Roland Garros 2010 Women's Quarterfinals

By MadProfessah

Here are my predictions for the women's quarterfinals at Roland Garros this year.

Serena Williams USA (1) vs. Samantha Stosur AUS (7) Justine Henin BEL (22). For the second year in a row, the winner of the tournament will be decided in the quarterfinal in which Serena Williams competes. Last year, Serena lost a nervy, tension-filled (frankly, ugly) quarterfinal match to eventual champion, Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. This year instead of playing the 4-time Roland Garros champion Henin (who had a 24-match winning streak since Tathiana Garbin beat the 2003 defending champion in the second round at this tournament in 2004) Serena will face last year's semifinalist Samantha Stosur. The Serena-Justine showdown had been the most anticipated match on either side of the draw, even in a section of the draw called the "quarter of death" by Brad Gilbert. However, thanks to the hard-hitting, brilliant-serving Sam Stosur, that storyline is now dismissed from the tournament. Serena and Sam have only played four times (all on hard courts) with Stosur winning once, in Stanford last year. Serena is a woman on a mission, and will not be denied her chance to reach another Roland Garros final. PREDICTION: Serena in 3 sets.

Yaroslava Shvedova KAZ vs. Jelena Jankovic SRB (4). Surely Jelena Jankovic is too strong a defensive player to go through her entire career without winning a major? She made it to the 2008 U.S. Open final (losing to Serena in two close sets) but I believe that it is clay where her particular skills should be rewarded the most. Following that first major final Jankovic fell into a major downward spiral (although not as precipitous a decline as her Serbian countrywoman Ana Ivanovic, who although she possesses the 2008 French Open title still does not own a reliable second (or first) serve.) Jankovic has played well on clay this year, having beaten both Williams sisters on her way to the Rome final (which she lost). She should seize on the good fortune of not being in the "quarter of death" and sneak into her second major final. PREDICTION: Jankovic in 2 sets.

Francesca Schiavone ITA (17) vs. Caroline Wozniacki DEN (3). Wozniacki can regain the World #2 ranking by getting to the final, although I suspect her current Italian opponent and future Russian opponent will do their best to help maintain Venus Williams' hold on that position. This is the veteran Schiavone's 4th career quarterfinal, her second in Paris since reaching that lofty height in her debut at the tournament in 2001. The young Dane had never been past the 4th round of a major despite being on the tour for 3 years until her major breakthrough in New York (over Svetlana Kuznetsova in one of the very best matches of 2009) last year, where she lost the final to Kim Clijsters. In these clashes between wily veteran and talented youngster it is often the older player who comes out the loser because they more viscerally understand the significance (and rarity) of the moment and I expect this case to be no different. Youth will be served, again. PREDICTION:Wozniacki in 2 sets.

Elena Dementieva RUS (5) vs. Nadia Petrova RUS (19) Venus Williams USA (2). Oh, Venus! After getting past her 3rd Round Roland Garros jinx easily she meekly went out to the hard-hitting, mentally fragile Petrova on a cold wet day in straight sets, losing to someone she had never lost to on any surface. Sigh. Soon to turn 30 years-old, and for once blessed with a draw that had all the deadliest players in the other half for once, Venus couldn't keep it together long enough to make another deep run at the clay major, despite having amassed a very good record on clay this year. Petrova has always done well in Paris, first breaking through here at age 17 into the semifinals in 2003. Her opponent, Elena Dementieva, has quietly snuck through the draw, losing only one set in a tiebreak to Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada, with almost no one discussing her chances despite being a finalist here in 2004 and having played the best women's match on tour last year. Matches between the Russians are very often hideous, tight affairs with one player losing worse than the other instead of one player winning decisively. That's what I expect to see in this match. Head-to-head there's not much between these two, they are tied 7-7 in career matches, 2-2 in clay court matches and 1-1 in grand slam matches. Petrova has won exactly 2 major quarterfinal matches before, here in Paris, while the 6-month-older Dementieva has won 8 major quarterfinals, although only one in Paris. PREDICTION: Dementieva in 3 sets.

Roland Garros 2010 Men's Quarterfinals

BY MadProfessah

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at Roland Garros in 2010.

Roger Federer SUI (1) vs. Robin Soderling SWE (5). This quarterfinal is a repeat of last year's final, which Federer won relatively easily in straight sets. Although Soderling has not beaten Federer in an official ATP Tour match in 12 tries, he did beat the World #1 at an exhibition earlier this year in Abu Dhabi and having beaten Rafael Nadal in what some people call the greatest upset ever, the tall, powerful Swede knows he has the game to end Federer's jawdropping streak of 23 consecutive major semifinals. In fact, this match is very important to Federer, not only due to the semifinals streak, but also because he needs to win it in order to be certain that he will break Pete Sampras' record of 286 weeks at #1 before Wimbledon. Federer has yet to drop a set in Paris this year, but I am sure that he will take the challenge posed by Soderling seriously, even though the 6'4", 195-pound ballcrusher has only ever won two tie-break sets against him. After all, it is very possible to never lose your serve and still lose the match! Some say that Federer is losing his edge now that he is a husband, father and broken the major singles title record. I disagree, even though the fact is that Federer has already lost 6 matches this year (to Nadal, Tomas Berdych, Ernests Gulbis, Marcos Baghdatis, Albert Montanes, and Nikolay Davydenko). Regardless, I think that there is an inexorable march towards another Nadal-Federer final. PREDICTION: Federer in 4 sets.

Tomas Berdych CZE (15) vs. Mikhail Youzhny RUS (11). Berdych has been playing really well this year, and made a huge mental breakthrough by finally ending his losing streak against Roger Federer earlier this year in Miami. He has been demolishing his way through the draw, not dropping a set despite playing good clay court players like John Isner and Andy Murray. Youzhny got lucky in the previous round since an injured Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was forced to retire after losing the first set. Although head-to-head Youzhny leads Berdych 6-4 in career ATP matches, I believe the in-form Czech will take out the (un)lucky Russian. PREDICTION: Berdych in 4 sets.

Jurgen Melzer AUT (22) Teimuraz Gabashvili RUS vs. Novak Djokovic SRB (3). Gabashvili blew Andy Roddick off the court in the 3rd round in straight sets, blasting forehands into the corners of the court and defly handing the American's deflated serve easily. However, he was unable to repeat this performance on the clay against the wily lefty veteran Melzer, who like Samantha Stosur on the women's side, had previously experienced success and fame on the doubles court and used that to build confidence on the singles court. Melzer was one of the few Top 30 players never to reach the fourth round of a major, and now he finds himself in a quarter playing Djokovic. The World #3 has had mental lapses in the second set in three of the four matches he has played at Roland Garros this year. If that happens again, perhaps Melzer can find a way to win the resulting best-of-3 match. All the pressure will be on the higher ranked player to reach a 3rd semifinal against Nadal, who took out the Serb in that round in 2007 and 2008. Roland Garros 2010 is looking like a replay of those years, with another Nadal-Federer final. PREDICTION:Djokovic in 4 sets.

Nicolas Almagro ESP (19) Fernando Verdasco ESP (7) vs. Rafael Nadal ESP (2). The Verdasco and Nadal played one of the best matches of the year (probably of the decade) in the semifinals of the 2009 Australian Open, a five-hour, thrilling slugfest that both competitors were ennobled simply by their participation, although of course there was only one winner (Nadal). Almagro dashed hopes for a reprise of that thrilling Melbourne showdown by taking out Verdasco in four sets. Although Almagro has never beaten Nadal on any surface in 6 attempts, he did start off the match very strong when they played the Madrid Masters semifinal. It i beyond belief that Almagro could maintain that level of play over 5 sets in Paris when he could not do it for 2 sets in Madrid. PREDICTION: Nadal in 4 sets.

Roland Garros 2010 Day 9 Order Of Play

Reuters

Jurgen Melzer follows up his upset-of-the-tournament victory over David Ferrer and has just become a Grand Slam quarterfinalist for the first time in his career at the ripe old age of 29. Raise your hand if you saw this coming.


AP

The little backhand that couldn't. It was a long time coming, but Justine Henin finally loses her first match at Roland Garros in six years. Samantha Stosur got over herself and sent the diminutive one packing.

Schedule for Day 9: Monday, 31 May 2010

Court Philippe Chatrier 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Robby Ginepri (USA) v. Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3]
2. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Serena Williams (USA)[1] v. Shahar Peer (ISR)[18]
3. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)[24] v. Rafael Nadal (ESP)[2]
4. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)[4] v. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)[23]

Court Suzanne Lenglen 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) v. Jurgen Melzer (AUT)[22]
Not Before 13:00
2. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Justine Henin (BEL)[22] v. Samantha Stosur (AUS)[7]
3. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[7] v. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)[19]
4. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Jarmila Groth (AUS) v. Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)

Court 1 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Lukasz Kubot (POL)/Oliver Marach (AUT)[6] v. Stephen Huss (AUS)/Andre Sa (BRA)
2. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Julien Benneteau (FRA)/Michael Llodra (FRA)[15] v. Wesley Moodie (RSA)/Dick Norman (BEL)[4]
3. Women's Doubles - Fourth Round
Liezel Huber (USA)/A. Medina Garrigues (ESP)[3] v. Gisela Dulko (ARG)/Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[5]
4. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Monica Niculescu (ROU)/Shahar Peer (ISR) v. Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/Jie Zheng (CHN)[10]
5. Women's Doubles - Fourth Round
Serena Williams (USA)/Venus Williams (USA)[1] v. Maria Kirilenko (RUS)/Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[11]

Court 2 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor (ESP) v. Leolia Jeanjean (FRA)
Not Before 13:00
2. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Thierry Ascione (FRA)/Laurent Recouderc (FRA) v. Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/Marcin Matkowski (POL)[8]
3. Mixed Doubles - Third Round
Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/Oliver Marach (AUT)[3] v. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Max Mirnyi (BLR)[5]
4. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Alona Bondarenko (UKR)/Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)[4]/Samantha Stosur (AUS)[4]

Court 3 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Taro Daniel (JPN) v. Lucas Pouille (FRA)
2. Girls' Singles - Second Round
Ester Goldfeld (USA) v. Amandine Hesse (FRA)
Not Before 13:00
3. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/Bruno Soares (BRA) v. Cara Black (ZIM)/Leander Paes (IND)[2] To Finish 5-7 2-0
4. Boys' Singles - Second Round
Gianni Mina (FRA)[3] v. Alessandro Colella (ITA)
5. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Vania King (USA)/Christopher Kas (GER) v. Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)

Face Of The Day

Getty

Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic celebrates match point during the men's singles fourth round match against Andy Murray of Great Britain at the French Open on day eight of the French Open at Roland Garros on May 30, 2010 in Paris, France.

::

Men's Singles - Fourth Round
[1] R Federer (SUI) d [20] S Wawrinka (SUI) 63 76(5) 62
[15] T Berdych (CZE) d [4] A Murray (GBR) 64 75 63
[5] R Soderling (SWE) d [10] M Cilic (CRO) 64 64 62
[11] M Youzhny (RUS) d [8] J Tsonga (FRA) 62 ret. (back)

Women's Singles - Fourth Round
(19) Nadia Petrova (RUS) d. (2) Venus Williams (USA) 64 63
(3) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. (14) Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 76(5) 67(4) 62
(5) Elena Dementieva (RUS) d. (Q) Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) 61 63
(17) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. (30) Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 64 64

Women's Singles - Third Round
(22) Justine Henin (BEL) d. (12) Maria Sharapova (RUS) 62 36 63

Men's Doubles - Third Round
[2] D Nestor (CAN) / N Zimonjic (SRB) d G Rufin (FRA) / A Sidorenko (FRA) 67(2) 64 63
[3] L Dlouhy (CZE) / L Paes (IND) d S Gonzalez (MEX) / T Rettenmaier (USA) 63 64
M Lopez (ESP) / P Riba (ESP) d [9] F Cermak (CZE) / M Mertinak (SVK) 75 64
[10] J Knowle (AUT) / A Ram (ISR) d N Almagro (ESP) / S Ventura (ESP) 76(4) 62
M Melo (BRA) / B Soares (BRA) d D Bracciali (ITA) / P Starace (ITA) 76(2) 76(7)

Men's Doubles - Second Round
[4] W Moodie (RSA) / D Norman (BEL) d C Fleming (GBR) / K Skupski (GBR) 76(5) 46 76(4)
[6] L Kubot (POL) / O Marach (AUT) d L Mayer (ARG) / H Zeballos (ARG) 64 67(8) 63
[8] M Fyrstenberg (POL) / M Matkowski (POL) d A Dolgopolov Jr (UKR) / D Istomin (UZB) 61 64
[15] J Benneteau (FRA) / M Llodra (FRA) d R Bopanna (IND) / A Qureshi (PAK) 75 63

Women's Doubles - Third Round
(1) Williams/Williams (USA/USA) d. (16) Hlavackova/Hradecka (CZE/CZE) 61 62
(2) Llagostera Vives/Martínez Sánchez (ESP/ESP) d. (15) Govortsova/Kudryavtseva (BLR/RUS) 60 64
(3) Huber/Medina Garrigues (USA/ESP) d. (13) Benesova/Zahlavova Strycova (CZE/CZE) 75 26 64
(5) Dulko/Pennetta (ARG/ITA) d. (9) Mattek-Sands/Yan (USA/CHN) 76(7) 60
(12) Peschke/Srebotnik (CZE/SLO) d. (6) Black/Vesnina (ZIM/RUS) 76(5) 61
(11) Kirilenko/Radwanska (RUS/POL) d. (7) Raymond/Stubbs (USA/AUS) 76(6) 64

Women's Doubles - Second Round
Niculescu/Peer (ROU/ISR) d. (8) Kleybanova/Schiavone (RUS/ITA) 62 76(5)

Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Max Mirnyi (BLR)[5] d. Julie Coin (FRA)/Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 62 63
Aurelie Vedy (FRA)/Michael Llodra (FRA) d. Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/Eric Butorac (USA) 76(7) 57 10-8
Tathiana Garbin (ITA)/Marcin Matkowski (POL) d. Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/Michal Mertinak (SVK) 63 62

Cara Black (ZIM)/Leander Paes (IND)[2] lead Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/Bruno Soares (BRA) 75 20 - Suspended due to darkness

Roland Garros 2010 Day 8 Open Thread

AP

Austria's Jurgen Melzer reacts after defeating Spain's David Ferrer during their third round match for the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Saturday May 29, 2010. Straight. Sets. With a middle-set bagel. Upset of the event so far.

::

Just returned from my Harvard 20th anniversary reunion. Tennis comes on ESPN at noon in my market today, so I'm sure they're air matches that have already been decided and since I haven't watched a lick of tennis today, I'm posting this thread as though play has only just begun.

Humor me.

Right not, I'm barely watching this pushy pushy dogfight between Caroline Wozniacki and Flavia Pennetta on Tennis Channel. Ugly day in Paris.

I won't be commenting because I don't want to read any spoilers.

Schedule for Day 8: Sunday, 30 May 2010

Court Philippe Chatrier 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Elena Dementieva (RUS)[5] v. Chanelle Scheepers (RSA)
Not Before 12:00
2. Women's Singles - Third Round
Maria Sharapova (RUS)[12] v. Justine Henin (BEL)[22] To Finish 2-6 6-3
3. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Nadia Petrova (RUS)[19] v. Venus Williams (USA)[2]
4. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] v. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)[20]
5. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)[11] v. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)[8]

Court Suzanne Lenglen 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Maria Kirilenko (RUS)[30] v. Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[17]
2. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[14] v. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)[3]
3. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Marin Cilic (CRO)[10] v. Robin Soderling (SWE)[5]
4. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Andy Murray (GBR)[4] v. Tomas Berdych (CZE)[15]

Court 1 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Olga Govortsova (BLR)/Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)[15] v. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)[2]
2. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Julien Benneteau (FRA)/Michael Llodra (FRA)[15] v. Rohan Bopanna (IND)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)
3. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Julian Knowle (AUT)/Andy Ram (ISR)[10] v. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/Santiago Ventura (ESP)
4. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Serena Williams (USA)/Venus Williams (USA)[1] v. Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/Lucie Hradecka (CZE)[16]

Court 2 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Lukasz Kubot (POL)/Oliver Marach (AUT)[6] v. Leonardo Mayer (ARG)/Horacio Zeballos (ARG)
Not Before 13:00
2. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Guillaume Rufin (FRA)/Alexandre Sidorenko (FRA) v. Daniel Nestor (CAN)/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)[2]
3. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)Leander Paes (IND)[3] v. Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/Travis Rettenmaier (USA)
4. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Vania King (USA)/Michaella Krajicek (NED) v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)/Samantha Stosur (AUS)[4]
5. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/Bruno Soares (BRA) v. Cara Black (ZIM)/Leander Paes (IND)[2]

Court 3 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Liezel Huber (USA)/A. Medina Garrigues (ESP)[3] v. Iveta Benesova (CZE)/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)[13]
2. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Alexandr Dolgopolov Jr (UKR)/Denis Istomin (UZB) v. Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/Marcin Matkowski (POL)[8]
3. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Maria Kirilenko (RUS)/Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[11] v. Lisa Raymond (USA)/Rennae Stubbs (AUS)[7]
4. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/Eric Butorac (USA) v. Aurelie Vedy (FRA)/Michael Llodra (FRA)

Court 4 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Danka Kovinic (MNE) v. Kristyna Pliskova (CZE)[8]
2. Boys' Singles - First Round
Jozef Kovalik (SVK) v. Agustin Velotti (ARG)
3. Boys' Singles - First Round
Lucas Szewczyk (FRA) v. Dane Webb (USA)
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Micke Kontinen (FIN) v. John Morrissey (IRL)
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) v. Katarena Paliivets (CAN)

Court 5 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Morgane Pons (FRA) v. Karolina Pliskova (CZE)[2]
2. Boys' Singles - First Round
Sam Barry (IRL) v. Mitchell Frank (USA)[13]
3. Boys' Singles - First Round
Sebastian Lavie (NZL) v. Tiago Fernandes (BRA)[5]
4. Girls' Singles - First Round
Elina Svitolina (UKR) v. Jana Cepelova (SVK)
5. Boys' Singles - First Round
Filip Horansky (SVK) v. Darian King (BAR)

Court 6 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Gianni Mina (FRA)[3] v. Ricardo Rodriguez (VEN)
2. Girls' Singles - First Round
Monica Puig (PUR)[1] v. Clothilde De Bernardi (FRA)
3. Boys' Singles - First Round
Daniel Berta (SWE)[1] v. Junior A. Ore (USA)
4. Girls' Singles - First Round
Charlene Seateun (FRA) v. Jovana Jaksic (SRB)

Court 7 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Colin Fleming (GBR)/Ken Skupski (GBR) v. Wesley Moodie (RSA)/Dick Norman (BEL)[4]
2. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Marcelo Melo (BRA)/Bruno Soares (BRA) v. Daniele Bracciali (ITA)/Potito Starace (ITA)
3. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Marc Lopez (ESP)/Pere Riba (ESP) v. Frantisek Cermak (CZE)/Michal Mertinak (SVK)[9]
4. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/Zi Yan (CHN)[9] v. Gisela Dulko (ARG)/Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[5]
5. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Julie Coin (FRA)/Nicolas Mahut (FRA) v. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Max Mirnyi (BLR)[5]

Court 8 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Grace Sari Ysidora (INA) v. Ulrikke Eikeri (NOR)
2. Boys' Singles - First Round
Alessandro Colella (ITA) v. Hugo Dellien (BOL)
3. Girls' Singles - First Round
Nour Abbes (TUN) v. Daria Gavrilova (RUS)[7]
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Mikhail Biryukov (RUS)[14] v. Juan Sebastian Gomez (COL)
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Timea Babos (HUN)[5] v. Ilona Kremen (BLR)

Court 9 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Dominic Thiem (AUT)[8] v. Ashley Hewitt (GBR)
2. Girls' Singles - First Round
Adriana Perez (VEN) v. Garbine Muguruza Blanco (ESP)
3. Girls' Singles - First Round
Paula Kania (POL) v. Silvia Njiric (CRO)
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Andrea Collarini (USA) v. Jiri Vesely (CZE)[4]
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Emi Mutaguchi (JPN) v. Doroteja Eric (SRB)

Court 10 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Ons Jabeur (TUN) v. Sophia Kovalets (UKR)
2. Boys' Singles - First Round
Carlos Boluda-Purkiss (ESP) v. Jannick Lupescu (NED)
3. Girls' Singles - First Round
Tamara Curovic (SRB)[12] v. Ester Goldfeld (USA)
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Andrew Whittington (AUS) v. Tobias Blomgren (SWE)
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Zarah Razafimahatratra (MAD) v. Lauren Davis (USA)[10]

Court 11 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Guilherme Clezar (BRA) v. Raymond Sarmiento (USA)
2. Girls' Singles - First Round
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) v. Grace Min (USA)
3. Boys' Singles - First Round
Facundo Arguello (ARG) v. Kevin Krawietz (GER)[7]
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Denis Kudla (USA)[6] v. Justin Eleveld (NED)
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)[6] v. Chantal Skamlova (SVK)

Court 14 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Romain Arneodo (FRA) v. Renzo Olivo (ARG)[11]
2. Girls' Singles - First Round
Risa Ozaki (JPN) v. Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR)[13]
3. Boys' Singles - First Round
Mick Lescure (FRA) v. Oliver Golding (GBR)
4. Girls' Singles - First Round
Akiko Omae (JPN) v. Nanuli Pipiya (RUS)[16]
5. Boys' Singles - First Round
Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN)[16] v. Karue Sell (BRA)

Court 16 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Tristan Lamasine (FRA) v. Peter Heller (GER)
2. Girls' Singles - First Round
Jade Suvrijn (FRA) v. Richel Hogenkamp (NED)
3. Girls' Singles - First Round
Amandine Hesse (FRA) v. Luksika Kumkhum (THA)
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Thomas Szewczyk (FRA) v. Federico Gaio (ITA)
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Natalija Kostic (SRB) v. Estelle Cascino (FRA)

Court 17 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Caroline Garcia (FRA)[15] v. Mai Grage (DEN)
Not Before 13:00
2. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Cara Black (ZIM)/Elena Vesnina (RUS)[6] v. Kveta Peschke (CZE)/Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[12]
3. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[8] v. Monica Niculescu (ROU)/Shahar Peer (ISR)
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Mate Pavic (CRO) v. Mathias Bourgue (FRA)

17:00 Start Time
1. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/Michal Mertinak (SVK) v. Tathiana Garbin (ITA)/Marcin Matkowski (POL)
2. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Vania King (USA)/Christopher Kas (GER) v. Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)

Face Of The Day

Reuters

Robby Ginepri of the United States reacts after winning his match against Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris May 29, 2010.

::

Last American man standing. Defeating a former champion in a his resurgent year. Nice work.

Roland Garros 2010 Day 7 Open Thread

Reuters

Had to cater a dinner party last night. Watched much of the tennis (too much, really) in between set up chores, but was too wiped out to write about any of it. Apologies.

Woke up late to see Serena Williams dizzy and Andy Roddick getting his clocked cleaned by Teimuraz Gabashvili. Whenever tennis genius (/snark) Brad Gilbert boasted that Roddick would be excited to play a qualifier in the third round, I wondered if he'd ever seen the Russian play. I thought Roddick might win a set, but if the Russian kept his head, no way would Roddick get through.

The Russian kept his head.

Funny how everybody else can hit through court Suzanne Lenglen but Roddick who thinks it's the slowest court in Stade de Roland Garros. Gabashvili, a flat ballstriker with virtually no topspin on his shots, hit 58 winners, Roddick 14.

Tennis is mental. It was too much to ask for Roddick to make the second week of Roland Garros twice in a row. At least Serena survived her dizzy spell.

Then the score scrolled by and I saw the Bryan Brothers are also lost while I was asleep. Now, Nadia Petrova is trying to serve for the match for the third or fourth or fifth time against Aravane Rezai in an unending chokefest. Both have held three match points, all of Miss Nadia's on her own serve, and yet they're still out their slugging away. I know the match was suspended by darkness, but it feels like it went on through the night for I can see no progress in this storyline. Much like a soap opera.

Anyway....

Schedule for Day 7: Saturday, 29 May 2010

Court Philippe Chatrier 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Third Round
Serena Williams (USA)[1] v. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)[29]
Not Before 12:00
2. Women's Singles - Third Round
Aravane Rezai (FRA)[15] v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)[19] To Finish 7-6(2) 4-6 7-7
3. Men's Singles - Third Round
Victor Hanescu (ROU)[31] v. Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3]
4. Men's Singles - Third Round
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)[28] v. Rafael Nadal (ESP)[2]
5. Women's Singles - Third Round
Maria Sharapova (RUS)[12] v. Justine Henin (BEL)[22]

Court Suzanne Lenglen 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Third Round
Andy Roddick (USA)[6] v. Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS)
2. Women's Singles - Third Round
Shahar Peer (ISR)[18] v. Marion Bartoli (FRA)[13]
3. Men's Singles - Third Round
Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[7] v. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)[30]
4. Women's Singles - Third Round
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)[4] v. Alona Bondarenko (UKR)[27]

Court 1 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Third Round
Jarmila Groth (AUS) v. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)
2. Men's Singles - Third Round
Jurgen Melzer (AUT)[22] v. David Ferrer (ESP)[9]
3. Men's Singles - Third Round
Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)[16] v. Robby Ginepri (USA)
4. Women's Singles - Third Round
Anastasia Pivovarova (RUS) v. Samantha Stosur (AUS)[7]

Court 2 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Bob Bryan (USA)/Mike Bryan (USA)[1] v. Marcelo Melo (BRA)/Bruno Soares (BRA)
2. Women's Singles - Third Round
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)[23] v. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)[16]
3. Men's Singles - Third Round
Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)[14] v. Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)[24]
4. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Serena Williams (USA)Venus Williams (USA)[1] v. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)/Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)

Court 3 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Thierry Ascione (FRA)/Laurent Recouderc (FRA) v. Andrey Golubev (KAZ)/Paolo Lorenzi (ITA)
2. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Alberta Brianti (ITA)/Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) v. Gisela Dulko (ARG)/Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[5]
3. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Julian Knowle (AUT)/Andy Ram (ISR)[10] v. Gael Monfils (FRA)/Josselin Ouanna (FRA)
4. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/Oliver Marach (AUT)[3] v. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (FRA)/Thierry Ascione (FRA)
5. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/Santiago Ventura (ESP) v. Marc Gicquel (FRA)/Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)

Court 5 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)/Julia Goerges (GER) v. Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/Lucie Hradecka (CZE)[16]
2. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/Zi Yan (CHN)[9] v. Sara Errani (ITA)/Roberta Vinci (ITA)
3. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Maria Kirilenko (RUS)/Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[11] v. Petra Kvitova (CZE)/Stefanie Voegele (SUI)

Court 6 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Darija Jurak (CRO)/Petra Martic (CRO) v. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)[2]
Not Before 12:00
2. Men's Singles - Third Round
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)[11] v. Viktor Troicki (SRB) To Finish 2-6 7-6(4) 6-2 3-1
3. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Lucie Safarova (CZE)/Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) v. Iveta Benesova (CZE)/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)[13]
4. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Mardy Fish (USA)/Mark Knowles (BAH)[13] v. Guillaume Rufin (FRA)/Alexandre Sidorenko (FRA)
5. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Rennae Stubbs (AUS)/Robert Lindstedt (SWE) v. Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/Bruno Soares (BRA)
6. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Tathiana Garbin (ITA)/Marcin Matkowski (POL) v. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/Mark Knowles (BAH)[4]

Court 7 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - First Round
Rohan Bopanna (IND)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) v. Fabio Fognini (ITA)/Michael Russell (USA)
2. Women's Singles - Third Round
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)[28] v. Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)
3. Men's Singles - Third Round
Nicolas Almagro (ESP)[19] v. Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr (UKR)
4. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Liezel Huber (USA)/Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)[1] v. Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/Eric Butorac (USA)
5. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Elena Vesnina (RUS)/Andy Ram (ISR) v. Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[6]/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)[6]

Court 8 11:00 Start Time
1. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Julie Coin (FRA)/Nicolas Mahut (FRA) v. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)/Horia Tecau (ROU)
2. Men's Doubles - First Round
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)/Albert Montanes (ESP) v. Wesley Moodie (RSA)/Dick Norman (BEL)[4]
3. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Viktor Troicki (SRB)/Dusan Vemic (SRB) v. Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/Travis Rettenmaier (USA)

Court 16 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/Dudi Sela (ISR) v. Stephen Huss (AUS)/Andre Sa (BRA)
2. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/Max Mirnyi (BLR)[5] v. Marc Lopez (ESP)/Pere Riba (ESP)
3. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)/Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) v. Frantisek Cermak (CZE)/Michal Mertinak (SVK)[9]
4. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Lisa Raymond (USA)/Wesley Moodie (RSA)[7] v. Vania King (USA)/Christopher Kas (GER)
5. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Flavia Pennetta (ITA)/Dusan Vemic (SRB) v. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Max Mirnyi (BLR)[5]

Court 17 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/Leander Paes (IND)[3] v. Yves Allegro (SUI)/Andreas Beck (GER)
2. Men's Doubles - First Round
Lukasz Kubot (POL)/Oliver Marach (AUT)[6] v. Thiemo De Bakker (NED)/Rogier Wassen (NED)
3. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Simon Greul (GER)/Peter Luczak (AUS) v. Daniel Nestor (CAN)/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)[2]
4. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) v. Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/Filip Polasek (SVK)
5. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)/Julian Knowle (AUT) v. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)/Frantisek Cermak (CZE)

Roland Garros 2010 Day 6 Open Thread

Getty

The fingernails of Serena Williams of the U.S. is pictured during her match against Julia Goerges of Germany during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris May 28, 2010.

::

A buffet of tennis today. What's your delight?

Schedule for Day 6: Friday, 28 May 2010

Court Philippe Chatrier 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Second Round
Horacio Zeballos (ARG) v. Rafael Nadal (ESP)[2]
Not Before 12:00
2. Women's Singles - Second Round
Justine Henin (CZE) v. Klara Zakopalova (BEL)[22] - To Finish 6-3 3-2
3. Women's Singles - Third Round
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)[26] v. Venus Williams (USA)[2]
4. Men's Singles - Third Round
Thiemo De Bakker (NED) v. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)[8]
5. Women's Singles - Third Round
Aravane Rezai (FRA)[15] v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)[19]

Court Suzanne Lenglen 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Second Round
Serena Williams (USA)[1] v. Julia Goerges (GER)
Not Before 12:00
2. Women's Singles - Second Round
Olivia Sanchez (FRA) v. Marion Bartoli (FRA)[13]
3. Men's Singles - Third Round To Finish 5-4
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] v. Julian Reister (GER)
4. Men's Singles - Third Round
Andy Murray (GBR)[4] v. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)[25]
5. Women's Singles - Third Round
Elena Dementieva (RUS)[5] v. Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN)

Court 1 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Second Round
Kei Nishikori (JPN) v. Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3]
2. Men's Singles - Second Round
Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[7] v. Florent Serra (FRA)
3. Women's Singles - Third Round
Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU)[31] v. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)[3]
4. Women's Singles - Third Round
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)[6] v. Maria Kirilenko (RUS)[30]

Court 2 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Second Round
Jurgen Melzer (AUT)[22] v. Nicolas Mahut (FRA)
Not Before 12:00
2. Women's Singles - Second Round
Maria Sharapova (RUS)[12] v. Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) - To Finish 6-3 2-2
3. Women's Singles - Second Round
Rossana De Los Rios (PAR) v. Samantha Stosur (AUS)[7]
4. Men's Singles - Third Round
Albert Montanes (ESP)[29] v. Robin Soderling (SWE)[5]
5. Men's Doubles - First Round
James Cerretani (USA)/Adil Shamasdin (CAN) v. Gael Monfils (FRA)/Josselin Ouanna (FRA)

Court 3 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Second Round
Jie Zheng (CHN)[25] v. Anastasia Pivovarova (RUS)
Not Before 12:00
2. Men's Singles - Second Round
Pablo Andujar (ESP) v. Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)[24] - To Finish 6-1 3-6
3. Men's Singles - Third Round
Marin Cilic (CRO)[10] v. Leonardo Mayer (ARG)
4. Men's Singles - Third Round
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)[11] v. Viktor Troicki (SRB)

Court 4 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Cara Black (ZIM)/Elena Vesnina (RUS)[6] v. Dinara Safina (RUS)/Agnes Szavay (HUN)
2. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Liezel Huber (USA)/A. Medina Garrigues (ESP)[3] v. Victoria Azarenka (BLR)/Vera Zvonareva (RUS)
3. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Elena Vesnina (RUS)/Andy Ram (ISR) v. Mathilde Johansson (FRA)/Sebastien De Chaunac (FRA)
4. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/Michal Mertinak (SVK) v. Monica Niculescu (ROU)/Michael Kohlmann (GER)

Court 5 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - First Round
Sara Errani (ITA)/Roberta Vinci (ITA) v. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)/Selima Sfar (TUN)
2. Women's Singles - Second Round
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)[23] v. Olga Govortsova (BLR)
3. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Vera Dushevina (RUS)/Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)[14] v. Alona Bondarenko (UKR)/Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR)
4. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Olga Govortsova (BLR)/Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)[15] v. Maria Kondratieva (RUS)/Vladimira Uhlirova (CZE)

Court 6 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Second Round
Xavier Malisse (BEL) v. David Ferrer (ESP)[9]
2. Men's Singles - Second Round
Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)[16] v. Pere Riba (ESP)
3. Men's Singles - Third Round
John Isner (USA)[17] v. Tomas Berdych (CZE)[15]]

Court 7 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Second Round
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)[28] v. Denis Istomin (UZB)
Not Before 12:00
2. Men's Singles - Second Round
Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)[14] v. Mardy Fish (USA) To Finish 6-2 6-7(8)
3. Women's Singles - Third Round
Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[14] v. Polona Hercog (SLO)
4. Women's Singles - Third Round
Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[17] v. Na Li (CHN)[11]

Court 8 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Second Round
Victor Hanescu (ROU)[31] v. Yuri Schukin (KAZ)
2. Men's Doubles - First Round
Ross Hutchins (GBR)/Jordan Kerr (AUS) v. Daniel Nestor (CAN)/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)[2]
3. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Edina Gallovits (ROU)/Melanie Oudin (USA) v. Kveta Peschke (CZE)/Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[12]
4. Men's Doubles - First Round
Mardy Fish (USA)/Mark Knowles (BAH)[13] v. Carsten Ball (AUS)/Chris Guccione (AUS)
5. Mixed Doubles - First Round
A. Medina Garrigues (ESP)/Marc Lopez (ESP) v. Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)[6]

Court 9 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - First Round
Mathilde Johansson (FRA)/Camille Pin (FRA) v. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)[2]
2. Men's Doubles - First Round
Marc Gicquel (FRA)/Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) v. Simon Aspelin (SWE)/Paul Hanley (AUS)[7]
3. Men's Doubles - First Round
Stephen Huss (AUS)/Andre Sa (BRA) v. Marcel Granollers (ESP)/Tommy Robredo (ESP)[11]
4. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Pauline Parmentier (FRA)/Marc Gicquel (FRA) v. Cara Black (ZIM)/Leander Paes (IND)[2]
5. Men's Doubles - First Round
Philipp Marx (GER)/Igor Zelenay (SVK) v. Yves Allegro (SUI)/Andreas Beck (GER)

Court 10 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - First Round
Andrey Golubev (KAZ)/Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) v. Alejandro Falla (COL)/Santiago Giraldo (COL) To Finish 6-2 3-4
2. Men's Doubles - First Round
Thiago Alves (BRA)/Marcio Torres (BRA) v. Guillaume Rufin (FRA)/Alexandre Sidorenko (FRA)
3. Men's Doubles - First Round
Colin Fleming (GBR)/Ken Skupski (GBR) v. Marco Chiudinelli (SUI)/Christopher Kas (GER)
4. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)/Alexandre Sidorenko (FRA) v. Aurelie Vedy (FRA)/Michael Llodra (FRA)
5. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)/Frantisek Cermak (CZE) v. Patty Schnyder (SUI)/Daniel Nestor (CAN)

Court 11 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - First Round
Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/Marcin Matkowski (POL)[8] v. Tomasz Bednarek (POL)/Mateusz Kowalczyk (POL) To Finish 7-6(4) 2-1
2. Women's Doubles - First Round
Darija Jurak (CRO)/Petra Martic (CRO) v. Claire Feuerstein (FRA)/Stephanie Foretz (FRA) - To Finish 6-7(6) 6-2
3. Men's Doubles - First Round
Marcelo Melo (BRA)/Bruno Soares (BRA) v. Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG)/Eduardo Schwank (ARG)
4. Men's Doubles - First Round
Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/Santiago Ventura (ESP) v. Xavier Malisse (BEL/ Olivier Rochus (BEL)
5. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Gisela Dulko (ARG)/Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) v. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Max Mirnyi (BLR)[5]

Court 14 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Second Round
Jill Craybas (USA) v. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)[29]
2. Men's Singles - Second Round
Andreas Seppi (ITA) v. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)[30]
3. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Zi Yan (CHN)/Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)[8] v. Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)/Julian Knowle (AUT)
4. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/Oliver Marach (AUT)[3] v. Virginie Razzano (FRA)/Dick Norman (BEL)
5. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (FRA)/Thierry Ascione (FRA) v. Iveta Benesova (CZE)/Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)

Court 16 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Second Round
Nicolas Almagro (ESP)[19] v. Steve Darcis (BEL)
2. Men's Singles - Second Round
Potito Starace (ITA) v. Robby Ginepri (USA)
3. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Regina Kulikova (RUS)/Anastasija Sevastova (LAT) v. Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/Jie Zheng (CHN)[10]
4. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Daniele Bracciali (ITA)/Potito Starace (ITA) v. Benjamin Becker (GER)/Scott Lipsky (USA)

Court 17 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Second Round
Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr (UKR) v. Fernando Gonzalez (CHI)[12]
2. Women's Singles - Second Round
Sybille Bammer (AUT) v. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)[16]
3. Men's Singles - Third Round
Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)[20] v. Fabio Fognini (ITA)
4. Women's Singles - Third Round
Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) v. Chanelle Scheepers (RSA)

Day 5: Rain

Getty

Fabio Fognini shut down Gael Monfils 9-7 in the fifth and the French crowd actually applauded the Italian's effort. That was perhaps the biggest highlight of the day, given the drama that unfolded in the dark last night.

Andy Roddick lost his serve seven times and still won his match. That might not seem like a big deal, but I've never seen Roddick remain composed on any surface, much less his least favorite, when his opponent is returning his first serves with interest and breaking almost at will. If the American has ever been more patient, suffice it to say I've never noticed.

As for Blaz Kavcic. What a fighter. I overlooked all his gamesmanship today (imagine that) and just focused on his game. His return of serve is top notch. Yes, the conditions were slow and Roddick wasn't able to penetrate the court, but Kavcic got his racquet on more serves than I would have imagined and actually placed them well. If he ever developed a serve he might be a complete player.

To develop that complete game, he's got to get off the clay every once in a while. This is the time of year Americans are berated for their inability to "construct points" and slide on the slippery stuff, claims I just don't buy, especially since the evidence of things seen betrays such nonsense, but clay court specialists, exactly what the Kavcic is, can benefit from playing on faster surfaces so they're forced to at least consider developing a serve. Starting the point with a weak serve on clay is fine, but the Slovenian's serve would be eaten for lunch on hard courts or the lawns.

I wasn't able to watch much else today and with all the rain there wasn't much else to watch. If anyone saw any of the other matches, please give us an update in the comments.

Till tomorrow....

Roland Garros 2010 Day 5 Open Thread

Getty

After nearly a five-hour rain delay, live tennis is underway. American Andy Roddick is playing clay court tennis against Blaz Kavcic, a Slovenian clay court challenger who dismissed Argentinean clay court player Edwardo Schwank in the first round and became the first Slovenian male to ever win a Slam match. As per John McEnroe.

Because of the delay, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal, both scheduled last on their respective courts, have already been sent home.

Later the Gael Monfils, Fabio Fognini debacle from last night's darkness will commence after Jelena Jankovic cleans the dirt with her opponent. One would think, after all the wait, they would have put them first up. But that would have been too much like right.

Here's hoping the feisty one can send the clownish one home.

Schedule for Day 5: Thursday, 27 May 2010

Court Philippe Chatrier 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Second Round
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)[4] v. Kaia Kanepi (EST)

Not Before 12:30
2. Men's Singles - Second Round
Fabio Fognini (ITA) v. Gael Monfils (FRA)[13] To Finish 2-6 4-6 7-5 6-4 5-5
3. Women's Singles - Second Round
Klara Zakopalova (CZE) v. Justine Henin (BEL)[22]
4. Men's Singles - Second Round
Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[7] v. Florent Serra (FRA)
5. Men's Singles - Second Round
Horacio Zeballos (ARG) v. Rafael Nadal (ESP)[2]

Court Suzanne Lenglen 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Second Round
Andy Roddick (USA)[6] v. Blaz Kavcic (SLO)
2. Women's Singles - Second Round
Olivia Sanchez (FRA) v. Marion Bartoli (FRA)[13]
3. Men's Singles - Second Round
Kei Nishikori (JPN) v. Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3]
4. Women's Singles - Second Round
Serena Williams (USA)[1] v. Julia Goerges (GER)

Court 1 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Second Round
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)[28] v. Ana Ivanovic (SRB)
Not Before 12:30
2. Men's Singles - Second Round
Andy Murray (GBR)[4] v. Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) To Finish 6-2 3-3
3. Men's Singles - Second Round
Jurgen Melzer (AUT)[22] v. Nicolas Mahut (FRA)
4. Women's Singles - Second Round
Maria Sharapova (RUS)[12] v. Kirsten Flipkens (BEL)
5. Men's Singles - Second Round
Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr (UKR) v. Fernando Gonzalez (CHI)[12]

Court 2 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Second Round
Elena Dementieva (RUS)[5] v. A. Medina Garrigues (ESP)
2. Men's Singles - Second Round
Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)[16] v. Pere Riba (ESP)
3. Women's Singles - Second Round
Rossana De Los Rios (PAR) v. Samantha Stosur (AUS)[7]
4. Men's Singles - Second Round
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)[28] v. Denis Istomin (UZB)

Court 3 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Second Round
Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[17] v. Sophie Ferguson (AUS)
Not Before 12:30
2. Men's Singles - Second Round
Marcos Baghdatis (ESP) v. Marcel Granollers (CYP)[25] To Finish 4-6 6-1 7-5
3. Men's Singles - Second Round
Pablo Andujar (ESP) v. Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)[24]
4. Women's Singles - Second Round
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)[23] v. Olga Govortsova (BLR)
5. Men's Singles - Second Round
Nicolas Almagro (ESP)[19] v. Steve Darcis (BEL)

Court 4 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Second Round
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) v. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[8]
2. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Alize Cornet (FRA)/Aravane Rezai (FRA) v. Lisa Raymond (USA)/Rennae Stubbs (AUS)[7]
3. Women's Doubles - First Round
Sara Errani (ITA)/Roberta Vinci (ITA) v. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)/Selima Sfar (TUN)
4. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Maria Kirilenko (RUS)/Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[11] v. Petra Kvitova (CZE)/Stefanie Voegele (SUI)
5. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)/Alexandre Sidorenko (FRA) v. Aurelie Vedy (FRA)/Michael Llodra (FRA)

Court 5 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Second Round
Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) v. Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR)[32]
2. Women's Singles - Second Round
Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) v. Alona Bondarenko (UKR)[27]
3. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Lucie Safarova (CZE)/Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) v. Iveta Benesova (CZE)/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)[13]
4. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Vera Dushevina (RUS)/Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)[14] v. Alona Bondarenko (UKR)/Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR)

Court 6 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Second Round
Kimiko Date Krumm (JPN) v. Jarmila Groth (AUS)
Not Before 12:30
2. Men's Singles - Second Round
Marco Chiudinelli (USA)[17] v. John Isner (SUI) To Finish 7-6(3) 5-5
3. Men's Singles - Second Round
Potito Starace (ITA) v. Robby Ginepri (USA)
4. Men's Doubles - First Round
Richard Gasquet (FRA)/Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) v. Gael Monfils (FRA)/Josselin Ouanna (FRA)
5. Women's Singles - Second Round
Jie Zheng (CHN)[25] v. Anastasia Pivovarova (RUS)

Court 7 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Second Round
Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (FRA) v. Na Li (CHN)[11]
2. Men's Singles - Second Round
Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)[14] v. Mardy Fish (USA)
3. Men's Singles - Second Round
Xavier Malisse (BEL) v. David Ferrer (ESP)[9]
4. Women's Singles - Second Round
Sybille Bammer (AUT) v. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)[16]

Court 8 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - First Round
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)/Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) v. David Marrero (ESP)/Stephane Robert (FRA)
2. Men's Doubles - First Round
Marc Gicquel (FRA)/Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) v. Simon Aspelin (SWE)/Paul Hanley (AUS)[7]
3. Men's Doubles - First Round
Ross Hutchins (GBR)/Jordan Kerr (AUS) v. Daniel Nestor (CAN)/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)[2]
4. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)/Paul Hanley (AUS) v. Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)/Simon Aspelin (SWE)
5. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)/Frantisek Cermak (CZE) v. Patty Schnyder (SUI)/Daniel Nestor (CAN)

Court 9 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - First Round
Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/Leander Paes (IND)[3] v. Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/Jean-Julien Rojer (AHO)
2. Men's Doubles - First Round
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)/Albert Montanes (ESP) v. Wesley Moodie (RSA)/Dick Norman (BEL)[4]
3. Men's Doubles - First Round
Stephen Huss (AUS)/Andre Sa (BRA) v. Marcel Granollers (ESP)/Tommy Robredo (ESP)[11]
4. Men's Doubles - First Round
Mardy Fish (USA)/Mark Knowles (BAH)[13] v. Carsten Ball (AUS)/Chris Guccione (AUS)

Court 10 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - First Round
Andrey Golubev (KAZ)/Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) v. Alejandro Falla (COL)/Santiago Giraldo (COL)
2. Men's Doubles - First Round
Lukasz Kubot (POL)/Oliver Marach (AUT)[6] v. Thiemo De Bakker (NED)/Rogier Wassen (NED)
3. Men's Doubles - First Round
Marcelo Melo (BRA)/Bruno Soares (BRA) v. Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG)/Eduardo Schwank (ARG)
4. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/Michal Mertinak (SVK) v. Monica Niculescu (ROU)/Michael Kohlmann (GER)
5. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Rennae Stubbs (AUS)/Robert Lindstedt (SWE) v. Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/Bruno Soares (BRA)

Court 11 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - First Round
Tomasz Bednarek (POL)/Mateusz Kowalczyk (POL) v. Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/Marcin Matkowski (POL)[8]
Not Before 12:30
2. Women's Doubles - First Round
Darija Jurak (CRO)/Petra Martic (CRO) v. Claire Feuerstein (FRA)/Stephanie Foretz (FRA) To Finish 6-7(6) 6-2
3. Men's Doubles - First Round
Karol Beck (SVK)/Jaroslav Levinsky (CZE) v. Guillaume Rufin (FRA)/Alexandre Sidorenko (FRA)
4. Men's Doubles - First Round
Rohan Bopanna (IND)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) v. Fabio Fognini (ITA)/Michael Russell (USA)
5. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Pauline Parmentier (FRA)/Marc Gicquel (FRA) v. Cara Black (ZIM)/Leander Paes (IND)[2]

Court 14 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - First Round
Jamie Delgado (GBR)/Evgeny Korolev (KAZ) v. Thierry Ascione (FRA)/Laurent Recouderc (FRA)
2. Men's Doubles - First Round
Julien Benneteau (FRA)/Michael Llodra (FRA)[15] v. Leos Friedl (CZE)/David Skoch (CZE)
3. Men's Doubles - First Round
Colin Fleming (GBR)/Ken Skupski (GBR) v. Marco Chiudinelli (SUI)/Christopher Kas (GER)
4. Women's Doubles - First Round
Mathilde Johansson (FRA)/Camille Pin (FRA) v. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)[2]
5. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Edina Gallovits (ROU)/Melanie Oudin (USA) v. Kveta Peschke (CZE)/Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[12]

Court 16 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Second Round
Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) v. Vera Zvonareva (RUS)[21]
2. Men's Doubles - First Round
Bob Bryan (USA)/Mike Bryan (USA)[1] v. Jan Hajek (CZE)/Lukas Lacko (SVK)
3. Men's Singles - Second Round
Victor Hanescu (ROU)[31] v. Yuri Schukin (KAZ)
4. Men's Doubles - First Round
Philipp Marx (GER)/Igor Zelenay (SVK) v. Nicolas Devilder (FRA)/Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA)

Court 17 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Second Round
Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) v. Grega Zemlja (SLO)
2. Women's Singles - Second Round
Shahar Peer (ISR)[18] v. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)
3. Men's Singles - Second Round
Andreas Seppi (ITA) v. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)[30]
4. Women's Singles - Second Round
Jill Craybas (USA) v. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)[29]

Day 4: Delays and Drama

by KarenFed

Match points saved, match points wasted, head shaking moments, cramping, bad light, raucous crowds, rain delays and to top it all off awesome press conference moments. This summed up Day 4 of the French Open at Roland Garros.

The day started off well enough with veterans Venus Williams opening up against Arantxa Parra Santonja. Venus won in a match that had little or no drama. She won in straight sets 6-2, 6-4.

The second match up on Centre Court pit the defending Champion Roger Federer against Alejandro Falla from Colombia. This match went on serve until 5-5 all in the first set. During the first 10 games, not only was Federer struggling to hold serve, but Falla was holding with ease and seemed quite relaxed and ready to take this to the defending champion. I was nervous. At 5-5 all Federer serving, Falla finally broke and led 6-5 with the opportunity to serve after the changeover. This was not to be. After holding serve comfortably during the first 10 games of the match, Falla not only opened his account by making some shaking your head plays but ended up being broken at 15 to get the first set to a tie-break. Federer got the early mini break which Falla was able to get back and they changed ends at 3-3. Falla, ,who had been serving very well, standing up on the baseline and taking time away from Federer, all of a sudden started playing as if he remembered where he was and who he was playing. Federer took the first set 7-6 (4) and then from there barring the 2 rain delays seemed to find his groove and finished off the match 6-2, 6-4.

Out on court Suzanne Lenglen, the other gentleman from last year's final, Robin Soderling took poor Taylor Dent to the woodshed. He won the first set in 17 minutes. His serve was huge, forehand even bigger and backhand was on song. Poor Dent had no idea what hit him. Luckily for Dent, Soderling took his foot off the gas somewhat and Dent was able to win 2 games. The final score in a little over 1.5 hours was 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 and it was not even that close.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga played compatriot Josselin Ouanna. Ouanna lit up my life a few years ago when I saw him play for the first time at the French Open. I thought then that his career would have been zooming and he would have been in the top 20 or 30. Now I know why he has been getting wild cards. Big Jo beat Little Jo like he stole something. It wasn't pretty. Big Jo served big, hit big and moved exceptionally well on the clay. The final score was 6-0, 6-1, and 6-4.

Aravane Rezai hits the ball hard on every single point. I think she probably hits her drop shots hard. I saw her hit one today but I think that was more due to luck than an attempted drop shot. She won in 3 today over Angelique Kerber of Germany. The French crowd are really pulling for this young woman and unlike Amélie Mauresmo she is loving the attention. I am yet to see her press conference on the Roland Garros website but from what I understand, it would seem that there is no love lost between her and Marion Bartoli, the French No. 2. The French really feel that Rezai can win the French this year and it will be interesting to see if she gets to the final against the people’s champion, for whom will they cheer loudest. Final score was 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

Julien Benneteau who played the match of his life against Ernest Gulbis succumbs as he usually does in the very next round to Leonardo Mayer of Argentina. It was a dull, lifeless match. The final score was 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 and 6-4.

Match of the Day


Reuters

This is the match of the day not because it was good, but because of all the head scratching moments that occurred. Andrea Petkovic came to play today against Svetlana Kuznetsova who finally seemed to have found her game when facing 3 match points and seeing her ranking drop like the Titanic. Sveta started hitting hard and deep, pushing Petkovic all over the court and forcing errors. Petkovic needs to know how to hold her nerve in these pressure situations. No way do you serve for a match, have 4 match points on your own serve and lose the match. No way. I have been following Petkovic since Paris indoors and I have seen this apple stuck in my throat moment too many times from her. I thought when I saw her serving for the match and hold 3 match points on the first go round that she had conquered those demons. Clearly she has not. She lost in 3 sets to Sveta 4-6, 7-5 and 6-4. Sveta will either build on this victory or get dumped in the next round. She has not won 4 matches in succession all season so perhaps the chance to defend a title will motivate to find whatever it is that ails her.

Drama of the Day

Getty

The most intriguing match that was called due to bad light involved drama queen Gael Monfils and Fabio Fognini. I am not sure why the officials felt the need to ask the players whether they wished to continue. It was 9:30 pm local time, the only lights that were available were the exit signs and it was clear that neither player could see where to hit the ball hence we saw quite a lot of off-pace shots in the middle of the court. This is a Major not some two-bit tournament. Either the officials install lights or they fast track plans to relocate the current venue.

Tomorrow, Day 5 has some very intriguing match ups. Cannot wait.

Roland Garros 2010 Day 4 Open Thread

Getty

Oracene Price watches Venus Williams and Serena Williams of the United States during their women's doubles first round match against Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium and Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand on day three of the French Open at Roland Garros on May 25, 2010 in Paris, France.

::

The field has been halved. Venus Williams just dismissed Arantxa Parra Santonja in straight sets on Chartrier and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is playing compatriot Josselin Ouanna on Lenglen. Always a sight to see two Black players take the court at the same time. But then I had to look at the clock and see that whatever match preceded theirs must have gone quickly. I check the scores and Robin Söderling wiped the dirt with Taylor Dent to the loss of only two games.

I guess the Söd wasn't kidding when he said he felt good to be back in Paris.

Schedule for Day 4: Wednesday, 26 May 2010

Court Philippe Chatrier 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Second Round
Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) v. Venus Williams (USA)[2]
2. Men's Singles - Second Round
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] v. Alejandro Falla (COL)
3. Men's Singles - Second Round
Fabio Fognini (ITA) v. Gael Monfils (FRA)[13]
4. Women's Singles - Second Round
Elena Dementieva (RUS)[5] v. A. Medina Garrigues (ESP)

Court Suzanne Lenglen 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Second Round
Taylor Dent (USA) v. Robin Soderling (SWE)[5]
2. Men's Singles - Second Round
Josselin Ouanna (FRA) v. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)[8]
3. Women's Singles - Second Round
Aravane Rezai (FRA)[15] v. Angelique Kerber (GER)
4. Women's Singles - Second Round
Tathiana Garbin (ITA) v. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)[3]

Court 1 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Second Round
Leonardo Mayer (ARG) v. Julien Benneteau (FRA)
2. Women's Singles - Second Round
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)[6] v. Andrea Petkovic (GER)
3. Men's Singles - Second Round
Andy Murray (GBR)[4] v. Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG)
4. Women's Singles - Second Round
Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (FRA) v. Na Li (CHN)[11]

Court 2 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Second Round
Marin Cilic (CRO)[10] v. Daniel Gimeno-Traver (ESP)
2. Women's Singles - Second Round
Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[14] v. Roberta Vinci (ITA)
3. Men's Singles - Second Round
Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA) v. Tomas Berdych (CZE)[15]
4. Women's Singles - Second Round
Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[17] v. Sophie Ferguson (AUS)

Court 3 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Second Round
Agnes Szavay (HUN) v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)[19]
2. Men's Singles - Second Round
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)[32] v. Thiemo De Bakker (NED)
3. Men's Singles - Second Round
Marcel Granollers (ESP) v. Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)[25]
4. Women's Singles - Second Round
Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) v. Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR)[32]

Court 4 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - First Round
Vania King (USA)/Michaella Krajicek (NED) v. Ioana Raluca Olaru (ROU)/Olga Savchuk (UKR)
2. Women's Doubles - First Round
Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/Alicia Molik (AUS) v. Iveta Benesova (CZE)/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)[13]
3. Women's Doubles - First Round
Elena Baltacha (GBR)/Liga Dekmeijere (LAT) v. Dinara Safina (RUS)/Agnes Szavay (HUN)
4. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Lisa Raymond (USA)/Wesley Moodie (RSA)[7] v. Vania King (USA)/Christopher Kas (GER)

Court 5 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Second Round
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)[26] v. Varvara Lepchenko (USA)
2. Women's Doubles - First Round
Vera Dushevina (RUS)/Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)[14] v. Tatiana Poutchek (BLR)/Ipek Senoglu (TUR)
3. Women's Doubles - First Round
Darija Jurak (CRO)/Petra Martic (CRO) v. Claire Feuerstein (FRA)/Stephanie Foretz (FRA)
4. Women's Doubles - First Round
Sara Errani (ITA)/Roberta Vinci (ITA) v. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA)/Selima Sfar (TUN)

Court 6 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Second Round
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)[11] v. Lukas Lacko (SVK)
2. Women's Singles - Second Round
Chanelle Scheepers (RSA) v. Gisela Dulko (ARG)
3. Men's Singles - Second Round
John Isner (USA)[17] v. Marco Chiudinelli (SUI)
4. Men's Doubles - First Round
Ross Hutchins (GBR)/Jordan Kerr (AUS) v. Daniel Nestor (CAN)/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)[2]

Court 7 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Second Round
Carsten Ball (AUS) v. Viktor Troicki (SRB)
2. Men's Singles - Second Round
Olivier Rochus (BEL) v. Julian Reister (GER)
3. Women's Singles - Second Round
Polona Hercog (SLO) v. Lucie Safarova (CZE)[24]
4. Men's Doubles - First Round
Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/Leander Paes (IND)[3] v. Johan Brunstrom (SWE)/Jean-Julien Rojer (AHO)

Court 8 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - First Round
Alicja Rosolska (POL)/Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) v. Lisa Raymond (USA)[7]/Rennae Stubbs (AUS)[7]
2. Men's Doubles - First Round
Rik De Voest (RSA)/Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) v. Frantisek Cermak (CZE)/Michal Mertinak (SVK)[9]
3. Men's Doubles - First Round
Jonathan Marray (GBR)/Jamie Murray (GBR) v. Simon Greul (GER)/Peter Luczak (AUS)
4. Men's Doubles - First Round
Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/Santiago Ventura (ESP) v. Xavier Malisse (BEL)/Olivier Rochus (BEL)

Court 9 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - First Round
Sarah Borwell (GBR)/Raquel Kops-Jones (USA) v. Kveta Peschke (CZE)/Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[12]
2. Women's Doubles - First Round
Edina Gallovits (ROU)/Melanie Oudin (USA) v. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)/Arina Rodionova (RUS)
3. Men's Doubles - First Round
Sebastian Prieto (ARG)/Kristof Vliegen (BEL) v. Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/Dudi Sela (ISR)
4. Men's Doubles - First Round
Michael Kohlmann (GER)/Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) v. Leonardo Mayer (ARG)/Horacio Zeballos (ARG)

Court 10 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - First Round
Martin Damm (CZE)/Filip Polasek (SVK) v. Daniele Bracciali (ITA)/Potito Starace (ITA)
2. Men's Doubles - First Round
Victor Hanescu (ROU)/Gabriel Trifu (ROU) v. Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr (UKR)/Denis Istomin (UZB)
3. Women's Doubles - First Round
Sybille Bammer (AUT)/Kristina Barrois (GER) v. Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/Lucie Hradecka (CZE)[16]
4. Men's Doubles - First Round
Mardy Fish (USA)/Mark Knowles (BAH)[13] v. Carsten Ball (AUS)/Chris Guccione (AUS)

Court 11 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - First Round
Marc Lopez (ESP)/Pere Riba (ESP) v. Jonathan Eysseric (FRA)/Benoit Paire (FRA)
2. Men's Doubles - First Round
Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/Travis RettenMayer (USA) v. Robert Lindstedt (SWE)/Horia Tecau (ROU)[14]
3. Men's Doubles - First Round
Benjamin Becker (GER)/Scott Lipsky (USA) v. Eric Butorac (USA)/Rajeev Ram (USA)[16]
4. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Rennae Stubbs (AUS)/Robert Lindstedt (SWE) v. Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/Bruno Soares (BRA)

Court 14 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - First Round
Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/Max Mirnyi (BLR)[5] v. Jurgen Melzer (AUT)/Philipp Petzschner (GER)
2. Women's Doubles - First Round
Monica Niculescu (ROU)/Shahar Peer (ISR) v. Sophie Lefevre (FRA)/Aurelie Vedy (FRA)
3. Men's Doubles - First Round
Julian Knowle (AUT)/Andy Ram (ISR)[10] v. Arnaud Clement (FRA)/Nicolas Mahut (FRA)
4. Men's Doubles - First Round
Viktor Troicki (SRB)/Dusan Vemic (SRB) v. Jeff Coetzee (RSA)/Andreas Seppi (ITA)

Court 16 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Second Round
Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) v. Johanna Larsson (SWE)
2. Women's Singles - Second Round
Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU)[31] v. Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)
3. Women's Doubles - First Round
Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)/Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) v. Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/Jie Zheng (CHN)[10]
4. Women's Doubles - First Round
Jill Craybas (USA)/Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) v. Alberta Brianti (ITA)/Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU)

Court 17 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Second Round
Albert Montanes (ESP)[29] v. Tobias Kamke (GER)
2. Women's Singles - Second Round
Yvonne Meusburger (AUT) v. Maria Kirilenko (RUS)[30]
3. Men's Singles - Second Round
Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)[20] v. Andreas Beck (GER)
4. Women's Doubles - First Round
Mathilde Johansson (FRA)/Camille Pin (FRA) v. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)[2]

Day 3: Moving

Getty

I feel for Dinara Safina. I know. I know. I'm not a fan and some have suggested I've said insensitive things about her. I disagree with the latter, but it's not nice to watch a player struggle as she has struggled in recent months. She's been haunted by a back injury and mental frailty. She can't serve. She's in the running for the most undeserved No. 1 player in the world in the Open Era and she knows it.

Today she fought like she always fights, but she couldn't hold on. Spirit willing. Flesh weak.

She collapsed.

The two-time defending runner-up was ousted in the first round. Her ranking will drop like an anchor. It was tough to watch.

Juxtaposed to the Russian tragedy, a Japanese veteran added another historical chapter to a remarkable story. Kimiko Date Krumm, 39-years-old and nursing a leg injury, hung around until Safina broke down and then fought her own way to victory.

The second oldest player to ever win a match at Roland Garros.

Getty

The pure joy she, her husband, and her supporters displayed after the war made it appear as though she'd just won the whole Slam.

It was as moving as Safina's unraveling, just in a different direction.

This is tennis.

KarenFed brings us some highlights for the day.

::

How can you tell when a major is rounding into form? Most fans start missing their alarm clocks and start pulling the covers a little tighter. It is only day 3 but already my internal body clock is telling me when to get up and when not to. However, I did get up and this is what I caught today:

First match up on Centre Court was 4-time Roland Garros champion Justine Henin going up against Tsvetana Pironkova. I caught this match in the second set. Justine won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3 but I got the feeling that against a stronger opponent who was more forceful off the ground and who was able to hold serve and break serve, the outcome perhaps would still be the same or we would have had a 3 set match. As it was, Pironkova played well and has nothing to be ashamed of in my view.

Nicolas Mahut vs. Mischa Zverev - I have seen many discussions on message boards that talk up Mischa Zverev. I have to say that I have been quite disappointed about his performances each time that I have seen him play. Mahut, who is not known for his clay court prowess, but rather for his formidable grass court skills, served and volleyed his way to a straight set 6-1, 6-2 and 6-4 victory over Zverev.

Vania King v. Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Mattek-Sands can play on clay and Vania King was tired. Mattek-Sands won in straight sets 6-2. 6-2. Vania King is coming off a brutal clay court season which saw her reaching the semifinals in singles at Strasbourg and the finals in doubles at the same event. She has played a lot of tennis this clay court season. Mattek-Sands came into the main draw as a lucky loser. She is nursing a sore ankle but is still in the doubles.

Sam Querrey v. Robbi Ginepri. I read a recent interview by John Isner where he said that he and Sam Querrey had been talking to their fellow US colleagues about the USA’s performance during the clay court season. He said that they should really change the perception that Americans cannot play on clay. It was against this background that I was quite disappointed at Querrey’s performance during this match and even moreso by his comments afterwards. To pull out of doubles at a Grand Slam and leave your partner high and dry just because you are not feeling it is a disservice to your sport as well as to your colleagues. Querrey has been acting up lately. He has posted some really unfortunate comments on Twitter and his press conferences and on-court demeanor leaves a lot to be desired. I wish he would make up his mind whether he wants to play tennis or not. Robbi had a well earned victory in 4 sets. The final score line was 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-2.

Yanina Wickmayer vs. Sandra Zahlovova. The thing that struck me about this match. The noise. Awful, ear splitting shrieking disgusting noise from both women as they not only attempted to hit the fuzz off the ball but also attempted to deafen the spectators both at home and on the grounds with the ear splitting grunts and groans. It was awful. Wickmayer won in straight sets, 1 and 1.

Juan Carlos Ferrero vs. Pablo Cuevas. I admit that I expected more from this match than I got. I have never seen Cuevas play and thought he would give Ferrero a nice run. No such luck. Ferrero advanced in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3 and 6-1.

Rafael Nadal v. Gianna Mina. Nadal opened his account at Roland Garros by playing his first match on Suzanne Lenglen court. As usual he played to a packed house. Before I describe the match, Nadal’s team will have to let him know that for some reason he has a love/hate relationship going with the crowds in Paris. Today, as he is wont to do, he kept the umpire and his opponent waiting while he went through his pre-match rituals. The crowd did not like it and they made him aware of it. Judging by his reaction, I think Nadal was as surprised as I was by this. On to the match. There is really nothing left to say about Nadal on a clay court. He did not play well. He had a feisty opponent and a crowd that was 100% behind him. He had his chances on 9 occasions on Nadal’s serve but could not capitalize. Nadal was dropping his forehand short and he made quite a few unforced errors. I expect as the tournament progresses and barring any unforeseen circumstances, Nadal will get better. The final score line of 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 speaks to exactly what happened.

Match of the day

Getty

Andy Roddick did the impossible. He came back from 2 sets to 1 down against Jarrko Niemenen on Centre Court. The only thing is this Centre Court was not Wimbledon or the US Open or any other surface on which one would expect Roddick to do well. He came back from 2 sets to 1 down on Court Philippe Chartier. The final score of 6-2, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 speaks clearly to how the match went. There were ebbs and flows. There were moments of excellent play and moments when both men despaired because their ground strokes abandoned them. It was a wonderful match to watch and I really enjoyed it.

Doubles

Mlle Williams and Mlle Williams opened their account in doubles today against Tamarine Tanasugarn and Kirsten Flipkens. Their opponents won 1 game. It was brutal. Venus is playing very well. The crowd was 6 deep for this doubles match and was the only doubles match on a show court.

Roland Garros Day 3 Open Thread

AP

The King of Clay begins his campaign today and the top American male return to action for the first time since Miami. By day's end, first-round action will be complete.

Schedule for Day 3: Tuesday, 25 May 2010

Court Philippe Chatrier 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - First Round
Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) v. Justine Henin (BEL)[22]
2. Men's Singles - First Round
Andy Roddick (USA)[6] v. Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)
3. Women's Singles - First Round
Maria Elena Camerin (ITA) v. Marion Bartoli (FRA)[13]
4. Men's Singles - First Round
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)[28] v. Jeremy Chardy (FRA)

Court Suzanne Lenglen 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - First Round
Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[7] v. Igor Kunitsyn (RUS)
2. Women's Singles - First Round
Dinara Safina (RUS)[9] v. Kimiko Date Krumm (JPN)
3. Men's Singles - First Round
Gianni Mina (FRA) v. Rafael Nadal (ESP)[2]
4. Women's Singles - First Round
Maria Sharapova (RUS)[12] v. Ksenia Pervak (RUS)

Court 1 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - First Round
Alize Cornet (FRA) v. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)[29]
2. Men's Singles - First Round
Mischa Zverev (GER) v. Nicolas Mahut (FRA)
3. Men's Singles - First Round
Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)[16] v. Pablo Cuevas (URU)
4. Women's Singles - First Round
Sandra Zahlavova (CZE) v. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)[16]

Court 2 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - First Round
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)[23] v. Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA)
2. Men's Singles - First Round
Robby Ginepri (USA) v. Sam Querrey (USA)[18]
3. Women's Doubles - First Round
Serena Williams (USA)/Venus Williams (USA) [1] v. Kirsten Flipkens (BEL)/Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA)
4. Men's Singles - First Round
David Guez (FRA) v. David Ferrer (ESP)[9]

Court 3 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - First Round
Ayumi Morita (JPN) v. Kirsten Flipkens (BEL)
2. Men's Singles - First Round
Jurgen Melzer (AUT)[22] v. Dudi Sela (ISR)
3. Men's Singles - First Round
Marc Gicquel (FRA) v. Pere Riba (ESP)
4. Women's Singles - First Round
Mariana Duque Marino (COL) v. Sybille Bammer (AUT)

Court 4 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - First Round
Katie O'brien (GBR) v. Jill Craybas (USA)
2. Women's Singles - First Round
Jarmila Groth (AUS) v. Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)
3. Men's Singles - First Round
Santiago Ventura (ESP) v. Andreas Seppi (ITA)

Court 5 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - First Round
Klara Zakopalova (CZE) v. Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)
2. Men's Singles - First Round
Eduardo Schwank (ARG) v. Blaz Kavcic (SLO)
3. Women's Singles - First Round
Anastasia Pivovarova (RUS) v. Ioana Raluca Olaru (ROU)

Court 6 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - First Round
Shahar Peer (ISR)[18] v. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)
2. Women's Singles - First Round
Vania King (USA) v. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)
3. Men's Singles - First Round
Karol Beck (SVK) v. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)[30]
4. Men's Singles - First Round
Denis Istomin (UZB) v. Benjamin Becker (GER)

Court 7 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - First Round
Grega Zemlja (SLO) v. Juan Monaco (ARG)[26]
2. Men's Singles - First Round
Florent Serra (FRA) v. Michael Russell (USA)
3. Women's Singles - First Round
Jie Zheng (CHN)[25] v. Ekaterina Bychkova (RUS)
4. Women's Singles - First Round
Shenay Perry (USA) v. Olivia Sanchez (FRA)

Court 8 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - First Round
Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) v. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)
2. Women's Doubles - First Round
Sofia Arvidsson (SWE)/Angelique Kerber (GER) v. Lucie Safarova (CZE)/Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN)
3. Women's Doubles - First Round
Liezel Huber (USA)/A. Medina Garrigues (ESP) [3] v. Mariya Koryttseva (UKR)/Darya Kustova (BLR)
4. Women's Doubles - First Round
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)/Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) v. Tatjana Malek (GER)/Andrea Petkovic (GER)

Court 10 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - First Round
Ekaterina Dzehalevich (BLR)/Renata Voracova (CZE) v. Maria Kondratieva (RUS)/Vladimira Uhlirova (CZE)
2. Women's Doubles - First Round
Maria Kirilenko (RUS)/Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [11] v. Kai-Chen Chang (TPE)/Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK)
3. Women's Doubles - First Round
Victoria Azarenka (BLR)/Vera Zvonareva (RUS) v. Melinda Czink (HUN)/Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP)
4. Women's Doubles - First Round
Alona Bondarenko (UKR)/Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) v. Carly Gullickson (USA)/Polona Hercog (SLO)

Court 11 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - First Round
Klaudia Jans (POL)/Patty Schnyder (SUI) v. Regina Kulikova (RUS)/Anastasija Sevastova (LAT)
2. Women's Doubles - First Round
Eleni Daniilidou (GRE)/Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) v. Petra Kvitova (CZE)/Stefanie Voegele (SUI)
3. Women's Doubles - First Round
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Francesca Schiavone (ITA) [8] v. Severine Beltrame (FRA)/Yulia Fedossova (FRA)
4. Women's Doubles - First Round
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/Zi Yan (CHN) [9] v. Timea Bacsinszky (SUI)/Tathiana Garbin (ITA)

Court 14 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - First Round
Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) v. Daniel Koellerer (AUT)
2. Women's Doubles - First Round
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)/Julia Goerges (GER) v. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (FRA)/Pauline Parmentier (FRA)
3. Women's Doubles - First Round
Irena Pavlovic (FRA)/Laura Thorpe (FRA) v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)/Samantha Stosur (AUS) [4]
4. Women's Doubles - First Round
Cara Black (ZIM)/Elena Vesnina (RUS) [6] v. Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP)/Meghann Shaughnessy (USA)

Court 16 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - First Round
Julie Coin (FRA)/Marie-Eve Pelletier (CAN) v. Gisela Dulko (ARG)/Flavia Pennetta (ITA) [5]
2. Women's Singles - First Round
Olga Govortsova (BLR) v. Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP)
3. Men's Singles - First Round
Horacio Zeballos (ARG) v. Martin Fischer (AUT)
4. Women's Doubles - First Round
Olga Govortsova (BLR)/Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) [15] v. Sorana Cirstea (ROU)/Virginie Razzano (FRA)

Court 17 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - First Round
Alberta Brianti (ITA) v. Vera Zvonareva (RUS)[21]
2. Men's Singles - First Round
Potito Starace (ITA) v. Illya Marchenko (UKR)
3. Women's Doubles - First Round
Natalie Grandin (RSA)/Abigail Spears (USA) v. Alize Cornet (FRA)/Aravane Rezai (FRA)
4. Men's Singles - First Round
Xavier Malisse (BEL) v. Simon Greul (GER)