The big talk of day 9 of the French Open was not how local hero Gael Monfils managed to beat marathon man David Ferrer. It was not about how Andy Murray fought back from 0-2 in sets to 2-2 before the match was postponed due to bad light against Victor Troicki. It was not how veteran Juan Ignacio Chela won a tough five setter against Colombian Alejandro Falla. It was all about how five time champion Rafael Nadal doesn’t look like himself this tournament, although he won in three sets against Ljubicic. Nadal doesn’t look as confident as he did …
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Yes, today at Roland Garros it was pretty much business as usual. At least for five time champion and world number one Rafael Nadal who won his match against Antonio Veic, losing only four games. Djokovic vs Del Potro was resumed and Djokovic resumed business being the invincible man and won today’s two sets 6-3 6-2 against a seemingly frustrated Del Potro. It’s hard to see how anyone except for Nadal can stop Djokovic in this tournament. Soderling and Simon both won their matches in straights and looked pretty impressive, but although they are both in good form it’s hard …
It was a slightly strange day at Roland Garros. It started in a pretty normal fashion though with the Fed Expess rolling through Tipsarevic in routine style, 6-1 6-4 6-3 and sending a small warning to Djokovic and Nadal that he’s in Grand slam mood. Clay court demon David Ferrer is another threat. He destroyed a tired Stakhovsky 6-1 6-1 6-3 and if I remember correctly has yet to lose serve. He can surely mix it up against both Federer and Djokovic although Nadal should have him pretty much figured out by now. The French hopes Gasquet and Tsonga looked to …
Most people probably thought it would be easy for Nadal to beat his compatriot Andujar, but tricky windy conditions together with great resistance and aggressive play from Andujar made the three setter a whole lot tougher than predicted. Andujar was attacking Nadal and although the world number one managed to win the first two sets, he was down 5-1 in the third. Then Nadal launched his famous fighting skills and together with Andujar’s nervousness he managed to win the third set in a tie-break. Nadal has now had to fight quite hard in both his opening matches which should have …
It was a bit like the slow start on Sunday and not a very eventful day at Roland Garros, but at least we got to see three of the top names in action. Federer made it look easy against French qualifier Texeira and after an inspired start from the Frenchman made it clear that he’s still one of the most elegant and forceful players. Scoreline: 6-3 6-0 6-2. Djokovic cruised through Hanescu who had to retire early in the third set. The Djoker will now play Del Potro who also won in three straight sets today. This match will be …
It was a strange third day of the French Open 2011. It started with clay court demon Nicolas Almagro being able to close out Lukasz Kubot and exactly like his fellow former top ten player Berdych lost a match although leading by 2-0 in sets. It’s hard to see where Almagro will go for here, but he can’t seem to get it together in the slams. It it some kind of mental fitness problem? Then another strange thing happened. Sam Querrey, who haven’t been able to put a foot right all year, managed to beat competent clay courter Kohlschreiber in …
It was the first “real” day of Roland Garros and both Federer, Djokovic and dark horse Del Potro were in action and they all managed to get through their rounds although Del Potro had to concede a set against serve-demon Ivo Karlovic. Djokovic looked light on his feat as usual, not dropping more than 6 games against Dutchman Thiemo De Bakker. It must be really tough to feel comfortable against Djokovic these days. Whatever you throw at him comes back with interest. Federer looked casual and relaxed against Lopez who he had huge problems with in Madrid (down 2-5 in …
It’s out and it’s cruel. At least for John Isner who faces Rafael Nadal in the first round. I’m talking about the French Open draw. If we break it down into quarters, the first quarter definitely has Nadal as the semi-finalist although you would put up a warning sign on Robin Soderling, because the Swede loves the French clay. Nadal will be pumped though to show the world that he can beat Novak Djokovic and that’s why he’s my favorite to win this year, despite Djokovic’s superpowers. A great first round match is Verdasco vs Monaco. Two talented chokers. The …
I couldn’t believe my eyes, because yesterday Novak Djokovic played another amazing match to defeat world number one Rafael Nadal in straight sets. I couldn’t believe it because Djokovic should have been tired, Nadal should have been rested and pumped, and you can’t possibly play as well as Djokovic has for that many matches. But Djokovic blasted all our doubts about this streak being ruined and played another amazing match. It wasn’t Nadal who who played badly – the result was all Djokovic’s doing. He’s just so confident that losing must be the furthest thing from his mind and he’s …
Yeah, I’m sticking with the afro name until the Scot cuts his hair. And yes, I think there is a chance that with basically no pressure on his shoulders, Andy Murray can be the one to break the seemingly endless winning streak of Novak Djokovic. He needs to relax, hit out and hope that Djokovic will get tired and irritated. Although the Serb beat Soderling in fine style (the big Swede was from his best) he looked a bit out of sorts at times. His breathing seemed heavy and on one occasion he was kicking at the ball and looked …