Saturday, May 30, 2009

French Open: Men's Report


Fourth Round

Rafael Nadal [1] vs. Robin Soderling [23]
Fernando Verdasco [8] vs. Nikolay Davydenko [10]
Andy Murray [3] vs. Marin Cilic [13]
Fernando Gonzalez [12] vs. Victor Hanescu [30]

Juan Martin Del Potro [5] vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [9]
Tommy Robredo [16] vs. Pholipp Kohlschreiber [29]
Andy Roddick [6] vs. Gael Monfils [11]
Roger Federer [2] vs. Tommy Haas


12 of the top 16 men tennis players in the world have made it to the second week of the French Open with James Blake [15] crashing out in the first round followed by shocking third round exits by David Ferrer [14] and top ten players Gilles Simon [7] and Novak Djokovic [3]. The latter was the most surprising since he was dubbed the second best clay courter this year other than Rafael Nadal and was widely expected to contend for the title. Oops.

The top two seeds, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, winner and runner-up for the past three years respectively, are both still alive. Nadal has not dropped a set and is looking as dominant as ever. Federer, on the other hand, has been pushed in his matches losing two sets and has been driven to tiebreakers. In his current form, Federer doesn't seem to pose too much a threat to Nadal considering Nadal just looks impossible to beat right now. By anyone.

Two surprise fourth round survivors are the two Andy's, Murray and Roddick. This is the first year both of them have reached this far in this tournament and it's a testament to both of their off-court preparations that they've done so well this year. Both will be tested by young guns in the next round but they should be happy with what they've done so far.

Speaking of those young guns, one of those is Gael Monfils, one of two Frenchmen carrying the flag during the French Open. He has given much needed excitement to this tournament and to the French along with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The latter will next meet up with Juan Martin Del Potro for probably the match of the tournament.

Prediction: Well I was just so wrong when I predicted during the Australian Open. But here goes. Winner of Del Potro vs. Tsonga will meet Federer in the semifinals with Federer meeting Nadal in the final. Nadal will face Gonzalez in the semis and then will go on to capture his record 5-straight French Open champion beating Federer in three sets.

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