Roland Garros Day Eight

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

Well, well, well. Federer is out. He looked shaky all day long and Gulbis knows how to cause an upset or two. He had the look of a beaten man going into that fifth set. Regardless of that loss, he will still be my pick for Wimbledon. I find it odd that out of the top four seeds on either side, only three [at the most] will make the quarters. Federer will move to Halle now.

Djokovic really has been in commanding form. I can't see anyone who isn't Spanish stopping him. Luckily for him, all the Spaniards are in the top half of the draw.

The weather has been solid and we should hope it continues. Can someone else please seed the mixed next time please? Only the third, fifth and eighth seeds are left. Zimonjic/Goerges, the eighth seeds, are our first quarterfinalists. They beat second seeds Bopanna/Srebotnik. Golubev and Groth beat Sock and Sousa 6-4/6-3 in the mens doubles. They get Kubot/Lindstedt, the ninth seeds. Draganja/Mergea also came through. They beat Lopez/Melzer 7-5/6-3. The Cinderella pair play Nestor/Zimonjic. I don't think the Croatia/Romania team will get past the third seeds. Also the eleventh seeded French pair of Vasselin/ Benneteau beat the fifth seeded pairing of Llodra/Mahut when they retired. With Llodra saying goodbye at the end of the season, it is a sad farewell to France's grande tennis tournament. The eleventh seeds face an all Argentine pair starring Juan Monaco.

Right, well I suppose I should talk about what happened yesterday then.


MARQUEE MATCH: GULBIS d. FEDERER
...Federer hit a landmine. And it blew up in his face. Constantly 0/30 down on serve and always fighting not only his opponent but his errant backhand, Federer finally succumbed to the talented Gulbis in five epic sets. Federer knew this was a tough test and he knew that Gulbis was going to come out swinging with nothing to lose. Federer has said mentally he is already in Halle and that is again the right attitidue. Grass is my favourite surface, too, even though I am rubbish on it. I suppose that's the main difference between me and Roger -- he's very good on grass [the best ever?] and I am awful, but at least I enjoy every moment of it. Anyway, it took Gulbis three hours and forty minutes to finally win 6-7/7-6/6-2/4-6/6-3. He hit thirteen aces to seven and broke Fed's serve seven times, but did lose his five times. He went 53-53 in the winners count but Federer went 42-59. Essentially Federer came out flat and Gulbis played amazing from start to finish and pushed Federer to breaking point and beyond. Gulbis used his two-handed backhand to break down Federer's backhand wing and the drop shot to move him to different areas of the court. The court looks a bigger place when you're playing Gulbis and Fed sure felt the effects of that. His forehand was not working and that, too, proved to be another factor in yet another early departure for Federer in Paris. I get the feeling that Federer does not care about the French Open so much anymore. His focus will now be on Wimbledon and the US Open. He has not won the US Open since 2008 despite winning it five times in a row from 2004-08. Expect a big summer from the Swiss number one. Well, the soon-to-be Swiss number one. Berdych up next for Gulbis. Can he beat Berdych? I don't think so but time will tell. I do not think so because there is the Federer curse to bear in mind. Those who beat him usually lose in the next round.
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Un autre match intéressant: DJOKOVIC d. TSONGA
...It barely lasted 90 minutes. The disappointment will last a lot longer. 38 errors from Tsonga and just 55 per cent of first serves won. It's a classic Djokovic. It's simple -- Djokovic played stifling defence, returned Tsonga into the ground and forced the Frenchman to hit bigger and go for more. The Frenchman decided to acquiesce to Djokovic's request. And then Djokovic romped through 6-1/6-4/6-1. Only Djokovic can utterly thrash someone through sheer defense. Djokovic goes on to play Raonic and I think the winner of that makes the final.
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THIRD ROUND : BERDYCH D. ISNER
...Tomas Berdych is playing well. He is in that kind of form where nobody really wants to face him. He is in the 2010 Wimbledon form and the form which has seen him upset the best the sport has to offer. He is hitting that forehand well and serving big. He needed just 111 minutes to ease past big John Isner 6-4/6-4/6-4. He grabbed three breaks from eight, one in each set, whilst Isner had just two opportunities and took neither. The Czech also had 36 winners, 11 aces, and just 15 errors. Isner had 7 aces and went 26-29 on winners. No, Isner did not have his best day. He played fine but he was out-aced and out-served. When that happens he is usually in trouble. If he cannot out-serve opponents, then he has no way of beating them. Isner has had a solid, respectable tournament, reaching the fourth round for the first time here. He is also once more the last American standing. He has made the quarters of a slam just once before. It was in 2011 in the USA [surprisingly] but he lost to Murray there.
Berdych plays Gulbis next. Who knows what's going to happen? Literally anything could happen there.
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THIRD ROUND : MURRAY D. KOHLSCHREIBER
...Sad that there had to be a loser. It was Murray who won in the end, in four hours and seven minutes. 3-6/6-3/6-3/4-6/12-10 over two days. With 186 points won but 189 lost Kohl could not quite cause the upset as Murray eventually came through. To be honest, though, that kind of match just wipes out both players and stops them from going much further. With a combined 142 winners [but 123 errors, too] this was literally some match. I watched some of it and the rallies were incredible. The backhand exchanges in particular were amazing with Kohl using his variety and his sheer power to negate Murray's one dimensional baseline game. Murray's drop shot wasn't working particularly well, either -- a problem for him. In fact, Murray was not playing brilliantly it has to be said, but he found a way like he usually does. Kohl served really well and Murray had to return as best he could because the German was literally on fire. The German moves now to the grass, possibly Halle. He does well on the grass with that big serve and slice backhand. He will definitely be a dangerous one at Wimbledon. Murray will continue his Parisian journey though not, one would think, for much longer. Murray plays Verdasco now. If that goes beyond four sets, it has to be Verdasco. Murray did not come in in full fitness anyway, having struggled with injury over the past 8 months. I think that if Verdasco takes a set, Murray won't get past the quarterfinals because of the physical toll.
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THIRD ROUND : VERDASCO D. GASQUET
...Quet has finally folded. He has ran out of gas. He was poor, hitting few winners and 25 errors. The question mark over Gasquet's fitness was a big one. He has played well through the tournament, but an on-fire Verdasco proved to be too much for the beleagured Frenchman. Gasquet has been in acceptable form and he has had an acceptable tournament. In fact, none of the Frenchman have really disappointed especially when compared to their form and their realistic expectations. Verdasco claimed victory in two hours, with forty winners to just twenty unforced errors. It was a consistent, yet aggressive, display from the Spaniard who owns that forehand. He bullied Gasquet with it, breaking down the forehand wing of the French number one. He also attacked the second serve and made the Frenchman defend. He played it 'textbookly' and that as why he won. He also won because Gasquet has been out for a while. Verdasco plays Murray and if he uses his head he should win. What he needs to do is to move Murray around the court. If he does that for three or four sets, Murray should run out of energy.
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Any other notes?

* - Federer should win Halle again. If Nadal does not withdraw he will be a finalist. If he does, Federer will win it. Gasquet, Raonic and Nishikori won't beat Fed in Halle. Nice draw for Queens- Wawrinka, Berman, Murray and Dimitrov.

* - Raonic is really good on this surface and in general. Welcome to the big time! He beat Granollers 6-3/6-3/6-3 and will face Djokovic.

* - If all the Spaniards win their matches tomorrow [a strong possibility] then we will have a Spaniard in the final. Five bucks says it's going to be Nadal.

* - Llodra is retiring and this is his final goodbye to the clay of Paris. He serve-volleyed his way to the fourth round in '04 and '08. Henman beat him 9-7 in the fifth in 2004 and in 2008 Gulbis did him in straights.

* - Worrying signs for Federer. He just could not hit the backhand properly and looked a little flat, too.

* - America is now not doing well. Only Sloane remains, I think. She has a shot at beating Halep and let us hope she takes it. Top five seeds all gone before the quarters? I just want to watch the world burn. But seriously I am tired of waiting for Future Sloane.

* - Nadal plas Lajovic today. How many games will he drop? I say 7. Djokovic has been very impressive. Very very impressive.

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