After a bit of a sketchy start, Roger Federer soon found his form against Julien Benneteau, someone who has caused Federer problems in the past, winning in straight sets 6-3 6-4 7-5. Apparently Benneteau was struggling with a bit of an injury - in fact, Roger said afterward in an interview with Pam Shriver that he (Julien) wasn't playing the way he normally does and he almost expected him to retire from the match. In spite of that, it was still more of a challenge than his first two matches so far at Roland Garros, which were basically just cruise control. This was his 899th win, so a win on Sunday would put him in an elite group of 900 wins or more.
Interestingly enough it has been Rafael Nadal who has struggled more in his first two matches, losing a set so far in each one. It seems that some of the bigger hitting guys are getting the idea that if they just "go for it" against him they can trouble him a bit. But holding that level on clay in a best of five match is a different story. Apparently Rafa wasn't too happy that his match got pushed back to the next day after all the rain and he wasn't shy about letting the tournament organizers know that the reigning champion was a bit put out that his next round opponent got to finish his match the day before.
The third round match between Novak Djokovic and Grigor Dimitrov should be an interesting one. Dimitrov was able to pull off a win against him just a couple weeks ago. My sense is that Novak will be the mentally tougher of the two in this one, wanting so badly to have the chance at the career grand slam. Will certainly be one of the more interesting ones.
Finally I can't let pass the opportunity to post a couple pictures of the adorable Federer twins. The first one I just came across from a few weeks ago but they look so cute I had to share it. The second one is from their brief stay watching Daddy play his match against Benneteau. I love their white fur parkas in the cold Paris weather.
I'm sure everyone is shocked to be having a Nadal-Djokovic Monte Carlo final (note major sarcasm!). Before the tournament started my attitude was almost like "why even watch - we already know who is going to win." However, along the with the most gorgeous view in tennis, there have also been some tantalizing matches, along with some drama to make things interesting.
Djokovic began his trip to the final very slowly, dropping the first set in his second and third matches. There was much speculation on how his ankle was really healing (leftover from his impressive win in Davis Cup after twisting it in the first set). Was it the injury causing the problem, or was he just having a hard adjustment to clay? In each of those matches, however, once he got through the error prone first set he was able to pull away and win easily. Eight time champion Nadal, on the other hand, began strong in his first couple matches, only to be really pushed in his quarterfinal against Grigor Dimitrov, dropping his first set in Monte Carlo in many years. And very surprisingly in his semifinal against Tsonga, after a 6-3 first set he was up 5-1 in the second, looking like an incredibly routine win, when Tsonga mounted a comeback, breaking the King of Clay two times as he served for the match, saving match points along the way. However, the luck ended there, with Nadal taking it in straight sets in a tiebreak. I have to admit I was quite surprised, however, to see Rafa twice broken in what looked to be a routine win.
Some other noteworthy matches through the week were the Wawrinka-Murray match, where Murray only managed to win three games! Looks like some work is needed with Mr. Lendl. Jarko Niemenen played some impressive matches, showing some of his best tennis at 31 years old. In his quarterfinal match against Del Potro there were some incredible points played with amazing defense against what looked like sure winners. After two incredibly physical matches in a row, however (he also won a three-setter against Raonic in impressive fashion) he didn't have much left against Djokovic. He will definitely be one to watch in the upcoming clay season, however.
As for the drama, how about the match between Gulbis and Monaco where Gulbis had already been warned about his behavior so many times that when he decided to slam his racquet against the umpire's chair on his way past he was penalized not just a point but in an entire game. Get a hold of yourself Ernie!! And what about the story that Matosevic, while playing Rafael Nadal, decided to see what would happen if he kicked over Rafa's water bottles on his way past? In spite of Nadal's compulsive behavior to carefully arrange his bottles just so on each changeover, he was able to just laugh it off while looking to his box. What would the tennis world be without a little drama?
So who is the favorite in the final? Hard to say that Nadal isn't, having won it eight times in a row, but I don't want to write off the world #1, who totally had Rafa's number in the 2011 season, beating him a couple times even on the clay. I won't hide the fact that I would love to see Djokovic begin to challenge him once again, with Rafa having won three title already since his comeback, but I'm not holding my breath.
It was quite a first week of the season. During the week or two before majors when there are a lot of smaller tournaments going on for both men and women, sometimes there is so much action happening that it's pretty much impossible, even for the most hard core tennis fan, to keep up with it all. My tournaments of choice to pay attention to were Brisbane, Doha and the final in Auckland.
Aga Radwanska had the privilege of being the first person of the year to claim a title, doing so by beating Yanina Wickmeyer. Though she looked a little shaky in her semifinal, she held strong to get through tho the final and claimed the title with a 6-4 6-4 win.
The final in Doha really showed the precarious nature of tennis scoring. Played between Nikolay Davedenko and Richard Gasquet, Davydenko clearly was control of the match, winning the first set, with a break in the second and break points for a second break. It looked like it would probably be a 6-3 6-2 scoreline, with Davydenko having played an aggressive match with many high quality shots. Given that he hadn't been broken for the whole tournament so far it looked like a foregone conclusion. But then, whether it was nerves on his part or determination on the part of Gasquet, things suddenly turned around once Gasquet managed to hold serve and momentum slowly began to shift. Davydenko was broken for the first time trying to serve it out and Gasquet won the tiebreak and carried the momentum through the third set to victory. I have seen it way too often in my own matches - sometimes if you let an opportunity slip through your fingers you're not going to end up with another one. Credit to Gasquet for the fightback, but Davydenko's got to be kicking himself for letting that one go. And on a side note, the match he played in the semi against David Ferrer was really jaw dropping tennis. If you didn't see it and can find a replay on the internet, definitely inspiring tennis to watch.
Serena showed that she is serious this week in Brisbane with her comprehensive win over Pavyluchenkova. She has implied that she could see herself winning all four majors this year. After watching her win that title I certainly could agree.
I was impressed with first time finalist Grigor Dimitrov, who played in the hopes of getting his first ATP title against Andy Murray in Brisbane. In both sets he was up a break and was playing some really impressive tennis. He really didn't show any nerves at the start - the nerves came when he had to try to close the deal. He started making more errors and Murray showed himself to be the more mature and higher ranked player in the moments he needed to in order to win the the title in a tight two sets. Dimitrov showed himself someone to be reckoned with this year if he can keep up that level of play. I could also see why he is sometimes called Baby Federer because his style of play does have a lot of similarities.
Li Na also won a title in a tournament in her home country, Janko Tipsarevic claimed one in Chennai India (against a finalist I had never even heard of, with all the other seeds falling early), and Spain was able to overcome Serbia in the exhibition Hopman Cup, in spite of the duo of Djokovic-Ivanovic teaming up.
Ok, I may have missed something, but that is a lot of tennis activity. This week the majority of the top men will be resting and preparing while many of the top women are playing in small preparation tournaments. In the meantime I am counting the days to Australia!
