TennisToday

Roger Federer Thru to 4th Round at French Open

French Open - Men's Third Round

2 Roger Federer d Julian Benneteau - 63 64 75

Rog joined Twitter a week ago and already has almost 300k followers.

Yesterday he tweeted this photo from the iconic Eiffel Tower captioned:

I really enjoyed going on top of the Eiffel Tower

for the first time in my life today.

He's also enjoying a romp thru the draw as he's won 9 straight sets.

This is the GOAT's 46th trip to the 4th round of a Slam: 39-6.

And he's looking to get into his 37th consecutive Slam Qf.

Yea, that's building on a ridiculous streak - and record.

Rafael Nadal Thru to 3rd Round at French Open

French Open - Men's Second Round

3 Rafael Nadal d Martin Klizan - 46 63 63 63

This is the 2nd straight match Rafa's lost the 1st set and won in 4.

Overcast and damp are famously not the conditions Rafa likes.

And he was too thrilled about the schedule: Yesterday the supervisor

made a big mistake with me because my opponent already played

yesterday... And so it is something in my opinion that is not fair.

Seriously... A 2nd round match played on the 1st Friday?

When this Slam has an extra day on the opening Sunday? Kinda ridiculous.

Rafa will turn-around and face Fabio Fognini tomorrow.

I'm thinking Rafa will get his first straight-setter tomorrow.

Shopping cures the blues perhaps?

 

Maria Sharapova Thru to 3rd Round at French Open

French Open - Women's Second Round

2 Maria Sharapova d Eugenia Bouchard - 62 64

It took two days but the defending champ is thru to the 3rd round.

They stopped the match owing to rain at 4-2 in the 2nd set yesterday.

Post match: It was a pretty long day on Thursday. But we all knew the

weather wasn't going to be good. On Thursday at 8.45pm when it was

raining, it was pretty tough to continue. I was happy to play part of

the match and get myself into a good position to finish it.

She'll have a quick turn-around and play Zheng tomorrow.

Hmmmm. Maria fans shouldn't be too worried about that one.

Sloane Stephens Thru to 3rd Round at French Open

French Open - Women's Second Round

17 Sloane Stephens d Vania King - 61 63

Here a fact that you may not realize - this is her 6th 3rd round in 8 Slams.

That's pretty darned inpressive.

Remember in her last Slam she beat Serena to gain the Sf's at the Aussie.

She can't meet Serena at the French until the final.

And well... she on a path to see Maria in the 4th round.

That Serena/Sloane rematch smackdown will have to wait.

On the rain delays: I haven't done too well with the delays.

During the first wait I played on my phone, in the second I went to sleep.

You literally have nothing to do. Should I eat? Do cartwheels?

You have no idea. Last week in Brussels I had my nails done,

and went and made chocolate. Then I played a match on the same day - a

losing match. Obviously the nails & chocolate weren't a good combination.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands Upsets Former Champ Li Na at French Open

French Open - Women's Second Round

Bethanie Mattek-Sands d 6 Li Na - 57 63 62

The tattoo lady is having a lovely stay in Paris.

Remember: Li Na was the 2011 French Open champ.

The French Open is the first tourney she's gotten directly in this year.

She's qualified for 5 and was given wildcards into another 3.

The points she's earned here will certainly change her season.

Post match: I’m confident in my game now and every week

I’ve been improving. That goes back to building momentum which

I haven’t had in a couple of years. In this match I was spanking returns.

She wasn't going to give it to me.

Janko Tipsarevic Thru to 2nd Round at French Open

French Open - Men's First Round

8 Janko Tipsarevic d Nicolas Mahut - 62 76(4) 61

Hey lookie here, Janko snapped a 3 match losing streak.

Post match: A straight set victory against any Frenchman is a

big victory in my book, especially at Roland Garros.

That's a true story.

Janko put his season into the positive with a W/L of 12-11.

As a result he fell out of the top 10 last week after a long stay.

And Janko has 4th round points to defend in Paris.

He next plays fellow former top 10er Verdasco - H2H: 4-2/Janko.

He's seeded to face his friend and fellow Serb Nole in the Qf's.

I'm not sure he'll get there but ya never know.

Tommy Haas seems like the better bet.

Victoria Azarenka Thru to 2nd Round at French Open

French Open - Women's First Round

3 Victoria Azarenka d Elena Vesnina - 61 64

Vika handled her former doubles partner in about an hour and 15.

Last year she suffered a tough 4th round loss to Cibulkova.

And prior to that she's been to the Qf's twice.

She's drawn Li Na in the Qf's and is in Maria's half of proceedings.

Yikes: She's got some serious popcorn matches coming up.

Benoit Paire Thru to 2nd Round at French Open

French Open - Men's First Round

24 Benoit Paire d Marcos Baghdatis - 36 76(1) 64 64

I'm just gonna say it: I've become a big fan of Benoit's.

And lookie here he's won his 2nd match at RG in 4 visits to Paris.

And he has a very winnable 2nd rounder against Lukasz Kubot.

In fact, he's got a great shot at a Qf with Rafa.

You heard it hear first.

Grigor Dimitrov Thru to 2nd Round at French Open

French Open - Men's First Round

26 Grigor Dimitrov d Alejandro Falla - 64 1-0 Ret.

Falla had some tummy trouble.

Grigor seems to be coming into form on the clay.

Remember he took down Djokovic at the Madrid Masters.

And he's on a 3rd round collision course with Nole here at Roland-Garros.

Could be quite interesting.

And Grigor has already matched his best result here - from last year.

He's heading one direction - UP.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Wins 1st Round at French Open

French Open - Men's First Round

6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d Aljaz Bedene - 62 62 63

Obvs I follow tennis pretty closely; I've never seen Aljaz's name before.

Jo-W is France's best bet to win the title.

He is also heading to a tasty Federer showdown in the Qf's.

He'll need to clean up that 50% first serve percentage.

Post match: It's positive, because winning without seeing a high percentage

of first serves, that's good. That means everything else is in place and

that when I iron the service out, then I will be even better.

Sure. But Bedene is one thing- the GOAT is quite another.

Rafael Nadal Gets Tested in 1st Round Win at French Open

French Open - Men's First Round

3 Rafael Nadal d Daniel Brands - 46 76(5) 64 63

So for the better part of 2 sets that was too close for comfort.

I mean, commentators even started using the word 'upset.'

For shame!

Post match: He was playing unbelievable. I just tried to find my game and

tried to resist his fantastic shots. He played a fantastic match and

put me in a very difficult situation. I'm very happy to be through.

Rafa is now 53-1 at Roland Garros.

Rafa has a potential 3rd rounder with Rosol who upset him at Wimby '12.

That would be an interesting match - if Rosol can get past Fognini.

And if Rafa can get past Klizan. LOL.

Roger Federer Wins 1st Match at French Open

French Open - Men's 1st Round

2 Roger Federer d Pablo Carreno-Busta - 62 62 63

Rog took the first bite of his cupcake draw.

Post match: I think I started all three sets well, was able to get in the lead.

Then playing from the lead against a player like him, it's always easier,

and so I put a lot of emphasis on that.

***

The next big cupcake bite will be Devvarman in the next round.

Seriously, Sprinkles has nothing on this draw.

Gilles Simon Wins a Thriller in 1st Round at French Open

French Open - Men's 1st Round

15 Gilles Simon d Lleyton Hewett - 36 16 64 61 75

Someone dug deep. Way deep.

Post match: I simply got back into the match by playing better.

Unfortunately, at the end he played one more time great tennis.

It's never easy to finish when you see the guy coming back 5-1, 5-2, 5-3

after a few match points. So I'm just happy that I managed to win this one.

Juan Monaco Wins ATP Title at Dusseldorf

Dusseldorf ATP 250 - Men's Final

3/WC Juan Monaco d 6 Jarkko Nieminen - 64 63

Now that's how you turn around a dismal season - you win a title.

His 8th - 7 of them on clay. And 1st of 2013.

Hopefully this will give him a jolt of confidence for Roland-Garros.

Juan has a very tricky draw right from the start.

He's got Gemino-Traver first up and is headed toward Cliic and Tsonga.

And if he can get past all of them he's likely to face Federer in the Qf's.

I'm exhausted just typing that!

Post match: It's the best preparation. I've had a great week here,

playing a couple of good matches. Especially today I played really well.

So I will look forward to keep playing this way in Paris.

Albert Montanes Wins ATP Title at Nice

Nice ATP 250 - Men's Final

Albert Montanes d WC Gael Monfils - 60 76(3)

Not bad for someone not even planning to play this event.

He was a very lasy minute replacement for Berdych suffering fatique.

This is Albert's 6th title and 1st in nearly 2 years.

That over 30 crowd is still making noise. And it makes me goofy happy.

Post match: I was not supposed to play here in the first place.

I was in my home town, 200km from Barcelona, with friends when

I found out I was entering the main draw last Saturday night.

So it’s pretty incredible that I am here now with the Nice trophy.

No doubt the fact that I came here with no pressure, just happy to play,

taking it day-by-day and match-by-match, helped me win this week.

The 2013 French Open Draws are Set

Defending champions Rafa & Maria helped make the draw.

Maria kind of spoiled the party as she put Rafa in Nole's half.

So what should be a final can only happen in a semifinal.

Boo.

You can check the men's draw HERE.

The men's quarterfinals are seeded to look like this:

Nole/Tipsy; Rafa/Gasquet; Ferrer/Berdy; Roger/Jo-W.

The top 3 really got decent draws. I'm thinking they'll all be Sf-ists.

Hell, I'll go as far as to say all 4 top seeds will all make it.

You can check the women's draw HERE.

Really? Ain't nobody beating Serena this year. Nobody.

But for shits and giggles this is the quarterfinal projections:

Serena/Kerber; Aga/Sara; Vika/Na; Maria/Petra.

***

I don't like predictions much but here goes.

Serena will storm to the title.

And to wuss out I'll just say the winner of Rafa/Nole takes it.

But I think I'll hedge toward Rafa.

 

 

Juan Monaco Reaches Semifinals at Dusseldorf

Dusseldorf ATP 250 - Men's Quarterfinal

3/WC Juan Monica d Tobias Kamke - 63 64

Pico reaches a Sf for only the second time this year.

So far he hasn't been backing up his points from last season.

And he's staring down 4th round points from the French Open 2012.

I just hope he stears clear of his BFF's (Rafa) draw.

At least until the quarters.

Caroline Wozniacki Suffers 4th Straight Opening Match Loss - This Time at Brussels

Brussels WTA - Second Round

Jie Zheng d 1/WC Caroline Wozniacki - 62 64

Caro has yet to win a match on European clay this season.

And 3 of those 4 matches have been in straight sets.

Ouch.

So's who has her winning in Paris in a couple weeks?

And... Who's thinking Rory is to blame?

 

Roger Federer is Title-less heading into the French Open

This is the 1st time since 2000 that Roger heads to Paris without a title.

Interestingly he's only been in one final - yesterday at Rome.

And Rafa handed him his butt.

He will head to Roland Garros as the 2nd seed in the draw.

Tho I doubt many people are picking him to win over Rafa & Nole.

Roger before the final: I am playing well and I am healthy, so I have

everything to play for next week [ahead ofRoland Garros].

This week was good to get an idea about what is working.

News flash to Roger: That forehand is NOT working.

Post match: I was missing too many easy forehands...

Oh. He knows already.

Even so, I'd still put him thru to the Sf's at the French.

Rafael Nadal Wins 7th Title at Rome

Rome Masters Series 1000 - Men's Final

5 Rafael Nadal d 2 Roger Federer - 61 63

I think we can stop calling this a comeback already. He's beyond back.

In 8 tournaments this year he's gone to all 8 finals and won 6 of them.

Including 3 Masters 1000's (IW, Madrid & Rome) and 2 500 events.

After his Sf win he moved to #1 in points earned in 2013.

This is Rafa's 7th time biting the trophy at Rome.

This is his 56th ATP title and 24th at the Masters 1000 level.

Of his 56 titles a whopping 30 have come from 4 tournaments:

Monte-Carlo 8; Barelona 8; Rome 7 & French Open 7.

And he's a good and safe bet to make it 8 in Paris.

And the win moved Rafa up to #4 and rightfully Spain's #1.

He also improved his H2H against Federer to 20-10.

Post match: If you told me four or five months ago that after eight

tournaments I would have won six titles from eight finals,

I would say you are crazy. To win three Master 1000 and two 500

tournaments is more than I ever dreamed.

His Rafanatics can say that too.

***

Rafa also got some dopey GQ style award this week too: