being a seed right now is dangerous. We have lost six seeds already and we haven't even completed the first round. Tomorrow, several seeds are vulnerable. Youzhny plays Stepanek and Tsonga has drawn Melzer. Both of those seeds, 15 and 13 respectively I believe, are beatable, both are on poor form, and both have a difficult opponent.

There are several players literally sneaking in under the radar. Ferrer is someone few have talked about and he is last year's finalist and the fifth seed here. Then you have Berdych, Gasquet, and Fognini who are also not being talked about despite being very dangerous. The French Open should be going to Nadal, but nothing is certain yet.

Not too much out of court drama happened yesterday, even with JJ around, but the on-court drama is compelling. Steve Johnson has fought his way back from two sets down. Then, leading 3-1 in the fifth against a young French opponent, bad luck and light struck. Now he has to close it out on a new day. Can the American journeyman and American number four [I think] finish off his inexperienced opponent? Only time will tell.

But anyway, day three must be gone over and so I shall do that now...


MARQUEE MATCH: FERRER d. SIJSLING
...Yes, Ferrer was put on PC whilst Nadal got relegated to the second court. Mind you, the French are understandably a bit annoyed at Nadal's monopoly of this event. At this point he is building hotels and houses on Roland Garros. Anyone who lands here has to pay the price. But Ferrer is the fifth best tennis player in the whole world. He is also last year's beaten finalist. He was a worthy finalist, too, but not, it turns out, a worthy opponent for Nadal. Nadal dismissed Ferrer 6-2/6-3/6-2. This year he could again make the final and I would not bat an eyelid but I would bat an eyelid if he beats Rafa. He opened with a test. Sijsling has an aggressive all court game with a nice serve. He is not consistent, however, and the way to defeat him really is solid defense. Ferrer needed just 100 minutes to advance to the next round . As his opponent's challenge waned, Ferrer's willpower grew culminating in a 6-4/6-3/6-1 victory. Ferrer kept a tight ship, going 18-21 with winners whilst his opponent went 21-53. Ferrer was able to control the match and his opponent throughout the hour and forty minute match. Ferrer plays Bolelli next, a qualifier from Italy, before Monaco or Seppi. I do not think he will drop more than a set in those matches. With Dimitrov going out, Ferrer's path is clear.
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Un autre match intéressant: GASQUET d. TOMIC
...Gasquet needed just 97 minutes to dismantle Tomic in front of an adoring French crowd. 6-2/6-1/7-5 was a far cry from their tense, tight four-setter at Wimbledon last year. Different surface, different slam, different result. Two of the most entertaining players on tour exchanged unique shots on Lenglen. Tomic with that forehand [I'm not sure if it is technically better or worse than Gulbis' forehand] that no one else hits. And Gasquet with that backhand. Gasquet is a dark horse here. He was playing the tennis of his life before the injury and he has made finals this year. He played well against Tomic, too. He hit 33 winners, 6 aces, and just 12 errors. Tomic hit thirty winners, too, but he also missed 36 times. Gasquet played a tight match with a surprising amount of control. Now that Wawrinka has exited, Gasquet against Murray looks to be a virtual quarterfinal if both can get there, though nothing is guarenteed in a slam.
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ROSOL MOMENT: KARLOVIC D. DIMITROV
...And the big seeds just keep on falling. By out-acing his opponent 22-11 with just two double faults to 6 Karlovic advanced to the next round. 22 aces is five and a half free service games. So, essentially a free set. I interrupt this to say that Muguruza has just taken the opening set against S.Williams by six games to two. Anyway, I didn't pick this as an upset because Karlovic is just a serve. I thought on clay Dimitrov could break and then just make it difficult for Karlovic in the Croat's service games. Dimitrov had 22 unforced errors whilst his opponent had 19. He also hit 45 winners to 42 overall. He didn't play badly but he only had one break point (unconverted) the entire match. Dr. Ivo managed to convert two of his four. Having ousted the 11th seed 6-4/7-5/7-6 in 118 minutes, the big man will now move on to play Haider-Maurer.
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ISNER-MAHUT WANNABE'S: MICHON D. KLAHN
...S.Williams now down a set and a double break. It took Michon about 3 hours and 45 minutes to finally get past. Klhan 6-1/6-7/5-7/6-1/6-4. 161 combined errors later, the French crowd were cheering. It was a scrappy tight affair, drama-filled but not quality-filled sadly. It was like a five set WTA match in some ways but the French crowd really came into their own.

Serena Williams has gone. She is out. The French curse has struck. With Williams turning 33 this year, how many more French Opens does she have in her? With that loss does she have any chance of catching Graf? I think Court's total is out of reach now. Muguruza played the match of her life and hit deep on so many balls, served like a cannon and just played out of her skin brilliantly. Is there anyone now who can stop Sharapova? The draw surely belongs to her now.

Anyway, our epic of yesterday concluded with the French being the happiest with the result. The French crowd is the best grand slam crowed in my opinion. Each is excellent in its own way, but the French crowd is a factor. It can actually physically afffect matches like no other crowd can. Just ask Martina Hingis [or Mrs. Graf].
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BLINK AND YOU MISS IT: CUEVAS/EBDEN
...6-1/6-2/6-3. 79 minutes. No, Cuevas did not play brilliantly. His Australian opponent was just very poor. There are no excuses. 34 errors is too many. Cuevas was solid and all he needed to be was solid.
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ELVIS AWARD: HAIDER-MAURER, AUT
...In 186 minutes the Austrian came back from the dead to beat Brands. He won 4-6/4-6/6-2/6-3/6-4. Brands even had a break in that final set. Brands nearly beat Nadal last year but this year he couldn't even put away the Austrian ranked outside the top 100. It is disappointing from Brands, to be honest.
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HOME GROWN HERO: MONFILS, FRA
...He is the French favourite. Well, one of then. The man who would dance won in four sets over Hanescu. Monfils won in two and a half hours 6-2/4-6/6-4/6-2. He even threw in ten aces, a surprising amount. With 58 aces and just 47 errors, we saw a consistent Monfils, a tactically astute Monfils. His opponent ended up with 28 errors and winners, a fair amount. There were an incredible 29 break points in this match with 12 of those being capitilized upon. The rallies were long and the crowd raucous. It was a typical French open match. Monfil plays better here, he uses the crowd. He does what Gasquet does not -- he does not cower from the pressure, but embraces it. Uses it. He plays JL Struff next. That is not so daunting. His third round match will be against Bellucci or Fognini. Expect fireworks there because Monfils isn't going to lose to Struff. He must hope the crowd turns up for his third round match.
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Any other notes?

* - Never before have both the reigning singles champions of the Aussie exited that year's French in the opening round.

* - Gasquet is back? Or is he? Either way, that quarter of the draw is blown right open. Both Murray and Gasquet look vulnerable, though Gasquet was impressive today.

* - John Inverdale and Marion Bartoli are on the same commentating team. Ironically, she looks amazing. Not a looker? I don't think so, John.
The scheduling for this tournament is weird. It's very French -- Federer and Nadal we will stick on Lenglen, but Wawrinka must go on Chatrier. Mind you, they got it spot on with regards to entertainment value.

* - The fashion so far hasn't exactly blown me away. I have not seen much that has made me stop and look. Federer has been passable as has Djokovic. Kvitova's thing was bizarre.

* - The weather has been threatening but so far it has just about held firm. This bodes well for next week.


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