Roland Garros Day 11: Is That a Full Day of Play or am I Still Dreaming?

Hey Y'all. Galileo here.

Righteo, after two days of rain this BACKSPINNER is ready to dive right back in. We’ve a lot of matches, though no five setters, to get through. We have three of our original top four left and 50 per cent of our top eight seeds remaining. So let’s get to it right away...


CHATRIER: DJOKOVIC D. BAUTISTA AGUT
...Due to rain the BACKSPIN edition today is going to be a little different. Fourth round matches, four of them to be precise, have first order of business followed by the quarterfinal matches, of which there are two. Djokovic was on major upset alert the whole match. There were 15 breaks in total in his 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 victory. Neither player was very good in the 70 minute contest. Novak went 45-54 on the winners count, which is very poor for his lofty standards. Agut went 31-49 which is also pretty bad. The top seed may have won this match but it was very scrappy and he only just scraped through it. It should really have gone five sets, but the Spaniard crumbled at 5-5 in the third. By now Djokovic has learned to turn it on when it matters and he did so here. One thing he did which totally surprised the BACKSPIN crew is he played 50 points at net. That is very rare for Djokovic, though it paid off. Now he must face the winner of the next match. Let me tell you that won’t be an easy one.
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LENGLEN: BERDYCH D. FERRER
...Berdman has reached his second consecutive quarterfinal at slam level with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 victory. He has made two quarterfinals in his career here and won one of them. You may remember him losing in five to Soderling in 2010. Anyway, he had a fourth round match against Ferrer. Playing against a wall like Ferrer can be frustrating. The Czech won 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 though Ferru certainly had his chances. It was a scrappy match, but strangely Ferrer didn’t break once. He had nine chances to do so but failed on all of them. It was closer than it looked, with Ferrer nearly stealing the second set, but Tomas eventually rolled through to the quarters. The 32 winners might well help him if he can do the same thing against Djokovic. If Djokovic lost it would rock the tennis world. Still, it looks as if Djokovic is finally bound for glory. Will the Czech be the one who stops him?
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COURT ONE : GOFFIN D. GULBIS
...Yes, the four fourth round matches all ended up on different courts. One each on the four largest stadiums. This one, played on the bullring, went four. Goffin won 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. Is this a Gulbis resurgence or a final farewell? This fourth round at a slam may be his swan song. And that’s sad. This is a player who could and should have won slams. He was the inspiration for the Tomic’s of this world and deserved better. Yes, he deserved better than this. But he didn’t work hard enough. He didn’t find the consistency. And so all we can talk about is the wasted potential, what could have been. Goffin, who went 18-16 on winners, is too solid, too effective to be beaten by mere talent. He broke 7 times to 2 and let Gulbis go 44-68 on unforced errors. That’s where the match was lost; 68 errors in 35 games. Though of course double faulting on match point did not help, either. You can’t hit two errors a game and hope to win. It’s too much. Goffin now plays a rising star. But in a career defining match can he triumph?
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COURT TWO: THIEM D. GRANOLLERS
...When Nadal retired Thiem surely threw a party. His way was clear, unblocked. His match against Granollers was never going to be easy but the young Austrian was so professional it beggared belief. The thirteenth seed won through 6-2, 6-7[2], 6-1, 6-4. Granollers, with that grunt and the doubles experience, is a tough cookie. He has also been to a slam fourth round previously so he doesn’t fear the occasion. But the Austrian broke six times, losing serve just once. He also hit 55 winners to 41 errors. He was supreme throughout the match and did not let up. Thiem is the slight favourite against Goffin and could easily win the title. It no longer sounds absurd. Granollers has cracked the top fort again and can hold his head up high. He has a chance for revenge now against Goffin. The Belgian won in Melbourne this year in four in the third round. Goffin also leads the head to head 4-2. One of those wins for Thiem did come in the Gstaad final last year, however. With the winner being guaranteed a top ten position, who will crack?
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CHATRIER: MURRAY D. GASQUET
...Murray won 5-7, 7-6[3], 6-0, 6-2 but it all hung on one point. Up 3-2 in the second set breaker, Gasquet’s forehand off another Murray drop shot clipped the net and gave the Scot an easy put away. Murray, because he’s quite unpleasant, fist pumped, of course, and went on to take the breaker. A quarter of an inch higher and who knows. The first set was remarkable - Gasquet came back from 2-5 to take the opening set in 65 minutes. Down 30-40 at five-all, Muzza double faulted. It took Gasquet almost ten minutes to hold but he did so. He also recovered from 2-5 and 3-5 in consecutive sets. Stats do not matter here. This was about grit and heart. And while Murray did hit 50 drop shots in the match, and that’s genuinely a low estimate, he was able to out-edge Gasquet. The maiden Roland Garros quarterfinalist had nothing left in the last two sets. He will rise to at least nine in the new rankings but he still cannot beat the one who will not shave. Murray faces Wawrinka. For the sake of a pleasant and watchable final we must hope the Swiss wins. Murray does have talent but his temperament and image are so dour and awful it is hard to appreciate his better attributes. As for Gasquet, well, can he defend all those hard-won Wimbledon points?
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LENGLEN: WAWRINKA D. RAMOS-VINOLAS
...The Spaniard had already risen 23 places to 32 and had nothing to lose. He played alright, but he was never going to beat Wawrinka. The Swiss man was just in a different league to the Spaniard. 32 is the 28 year old Spaniard’s highest ranking by some way. Another late bloomer, like Stepanek and Benneteau, the Spaniard has come alive this year in particular. Wawrinka cruised to a 6-2, 6-1, 7-6[7] win in some two hours. Despite Murray leading the head to head 8-7, Wawrinka has more rest and will be more confident come Friday. The third seed admitted that even up 6-2, 6-1, 4-2 he knew the Spaniard wasn’t done. But the Swiss star hit 49 winners to 10. What more is there to say when the gap is that big?
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Mladenovic is back. She is the only player still in the mixed and the doubles. She and Garcia, The 5th seeds defeated Bertens/Larsson and will play Kuznetsova/Gasparayan for a place in the final. Played on court two, though in fairer weather it would have made Lenglen, the French duo won 7-5, 6-3. With five breaks of serve they were on fine form. They need to win more than 50 per cent of second serves, but Mladenovic making her fourth slam semi is still impressive. It's her third in a row here with one final back in 2014 to show for her run. They are the highest seeds remaining.

@KikiMladenovic #KikiWall #Pinball pic.twitter.com/01YfqyizQT

— Daniele M. (@ErTenebra) June 1, 2016

Another crazy point by @KikiMladenovic #shenevergiveup #NoBraids pic.twitter.com/GNoTE4oyYP

— Daniele M. (@ErTenebra) June 1, 2016

In the mixed, she and Herbert [3rd seeds] won against 8th seeded Vandeweghe/Bryan 2-6, 6-2, 13-11, saving two match points in the breaker. Both pairs broke twice, though the Frenchies were 100% on break points converted. In the mixed they are the second highest seeds still alive. Kiki has had a very impressive doubles tournament.


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