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Janko Tipsarevic & Nicolas Almagro to Meet in the 4th Round at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Men's Third Round

8 Janko Tipsarevic d 29 Julien Benneteau - 63 75 64

12 Nicolas Almagro d Leonardo Mayer - 64 61 62

This is Janko's 1st trip to the 4th R at RG.

And in his 33rd Slam this is only his 4th time to a 4th R: 1-2.

This is Nico's 3rd trip to the 4th R at RG: 2-0.

And in his 31st Slam this is his 6th time to a 4th R: 2-3.

Janko and Nico have never played.

Nico has yet to drop a set. Janko lost a set to Querrey in the 1st round.

Also noteworthy: The Serb now has a 7 match winning streak on clay.

This has all the makings of a great encounter.

Sloane Stevens into 4th Round at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Women's Third Round

Sloane Stevens d Mathilde Johansson - 63 62

Who says American women's tennis is dead?

She is in a rankings race with King & Lepchenko for the last Olympic spot.

She will next face US Open champ Samantha Stosur - their first meeting.

New territory: This is Sloane's first trip to a Slam round of 16.

Post match: I always feel really comfortable here at Roland Garros.

I really like it here. I was like...

'I know if I just do the right things, the good things will happen.'

Rafael Nadal into 3rd Round at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Men's Second Round

2 Rafael Nadal d Denis Istomin - 62 62 60

Full-flight Rafa.

W/L: He is now 47-1 at RG and 151-21 in his career in the 4 Slams.

And he still thinks there is room for improvement:

I can improve things. The serve is the first one.

I think I improved the level of my serve during the match...

But I started the match serving badly.

For the rest, more or less, I have to be happy.

Yikes.

Arnaud Clement Given Special Career Award After His Final Match at Roland Garros

 

Roland Garros - Men's Second Round

David Goffin d Arnaud Clement - 36 76(2) 06 62 61

In 15 trips to RG Arnaud's best result was the 4th round in 2003.

He ends his run at Roland Garros with a career W/L of 12-15.

Also, in doubles he was a Sf-ist in 2001.

Nice touch FFT.

Photo: Reuters

Paul-Henri Mathieu Upsets Marathon Man John Isner in Marathon Match at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Men's Second Round

Paul-Henri Mathieu d 10 John Isner 67(2) 64 64 36 18-16

It took Paul nearly 6 hours and 7 match points to seal the victory.

This is the 2nd year Isner has lost in 5-sets - last year to Nadal in 1st R.

Remember: Isner went 70-68 in the 5th at Winby against Mahut in '10.

Mathieu: I remember Mahut's match, so I just couldn't believe it was over.

I had match point. It was tough. Every time I needed to concentrate and...

Focus again on my serve, so when the match was over...

I had trouble realising it was really over.

Photo: Getty Images

Andy Murray into 3rd Round at Roland Garros even with Lower Back Drama

Roland Garros - Men's Second Round

4 Andy Murray d Jarkko Nieminen - 16 64 61 62

Strange match. In the 1set Andy could bare move.

He was dinking his serve in and going for broke early in points.

The trainer came out and then the back loosen up enough to roll.

He said he was a couple points from pulling the plug at on point.

After the match Andy tweeted:

Thanks to everyone that supported me through a really tough day today.

#alwaysbelieve

With Wimby & the London Olympics on the horizon what will he do?

Carry on or get better for Great Britain's sake.

Decisions. Decisions.

Roger Federer into 3rd Round at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Men's Second Round

3 Roger Federer d Adrian Ungur - 63 62 67(6) 63

The GOAT dropped a set. That had to just be a blip.

The '09 champ has now been to the 3rd round at RG 11 times: 9-1.

Rog is desperately trying to get back to #1 if just for a few weeks...

He's wants that 'weeks at #1' record that Sampras owns.

A second title here would certainly get home close.

But with runner-up points to defend Wimby may be where it's accomplished.

May be...

Photo: From Nike Tennis Facebook page.

Serena Williams to Play Mixed Doubles at Roland Garros with Bob Bryan

Serena will not be leaving Paris after that shocking singles loss.

She's sticking around to play mixed doubles with Bob Bryan.

Serena has not played mixed since 1999.

She's won 2 mixed Slam titles: Wimby & USO both in 1998 with Max Mirnyi.

Serena & Bob - a preview to an Olympic pairing?

Photo: Bob with his baby along the Champs-Elysees from his Twitter.

Serena Williams Loses Shocker 1st Round Match at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Women's First Round

Virginie Razzano d 5 Serena Williams - 46 76(5) 63

In 46 Slam appearances this is Serena's first loss in the 1st round.

It will be talked about as one of the biggest upsets of all-time.

Remember: She was a co-favorite to take the title.

Serena was up 5-1 in that 2nd set tie-break and then completely melted.

Between the 2nd & 3rd sets Serena cried. I've never see that before.

WOW.

Serena post match: Things could be a lot worse.

I haven't had the easiest past six months. It's nothing I can't deal with.

My Roland Garros happens to be over, but I'm in mixed doubles...

So hopefully I can do better and win a match in that event.

***

Virginie post match: In my mind I just never lost.

Yes, it was 5-1 in the tie-break, but in my mind I knew I could win this set.

I knew I could come back, and I knew I had to do that.

You don't need to think about other things, you just try to come back...

And try your best every time, on every point.

Photo: Getty Images

Rafael Nadal Wins Opener at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Men's First Round

2 Rafael Nadal d Simone Bolelli - 62 62 61

Rafa is now 46-1 at RG. This was also his 150th Slam match win.

He moves his W/L on the year to 34-4 with 3 tournament titles.

Playing in his 32nd Slam Rafa has never lost in the 1st round.

Remember: He is looking for a record-breaking 7th title here.

From a presser the other day:

I played fantastic tournaments in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, and Rome.

That's it. I'm playing well.

I arrived here with positive feelings, and I will try my best to be very...

Competitive and to be in the right level to have my chances.

Photo: From a practice session yesterday.

Bradley Cooper Takes in Matches at Roland Garros

I posted this just cuz.

Just cuz HE'S THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE!

Top Seed Victoria Azarenka Escapes 1st Round Scare at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Women's First Round

1 Victoria Azarenka d Alberta Brianti - 67(6) 64 62

Opening round jitters? Well she dug deep to fend off a huge upset.

Post match: Before maybe I would just give up and go home.

I was kind of thinking there was a flight straight to Minsk...

Around 3 o'clock tomorrow, so I could catch that.

But I didn't want to leave too soon.

We're glad you're sticking around.

Photo: At practice with sometime coach Amelie Mauresmo.

Arnaud Clement Wins Weird Opener at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Men's First Round

Arnaud Clement d Alex Bogomolov, Jr. - 62 36 46 76(2) 54 A ret.

Alex cramped and couldn't serve to save match point and gave up.

Thus handing Arnaud a nice veteran win.

This is Arnaud's 15th and last French Open. His W/L is 11-15.

His best result was a 4th round showing in 2003.

It's the only Slam where he failed to get to the quarterfinals.

He will next face the winner of 23 Stepanek/Goffin.

Of course, I'm pulling for my old favorite.

Allez Arnaud, allez.

Novak Djokovic Wins 1st Match at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Men's First Round

1 Novak Djokovic d Potito Starace - 76(3) 63 61

6 matches to history.

A trophy lift in 2 weeks would give him all 4 Slams.

This has not happened since Rod Laver won the calendar Slam in 1969.

And I hear Laver is flying to Paris next week.

Stay tuned.

Photo: From Novak's Facebook page.

Andy Roddick is 1st Seed to Lose at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Men's First Round

Nicolas Mahut d 26 Andy Roddick - 63 63 46 62

I guess this comes as no big surprise.

In 10 trips to Paris he's walked of the court a loser in the 1st round 5 times.

And most of those losses came on Court Lenglen - like today.

He now has a losing record at Roland Garros: 9-10.

To go with his losing record on the year: 7-10. Far from his glory days.

London calling: I suppose his grass season will begin tomorrow.

Photo: Getty Images

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Wins 1st Match at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Men's First Round

5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d Andrey Kuznetsov - 16 63 62 64

After a shocking 1st set Jo-W woke up and moved into the 2nd round.

He has 3rd round points to defend here.

And is on a collision course with Novak Djokovic in the quarters.

Post match: Vous n'êtes jamais sombre.

Whatever that means.

Ana Ivanovic Wins 1st Match at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Women's First Round

13 Ana Ivanovic d Laura Arruabarrena-Vecino - 61 61

Can it really 4 years since Ana won here already? Time sure does fly.

With the win today she has already bettered last years result.

Post match she said she's getting back to feeling like "the old Ana".

And that folks would be a good thing.

Photo: Getty Images

Stanislas Wawrinka Wins 1st 5-Setter at Roland Garros

Roland Garros - Men's First Round

18 Stanislas Wawrinka d Flavio Cipolla - 63 63 46 36 62

Stan dug deep to pull this one out.

Stan has been to the 4th round here the last 2 years.

He will next play Pablo Andujar (who also won a 5-setter) - H2H: 2-0/SW.

They are in the Djokovic/Tsonga quarter.

Photo: Getty Images

Roland Garros Snow Job

Rafa's house in Paris got some snow.

These photos were posted on the Facebook last week.

I thought it looked pretty damn cool.

Novak Djokovic & Victoria Azarenka Take Their Aussie Trophies on a Tour of Melbourne

Not only Aussie champions - but also a pair of good looking #1's.

Photos: Getty Images