Roland Garros -- Day 5 Matches to Watch

At day five already...the week is just speeding by. Unfortunately, I didn't get to sleep til nearly 5am which resulted in missing both the Simon vs Baker match and Goffin vs Clement. I was able to track commentary of Brian Baker's match via twitter and it seems like the match just may have come down to Simon's experience def. Baker's inexperience in that type of situation. Baker is 27 but in a lot of ways, he might as well still be a rookie. From my point of view, I see nothing but good things that Brian Baker should take from all he has accomplished since he started the long road back.

I have no notes on Clement's match. Just a scoreline that makes me shake my head. The match was suspended due to rain at 1-5 in the 5th with Clement serving at 30-0.

Juan Carlos Ferrero's was a sad loss to see when I checked scores and he was quoted as saying that he will see how the rest of the year goes and decide whether to retire. I think its highly likely that he'll call it a day soon.

Verdasco won in 4 sets after dropping the first in a tiebreak so I guess 1 out of 4 isn't bad...

The women went 3 out of 4 with only Oudin losing to Errani in straight sets.

Of the men's Doubles today, the #1 team of Max Mirnyi/Daniel Nestor won in straights as well as the #8 seeded team of Jurgen Melzer/Philipp Petzschner.

In women's doubles, Nadia Petrova/MariaKirilenko came through their first round as did Stephanie Foretz Gacon/Kristina Mladenovic.

And in first round mixed, Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi won their first round easily.


WS - R64

Urszula Radwanska vs (4)Petra Kvitova
(7)Na Li vs Stephanie Foretz Gacon
(16)Maria Kirilenko vs Klara Zakopalova
Varvara Lepchenko vs (19)Jelena Jankovic


MS - R64

Denis Istomin vs (2)Rafael Nadal
(6)David Ferrer vs Benoit Paire
Dmitry Tursunov vs (29)Julien Benneteau
Marcos Baghdatis vs (12)Nicolas Almagro
Robin Haase vs (27)Mikhail Youzhny
Sergiy Stakhovsky vs (Q)Tommy Haas
(8)Janko Tipsarevic vs Jeremy Chardy


WD - R32

(7)Nadia Petrova/Maria Kirilenko vs Akgul Amanmuradova/Kateryna Bondarenko

MD - R64

Frank Moser/Matthias Bachinger vs (11)Santiago Gonzalez/Christopher Kas
Martin Emmrich/Andreas Siljestrom vs (4)Daniele Bracciali/Potito Starace
Arnaud Clement/Kenny De Schepper vs Paul Hanley/Jordan Kerr
Michael Kohlmann/Alexander Waske vs Oliver Marach/Horatio Zeballos
(13)Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram vs Johan Brunstrom/Philipp Marx

Roland Garros -- Day Four Matches To Watch

Of course, the story of the day is about Serena Williams losing in 3 sets to Virginie Razzano. I watched the last few games after Baghdatis won his match and Youzhny quickly followed by winning his. I don't know the story of the first two sets but in that 3rd set, Razzano showed so much fight and so much heart. So did Williams but Razzano just had that little bit more and that's all it took.

Here is the link to a NY Times Tennis blog article: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/05/29/sports/tennis/29reuters-tennis-open-serena.html?_r=1&smid=tw-NYTStraightSets&seid=auto

All that drama aside, it was a winning day for most of my favorite players. Karlovic lost in straight sets to Schwank. Berlocq took a set off Rosol when he won a tiebreak in the 3rd but ultimately lost the next set.

Straight set winners: Nadal, Youzhny, Baghdatis, Ferrer, and Tursunov. Tipsarevic had a brief scare when he lost the first set to Querrey 2-6 but recovered and won the next three sets. And Tommy Haas finished off his suspended match by winning it 6-4 in the 4th.

On the women's side, Urszula Radwanska got a first round win in straight sets as did Maria Kirilenko. Paola Suarez & Gisela Dulko started their RG campaign with a straight sets win.

Finally, the second round begins tomorrow for both the men and women. And some of the Mixed Doubles and Men's Doubles 1st rounds.
MS - R64

(11)Gilles Simon vs (WC)Brian Baker
David Goffin vs (WC)Arnaud Clement
Gilles Muller vs (14)Fernando Verdasco
Juan Carlos Ferrero vs (21)Marin Cilic

WS - R64

(21)Sara Errani vs (WC)Melanie Oudin
Bethanie Mattek-Sands vs Sloane Stephens
Yung-Jan Chan vs (26)Svetlana Kuznetsova
(27)Nadia Petrova vs Chanelle Scheepers

MD - R64

Michael Russell/Donald Young vs Treat Conrad Huey/Dominic Inglot
Mark Knowles/Xavier Malisse vs Michal Mertinak/Andre Sa
(16)Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah vs Dustin Brown/Jonathan Marray
Mikhail Elgin/Denis Istomin vs Olivier Rochus/Steve Darcis
Mikhail Kukushkin/Igor Kunitsyn vs Carlos Berlocq/David Marrero
(1)Max Mirnyi/Daniel Nestor vs Robin Haase/Jarkko Nieminen
Julian Knowle/Leonardo Mayer vs (8)Jurgen Melzer/Philipp Petzschner
Sergiy Stakhovsky/Mikhail Youzhny vs (2)Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan

WD - R64

(7)Maria Kirilenko/Nadia Petrova vs Lourdes Dominguez Lino/Romina Oprandi
Irina Pavlovic/Aravane Rezai vs Stephanie Foretz Gacon/Kristina Mladenovic

MXD - R32

(7)Sania Mirza/Mahesh Bhupathi vs Raquel Kops-Jones/Eric Butorac
(1)LiezelHuber/Max Mirnyi vs Vera Dushevina/Juan Sebastian Cabal

Roland Garros -- Day Three Matches To Watch

The most frustrating moment that came out of today's matches was learning that Alex Bogomolov, Jr. retired serving at 4-5 in the fifth set, match point down. Apparently, he was having severe cramping issues. Even with severe cramping, I can't understand why Bogomolov didn't hit an underhand serve just so Clement could hit it back and put a period on the match. I hope I get to see a replay of it or a clip to try and understand but until that moment...I remain frustrated.

I was disappointed to wake up and read that Zvonareva withdrew because of her right shoulder. Hewitt, Nalbandian, Starace, and Rochus all lost their matches. Feliciano Lopez retired at 0-5 down in the first set of his match and Frank Dancevic retired at 0-4 down in the first set of his match.

There was some good news in the day. The comeback story of Brian Baker continued. And in a very convincing fashion by defeating Xavier Malisse 6-3 7-6(1) 7-6(5). Malisse was irritated by the little things going on at and around Court 6 but he still played well. Baker was just better at the big points and stayed focused alot better than Malisse. Almost like he's a veteran to the situation. A bit scary.

Tommy Haas's match was suspended at 2 sets to 1 due to darkness and will be second match on Court 3 tomorrow. Haas is leading 6-3 0-6 6-4 4-2.

MS - R128

Simone Bollelli vs (2)Rafael Nadal
(8)Janko Tipsarevic vs Sam Querrey
(6)David Ferrer vs Lukas Lacko
James Blake vs (27)Mikhail Youzhny
Dmitry Tursunov vs Go Soeda
Lukas Rosol vs Carlos Berlocq
Juan Ignacio Chela vs Marcos Baghdatis
Eduardo Schwank vs Ivo Karlovic

WS - R128

Pauline Parmentier vs Urszula Radwanska
(16)Maria Kirilenko vs Victoria Larriere

WD - R64

(17)Gisela Dulko/Paola Suarez vs Darya Kustova/Anna Tatishvilli

Roland Garros -- Day 2 Matches to Watch

The Karol Beck vs Lukasz Kubot match was suspended due to darkness with Beck down 5-7 2-6 4-4 with Kubot serving. The match is expected to resume tomorrow on Court 17 after the Seppi vs Davydenko match.

As for all other matches today, it all went as expected pretty much. Elena Baltacha lost to Sam Stosur 4 & 0. I figured Sam would win but I didn't think that a bagel would be part of the mix. Mirjana Lucic put up a fight in the 2nd set against Svetlana Kuznetsova but it just wasn't enough in the end and she went down 1 &3. Melanie Oudin was impressive in her first round beating Johanna Larsson 6-3 6-3.

The most frustrating match of the day goes to (30)Jurgen Melzer. A non-TV court but seriously...he was up two sets to none. Michael Berrer isn't an easy opponent...I get that. But that was one hell of a lead to let go of.

Juan Carlos Ferrero and Fernando Verdasco got through their matches in straight sets.

On to Monday. I have two "headache" matches to watch tomorrow. Xavier Malisse vs. (WC)Brian Baker and (WC)Arnaud Clement vs Alex Bogomolov, Jr.

The Baker/Malisse match is on a non-TV court at Court 6 so that raises the frustration level...

I know how Novak vs Potito will turn out but I'm still a Starace fan...

MS - R128

(1)Novak Djokovic vs Potito Starace
Florent Serra vs (15)Feliciano Lopez
(WC)Arnaud Clement vs Alex Bogomolov, Jr.
Filippo Volandri vs (Q)Tommy Haas
Adrian Unger vs David Nalbandian
Xavier Malisse vs (WC)Brian Baker
Blaz Kavcic vs (WC)Lleyton Hewitt
Olivier Rochus vs Leonardo Mayer
Frank Dancevic vs Martin Klizan

WS - R128

Patricia Myer-Achleitner vs (19)Jelena Jankovic
Timea Babos vs (11)Vera Zvonareva
Petra Martic vs Michaella Krajicek
Ekaterina Makarova vs. Sloane Stephens
Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova vs Stephanie Foretz Gacon
(27)Nadia Petrova vs Iveta Benesova
Vera Dushevina vs Claire Feuerstein

Roland Garros -- Day One Matches to Watch

Its still weird to me that main draw play starts on Sunday. Call me a traditionalist but I like when matches start on Monday. The other side is that I guess its better to stretch the first round over three days til Tuesday instead of til Wednesday like at the US Open.

Before I get into what main draw matches I'll have an eye on tomorrow...there's still the matter of the Quallies that wrapped on Friday.

The good news: Tommy Haas Qualified without dropping a set. Karol Beck was moved into the main draw when Gael Monfils had to withdraw due to injury.

The bad news: Robby Ginepri, Paul Capdeville, and Dustin Brown all fell in the first round. Michael Russell lost in the 2nd round.

And now to the schedule for Sunday. I hope to get to see one or two of these matches Live but the time difference won't make it easy. I expect Juanqui to get through his match with little trouble but still would like to see some of it.

If you haven't been to my blog before...the names in bold red are more about who I want to win even if it seems unlikely...

In the case of Lucic vs Kuznetsova...either result would be good but seeing Lucic get to the 2nd round would be nice.

WS - R128 (top half)

Elena Baltacha vs (6)Samantha Stosur
Mirjana Lucic vs (26)Svetlana Kuznetsova
(WC)Melanie Oudin vs Johanna Larsson

MS - R128 (top half)

Juan Carlos Ferrero vs Jonathan Dasnieres De Veigy
Steve Darcis vs (14)Fernando Verdasco
Michael Berrer vs (30)Jurgen Melzer
Karol Beck vs Lukasz Kubot

Roland Garros Quallie Preview

Its that time! Roland Garros is getting underway with Qualifying starting tomorrow.

I know that Tommy Haas's ranking is low but still to see him in Quallies is both strange and sad. The fact that he's willing to fight so hard at 34 just for that chance at getting into the Main Draw is something to admire and respect.

There are a lot of names in the QD that I don't recognize and I'm sure that's due to lack of following the Challengers this season.

Ones to Watch:

Martin Fischer vs Robby Ginepri
This is a first meeting. Not a lot of info on Fischer other than he is currently ranked 222 and he has a difficult time getting past the early rounds of Challengers. In comparison, Ginepri is ranked 185 but not playing much better. His last tourney was a QF loss to Brian Baker at the Savannah Challenger. Ginepri in 3.

(4)Karol Beck vs Jimmy Wang
This is a second meeting. Beck defeated Wang in straight sets at the Surbiton Challenger in '04. Beck is currently ranked 104 to Wang's 192. Beck in straights.

(6)Paul Capdeville vs Yannick Martens
There is no information on Yannick Martens on the ATP website so I can only guess that this will be a first meeting. I'm rooting for Capdeville because he's been playing the Challenger circuit as long as I can remember. Good to see him still out there grinding away. Capdeville in straights.

(10)Michael Russell vs Simon Greul
The first time these two played was first round Quallies of Sydney this year where Russell took it in two sets. Russell is ranked 110 and Greul is ranked 214. Greul has had the better record on clay but I'm still saying Russell in 3.

(11)Tommy Haas vs Guido Pella
Not surprisingly, this is a first meeting. Haas is currently ranked 112 and Pella sits at 207. Have to give this to Haas in straights.

(16)Rogerio Dutra Silva vs Dustin Brown
First meeting. I would have hoped for a better draw for Dustin Brown. I would hope that he could take it in 3 sets but Dutra-Silva has been playing well. Brown did Qualify in Munich and make it to the R16 where he lost to Baghdatis. Hoping for an upset...it would be a good win, that's for sure.

The Women's Qualifying Draw will be out tomorrow.

Two different results...

It's been a long time since I wrote an entry. There hasn't been a lot to write about in the Tennis world that warranted one...and then Brian Baker received a Wildcard for Roland Garros. I saw news items on my twitter feed for about a week. It is an amazing story.

This is a link to a story detailing his amazing comeback to Tennis and what got him that Wildcard: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/story/2012-04-30/weekly-net-post-brian-baker/54645558/1

As amazing as this story is, I started thinking about another player that was starting to play on the pro circuit about the same time as Baker. The kid's name was Brendan Evans. He was my pick to watch to see how he developed out of the Juniors. He struggled but I hoped that he would find his way.

As time went on and I lost touch with Tennis...I also stopped following Evan's progress. When Brian Baker earned his WC, that was the first time that I had thought of Brendan Evans in years. So I did a little research.

First, I saw that Evans is listed as "inactive" on the official ATP website and had not played since '10. I did some more research and discovered that he has gone back to college. Here is the article dated back in January of this year: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/story/2012-01-24/us-mens-tennis-lost-generation/52779350/1

The title of the article is sadly appropriate.

I wish Brendan Evans all the best in whatever career path he chooses. It would have been nice if the Tennis gods had smiled upon him as they did Brian Baker.

On a side note, Baker has won two quallie matches in Nice and only needs to win one more. I'm sure he would welcome all the match play he can get before RG...