TennisToday

Novak Djokovic Thru to 4th Round at French Open as He Notches 500th ATP Match

French Open - Men's Third Round

1 Novak Djokovic d 26 Grigor Dimitrov - 62 62 63

I think everybody thought this one would be a closer contest.

Remember, Grigor beat Nole just a few weeks ago at Madrid.

In the process Nole became the 40th player to join the 500 club.

Nole certainly is looking unbeatable at this edition of RG.

But his next opponent is Philipp Kohlschreiber - H2H: 2-1/Nole.

The loss? A 3rd round straight set loss here at the French in 2009.

Yea, I'm not seeing a repeat of that on Monday.

Not happening.

Rafael Nadal Thru to 4th Round at French Open

French Open - Men's Third Round

3 Rafael Nadal d 27 Fabio Fognini - 76(5) 64 64

Rafa got his own Pocoyo doll - I have no idea what that means. LOL.

One thing I do know: Rafa needs to up his level to get an 8th title at RG.

Ain't no way he's getting past Nole with what he's bringing now.

Rafa agrees: I have to play better. If I want to have any chance,

I really need to play better. But it is always the same story.

When you win without playing your best, you have the chance to

play better. If you don't fight when you have tough days or

negative days, then you don't have all the chances for the future.

So it's important to stay humble these kind of days, stay with

the right mentality, be positive, and accept in every moment all the

difficulties that comes and try to win.

***

And that's his own analysis of his game after a straight set win.

And he's right.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Thru to 4th Round at French Open

French Open - Men's Third Round

6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga d Jeremy Chardy - 61 62 75

Interesting to note that this is only his 6th time playing at Roland-Garros.

His W/L on the red dirt of Paris is 15-5.

If he can get past Federer in a possible Qf he may just give France a champ.

Post match: A few years back nobody believed in me and now people

believe in me much more. So I hope I will do them justice.

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?

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

 

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.

Tomas Berdych Upsets Novak Djokovic in Quarterfinals at Rome Masters 1000

Rome Masters Series 1000 - Men's Quarterfinal

6 Tomas Berdych d 1 Novak Djokovic - 26 75 64

This was Tomas' 4th trip to the Qf's at Rome.

And it was nearly his 4th loss - he was down 26 25 before hotted-up.

In the process Tomas snapped an 11 match losing streak to Nole.

Post match: One day you have to break [the run] and

I am happy that it was today. It was a great game and I am happy.

I was trying to stay positive from the beginning.

He didn't give me a single chance. I was trying to stay there and

there are matches when you don't get a single chance,

but then if you get one, then you are ready. Then everything could

turn the other way and this is what happened.

Next up he plays Rafa. And he has a 12-match losing streak in this H2H.

Rafael Nadal Begins Title Defence at Rome with Win

Rome Masters Series 1000 - Men's 2nd Round

5 Rafael Nadal d Fabio Fognini - 61 63

It's still odd to type the 5 next to Rafa's name.

That will change if he takes the title as he'll move past Ferrer to #4.

That would be his 7th. But that's getting WAY ahead of ourselves.

He's got a tough draw to get to the final: possible Ferrer Qf & Nole Sf.

With Andy & Jo-W going out today Roger is the best bet to be in the final.

Round 3: Rafa will next face Q Ernests Gulbis - H2H: 5-0/Rafa.

The photo above is from a kid's clinic held yesterday.

 

Novak Djokovic Back to Winning Way at Rome

Rome Masters Series 1000 - Men's 2nd Round

1 Novak Djokovic d Q Albert Montanes - 62 63

Looks like Nole and his pup Pierre wil be sticking around Rome for a bit.

Unlike at Madrid where he suffered an odd early loss.

Remember, he lost the final at Rome last year to Rafael Nadal.

They are on course to meet in the Sf's this year.

The two-time Rome winner ('08 & '11) had this to say post match:

It was a good performance for a start, even though I know I can do better.

I know my game has to be better in order to win my next challenge.

But I’m heading in a good way because I didn’t have a great week in

Madrid and didn’t have much practice.

I came here very early; from Wednesday I spent a lot of hours on the

court working hard, trying to prepare myself for what’s coming up

this week and also after the tournament in Rome, two Grand Slams

in less than a month time. It’s a very important period for all of us and

I need to be physically, mentally, fresh and fit and

I think I’m on the right way to be like that.

Laura Robson Beats Venus Williams in 1st Round at Rome

Rome WTA - First Round

Laura Robson d Venus Williams - 63 62

I hate to say it but methinks Venus is over.

And Laura will suffer the revenge factor immediately...

She gets Serena in the next round.

Serena will want to punish her for spanking Venus.

They've never played before. I think it'll be a fun one.

Serena Williams & Maria Sharapova: Bikini Babes Set to Battle for #1 in the Final at Madrid

Madrid WTA - Women's Final Preview

1 Serena Williams vs 2 Maria Sharapova - H2H: 12-2/Serena

Sf milestones: Serena becomes 1st player to win 30 matches this year.

And Maria joined an elite club by winning her 500th WTA match.

Maria has not beaten Serena since 2004.

In their last 11 matches Maria has managed only 3 sets.

Also in those last 11 - in 6 of them Serena only gave up 5 games.

Their last showdown was in the Miami final in March.

Maria managed to make it a 3 setter but got blown out in the 3rd 6-0.

Can she make it interesting tomorrow? Certainly. Hopefully.

And let's not forget that they are playing for the #1 ranking.

In the battel of banging bikini bods I'm playing it safe - both win.

Maria Sharapova Esquire Swimsuit Spread

Maria is in Madrid this week as the 2nd seed behind Serena.

Maria is in a position to yank the #1 spot away from Serena.

All Maria needs to do is finish the tourny one round better than Serena.

That makes for a very tasty final. Make it happen ladies.

Rafael Nadal Will NOT Getting a Special Protected Seeding at Roland Garros

Rafa & Serena share a presser laugh in Madrid ahead of play next week.

So all the talk and rumors of Rafa's seeding at Roland Garros can stop.

They announce today that he will not get a protected seeding.

French Open tournament director Gilbert Ysern told L'Equipe today:

Considering what Nadal represents in Paris,

i.e. the best player in the tournament's history,

it seemed incongruous that he arrives in Paris with the number 4 or 5 bib.

But it was said to be fiddling. What was supposed to be a strong symbol,

a tribute, was seen as messy business.

Whatever. Here's how I see it:

I believe Novak, Andy and Roger should remain the top 3 seeds.

I think Rafa should swap places with Ferrer and be seeded #4.

And I doubt you'd get much of an argument from Ferrer about it either.

It solves the problem of Rafa meeting the top 3 in the quarters.

Nobody wants to see this happen so hopefully he'll land in Ferrer's section.

Here's what I do know: Wimbledon will not make this mistake.