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Tag Archive | "Andy Roddick"

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Federer Defends Cincinnati Title Over Fish

Posted on 22 August 2010 by Mad Professah

Roger Federer won his first non-major final of the year after losing 3 finals in a row (on 3 different surfaces: Madrid to Rafael Nadal, Halle to Lleyton Hewitt and Toronto to Andy Murray) in Cincinnati on Sunday over American Mardy Fish. The title was his 53rd overall, tying Bjorn Borg on the all-time list at 5th. It was Federer's 17th ATP Masters series title, tying Andre Agassi but still one behind Nadal's 18.

Federer has now won the Cincinnati title in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010. Next year it will become a combined male-female 8-day event (immediately following simultaneous men's and women's tournaments in Toronto and Montreal).

The match with Fish was a close, high-quality 3-set affair featuring 2 tiebreaks, one break of serve and only 6 breakpoints between the two players. The final score was 6-7(5) 7-6(1) 6-4. In the first set, Federer had 4 breakpoints and failed to convert any of them due to brilliant serving by Fish. Federer faced one breakpoint in the second set but was able to get through to a tiebreak. In the first set tiebreaker Federer held a 5-4 lead, but Fish played a brilliant point to even the breaker at 5-all and Federer played a loose point to be down 6-5. Fish won the first set on a service winner. In the second set tiebreaker Federer was much sharper, jumping to a quick 4-1 lead and never looked in danger of losing that breaker. The only break in the match came in the 9th game of the third set where, for once, after facing a break point Fish was unable to make a first serve and eventually lost the breakpoint and the game, and eventually the match when Federer served it out pretty easily on his second match point.

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Four Times In A Row

Posted on 21 August 2010 by Craig Hickman

Mardy Fish of the U.S. celebrates after defeating Andy Murray of Britain in the third set of their quarter final round match at the Cincinnati Masters tennis tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 20, 2010.
Reuters

That's how many times each Mardy Fish and Andy Roddick have now defeated their Cincinnati Masters quarterfinals opponents to face-off in the first all-American semifinal at this event since Andre Agassi defeated Andy in a third-set breaker six years ago.

You may recall the year before that Andy and Mardy met up in the finals and played one of the best matches of 2003. Mardy lost in a third-set breaker and fell to the eventual US Open champion without ever even dropping his serve.

Yesterday, he almost did the same. Andy Murray, one of the best returners in the game, so some say, wasn't able to breakthrough in three sets, so when he forced a third-set breaker, I wasn't sure if Mardy would be able to come through. But he fought like a pit bull and pulled out the victory.

Andy Roddick of the U.S. celebrates his win over Novak Djokovic of Serbia in their quarter final round match at the Cincinnati Masters tennis tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 20, 2010.
Reuters

Novak Djokovic simply can't stand the heat and so, once again, Roddick had his way with him. It really wasn't a match at all.

If you listen to the propagandists and even some of the readers of this blog, you'd think Roddick has never been out of the top 10 for even a week since he first arrived there 8 years ago (he has) and that American men's tennis is totally in the toilet.

Consider this. Two Americans beat two European top-four players for the fourth time in the row to get to this place.

I'm going to say that again: Two Americans beat two European top-four players for the fourth time in the row to get to this place.

Carry on.

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Roddick: Hard Work Equals Longevity

Posted on 03 August 2010 by Craig Hickman


Ricky Carioti-The Washington Post

::

A rather nice article. Like him or not, Andy Roddick has worked as hard as any player to remain fit, focused, and hungry for major tennis success.

Legg Mason Tennis Classic: Hard work has kept Andy Roddick around

Andy Roddick returns to the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in search of his fourth title at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.

By Liz Clarke
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 2, 2010

Even before last year's loss to Roger Federer in the longest, most soul-sapping singles final in Wimbledon history, Andy Roddick wondered if his best had passed him by.

The only way to find out, he decided at a particularly low point in the summer of 2008, was to keep working.

And that may well prove the legacy of Roddick's career, remembered as the player who poured as much effort into slogging away at the daily drudgery of professional tennis as he did reveling in its spoils.

At 27, Roddick is far from retirement, to be sure. But after a decade as a touring pro, the ethic of his career is well established.

If ever a millionaire athlete married to a Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model could be mistaken for a working-class guy, Roddick is it.

Read the rest...

::

Photobucket
Jonathan Newton-The Washington Post

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WIMBLEDON 2010: Men’s Final Preview

Posted on 04 July 2010 by Mad Professah

Tomas Berdych CZE (12) vs. Rafael Nadal ESP (2). For the first time I will be watching a grand slam final live, on site. Sadly, it is also the first time in 8 years that my favorite male player Roger Federer will not be in the Wimbledon men's final. It's also doubtful that this year's final will be as monumental a battle as the 2008 classic now called "the match of the century" won by Rafael Nadal or Federer's 2009 triumph of will over Andy Roddick.

I have previously predicted the results of the quarterfinals (1 of 4) and semifinals (0 of 2), so clearly I've not been having great results in predicting the men's matches this year. It's also difficult to pick a winner between Tomas Berdych and Rafael Nadal. On paper, Nadal should win since he has a 7-3 career head-to-head record against the young Czech. However, clearly Berdych is not the same player who has lost to Nadal 7 times.

Berdych is playing in his first Grand Slam final, which very few people win (Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Andy Roddick and Robin Soderling have all failed to do so. Juan Martin del Potro is the exception which proves the rule.) The great ones (like Federer and Nadal) do. Will Berdych be following in the footsteps of his countryman Ivan Lendl and become a late-blooming great?

[Correction by Craig Hickman: In addition to del Potro, Rafa and Raja, Andy Roddick (USO 2003), Lleyton Hewitt (US Open 2001), and Gaston Gaudio (Roland Garros 2004) are all active players who won their first Slam final. Of the recently officially retired, Gustavo Kuerten (Roland Garros 1997), Marat Safin (US Open 2001), Thomas Johansson (Australian Open 2002) and Albert Costa (Roland Garros 2002) did as well. Some of these players are great, some are not.]

If Berdych wins today, he will become the first player to beat the World #3, World #2 and World #1 to win a slam. This would definitely be an indication he is on his way to a Lendly-like career, instead of a Soderling-like career.

If Nadal wins today, he will have completed the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double for the second time, will have a 14-match undefeated streak at Wimbledon and will have claimed his 8th Grand Slam title, just 8 behind Roger Federer, despite being 5 years his junior.

MadProfessah's prediction: Nadal (in 3 or 4 sets).

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WIMBLEDON 2010: Men’s Semifinals Preview

Posted on 01 July 2010 by Mad Professah

BY MAD PROFESSAH

Here are my predictions for the men's semifinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2010.
I previously made predictions for the men's quarterfinals (1 of 4 correct) and the women's quarterfinals (2 of 4 correct).

(I have now arrived in London and I have tickets for the men's final on Sunday.)

Roger Federer SUI (1) Tomas Berdych CZE (12) vs. Novak Djokovic SRB (3). For the first time since 2002(!), Roger Federer will not be playing in the Wimbledon Men's Final. (Of course, this is the year I travelled to Wimbledon after getting lucky to get tickets to the men's final. Did I bring him my favorite player bad luck?) Anyway, After winning 23 consecutive major quarterfinals, the 16-time major champion has now lost the last two he has played in a row, to two somewhat similar opponents, the hard-hitting giants Robin Soderling (in Paris) and Tomas Berdych (in London). Unlike at Roland Garros, where Federer clearly did not play his best and was blasted off the court, at Wimbledon Federer was defeated while still playing about as well as he's played most of the year. (Which is to say, not his best ever, but possibly the best he can do right now.) His failure to defend his two major titles from last year (and the fact he has won only won tournament all year, the 2010 Australian Open) means that the former World #1 will fall to World #3 in the rankings on Monday. This means that Federer will remain stuck one heartbreaking week behind matching Pete Sampras' record of 286 weeks at #1 for the foreseeable future. Will he ever get there? I believe so. And it may just be what keeps the Swiss master in the game until the 2010 London Olympics as he has promised before. Berdych has started a streak of his own; for the second consecutive major the Czech player has made the semifinals. Berdych played an astonishing match against Federer, hitting 51 winners to Federer's 44 and only making 23 unforced errors to Federer's 18 (and 6 of those were double faults by Berdych going for second serves). Although I predicted a different match-up, I am not unduly upset by what transpired today, I do believe the better player on the day won the match. As expected, with the shock defeat of Andy Roddick by Yen-Hsun Lu in the previous round, World #3 Novak Djokovic had an easy time of it to reach his second Wimbledon semifinal. Berdych and Djokovic have only played twice (a curiously low number for active players) with Djokovic having never lost. Can Berdych come back from the greatest victory of his career to date to reach his first major final? The Czech has suffered from mental frailty in the past, but is clearly playing some of his best tennis ever. Djokovic, too, is playing some excellent tennis and definitely has the game to make the most of this rare opportunity to reach his third major final (2007 US Open, 2008 Australian Open) without having to face a higher ranked player. However, he, too, has had some notably poor performances in massively important matches (the 2010 Roland Garros quarterfinal loss to Jurgen Melzer from two sets up comes to mind, as well as injury retirements at Wimbledon.) The real question is whether Berdych is on an unstoppable Juan Martin del Potro run to his first major, or will he come back to earth after beating the Greatest of all time on his best surface? PREDICTION: Djokovic (in 4 sets).

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA (10) Andy Murray GBR (4) vs. Robin Soderling SWE(6) Rafael Nadal ESP (2). The bottom half of the draw is where I bravely (foolishly?) predicted that upsets would happen.Andy Murray The mouth-watering Friday tea-time match-up between World #1 Rafael Nadal and World #1 Andy Murray was predicted at the beginning of the tournament by many. But they both had to go through some excellent players to get there. Murray lost his first set of the tournament in a tiebreak to the excessively talented Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and was two points away at 5-all from losing the second set tie-break when The Frenchman inexplicably let a floating Murray service return sail past him at the net only to watch with horror and disbelief as the ball kissed the back of the line to give Murray set point instead. The rest of the match was not pretty, with Murray dominating to a 6-7(5) 7-6)5) 6-2 6-2 win. I didn't see much of the Soderling-Nadal match (since in London all eyes were geared towards their countryman's match) but from all reports Nadal started very slowly (down 0-5) in the first set but managed to break back early in the second set. Despite serving for the second set (after Soderling was treated for a blister on his left foot) at 5-4 Nadal only barely managed to eke out the third set tiebreak and then rolled past a demoralized Soderling to win 3-6 6-3 7-6(4) 6-1. With Federer out, Nadal has an excellent chance to win the tournament, as he has winning records against all the remaining players in the draw (7-3 versus both Murray and Berdych, 14-7 versus Djokovic--which happens to be the identical record he has against Federer). However, Murray is probably the toughest opponent for Nadal at this stage of the tournament. There's no question that Murray was on his way to demolishing Nadal earlier this year in the 2010 Australian Open quarterfinals when the Spaniard retired down 2 sets and 0-3. The two haven't played since, with Nadal having his best clay court season to date, and Murray his worst. Happily Wimbledon is played on grass. Additionally, the fact that Murray beat Nadal the last time they played and that this is a semifinal, not a final should help the Brit play his best tennis this year, something Murray did not do against an inspired Andy Roddick last year. Nadal has already lost the most amount of sets that he ever has on his way to winning (or defending) a major title. The 2008 Wimbledon champion has been uncharacteristically irritable and complained of pain his knees. On the other hand, Murray has lost the fewest amount of sets of any of the Top 4 players at Wimbledon this year and has been advancing later and later into the draw at Wimbledon every time he has played it. I expect that trend to continue all the way to the final, and possibly the title this year. PREDICTION: Murray in 3 or 4 sets (or Nadal in 5 sets).

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WIMBLEDON 2010: Men’s Quarterfinals Preview

Posted on 29 June 2010 by Mad Professah

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at the Wimbledon Championships for 2010.

(By the time you read this I will be in the air from LAX to London Heathrow on my way to Wimbledon. Depending on the vagaries (and expenses) of internet access, I may or may not have semifinals predictions for the men's and women's draws tomorrow.)

Roger Federer SUI (1) vs. Tomas Berdych CZE (12). The 6-time champion had started off his quest for a record 7th title weakly but in his last two matches his game has looked strong. Berdych is a very talented, huge serving, huge hitting 6'5" Czech player who has already beaten Federer once this year (even though he needed 5 match points to do it). He is a very similar player to Robin Soderling who beat Federer at this same stage of the tournament at the French Open a month ago, although possibly Berdych is not as good a mover as Soderling (which he demonstrated by beating Berdych in Paris). Before beating Federer earlier this year in Miami, Berdych had lost 8 straight times to Federer, including once at the 2006 Wimbledon. The Mighty Fed will find a way to win. PREDICTION: Federer in 4 sets.

Andy Roddick USA (5) Yen-Hsun Lu TPE vs. Novak Djokovic SRB (3). This is Novak Djokovic's dream draw and Andy Roddick's nightmare. Roddick lost to the unseeded player from Taipei despite losing his serve only once, a repeat of what happened in his loss last year inthe thrilling final against Federer. This time, however, Roddick was much less aggressive at attacking his opponent's serve and mentally was only able to hold his serve until the 16th game of the 5th set, not the thirtieth game like last year, nowhere near the amazing 138th game thatNicolas Mahut was able to do in his jaw-dropping performance against John Isner. Some wags were flogging Lleyton Hewitt's chances of penetrating deep into the draw, since the Aussie had finally ended his 16-match drought against Federer last week by winning the grass court title in Halle. I was not one of them. Djokovic is the #3 best player in the world, and made sure that Hewitt knew it. By the end of this match, Lu will know it as well. PREDICTION: Djokovic in 3 sets.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga FRA (10) vs. Andy Murray GBR (4). This match should be the highlight of the 2010 Men's Quarterfinals. Tsonga and Murray have only played three times, with Murray leading 2-1. That one loss came at the 2008 Australian Open, where Tsonga made his breakthrough to his first major final, eventually losing to Djokovic. There's no question that Tsonga has the weapons to beat Murray. This match should come down to the intangibles, which for Murray at Wimbledon are always difficult to evaluate. Does the fact that the British crowd will be overwhelmingly in his favor help him over the hump to victory, or will their outsize expectations smother his chances? I think it is no coincidence that the two places that Murray has reached major finals (Melbourne 2010 and New York 2008) were in cities where he does not carry the weight of a nation on his shoulders. Last year, he was curiously flat against Andy Roddick in the Wimbledon semifinals. I had picked him to win that match last year but this time I think if the match gets "complicated" it will be the Frenchman who will come out on top. Murray is the only player in the draw not to drop a set and it's possible (but unlikely) that this will happen again. PREDICTION: Murray in 3 sets or Tsonga in 4 or 5 sets.

Robin Soderling SWE(6) vs. Rafael Nadal ESP (2). This is a repeat of the 2010 Men's Final at Roland Garros where Nadal did not lose a set for the entire tournament. There's no question in my mind that the Spaniard is the greatest clay court player of all time. But this match-up is on grass, and of course, these two have a troubled history at Wimbledon. In 2007 the two played a much-delayed 5-set match over 5 days where Soderling made a fool of himself by mocking Nadal's quirks. He has since apologized. Up until his previous round's 5-set match against David Ferrer, Soderling had not dropped a single set in this tournament, the only top player (besides Murray) to have done so. Another problem for Nadal is that he has been troubled this tournament by two youthful, big servers in Robin Haase of the Netherlands and Philipp Petzschner of Germany. Soderling can not only serve regularly in the 130 mph range but he can back it up with power on both wings. But then again, if Ferrer gave Soderling that much trouble and his game is really a weak imitation of Nadal's then surely Nadal will give Soderling trouble as well. Out of the Top 4, I think Soderling (and Tsonga if he can stay healthy) are the most likely to break through to a major title in the near term. Here is where Sodelring will need to show if he can get through Nadal (and later, possibly Federer) to do it. I think he has a fairly decent chance of succeeding. PREDICTION: Soderling in 3 or 4 sets, Nadal in 5 sets.

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Wimbledon 2010 Day 3 Open Thread

Posted on 23 June 2010 by Craig Hickman

Andy Roddick of the U.S. serves to France's Michael Llodra at the 2010 Wimbledon tennis championships in London, June 23, 2010.
Reuters

As I said yesterday, Andy Roddick's day at the office would be a tough one. And so it is as I wake up for oversleeping from my nap after morning chores to see Andy already down a set and struggling to hold his first game of the second set. I suppose this will be the Roddick Upset Thread before the day is done.

Order of Play for Wednesday 23 June 2010

CENTRE - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Michael Llodra (FRA) vs Andy Roddick (USA) [5]
2. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) vs Venus Williams (USA) [2]
3. Novak Djokovic (SRB) [3] vs Taylor Dent (USA)

COURT 1 - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Kim Clijsters (BEL) [8] vs Karolina Sprem (CRO)
2. Evgeny Korolev (KAZ) vs Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) [15]
3. Roger Federer (SUI) [1] vs Ilija Bozoljac (SRB)

COURT 2 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Justine Henin (BEL) [17] vs Kristina Barrois (GER)
2. Gael Monfils (FRA) [21] vs Karol Beck (SVK)
3. Tomas Berdych (CZE) [12] vs Benjamin Becker (GER)
4. Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) vs Jelena Jankovic (SRB) [4]

COURT 12 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Vera Dushevina (RUS) vs Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL)
2. Feliciano Lopez (ESP) [22] vs Ricardas Berankis (LTU)
3. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL) [15] vs Kirsten Flipkens (BEL)
4. Daniel Brands (GER) vs Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) [7]

COURT 18 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Greta Arn (HUN) vs Alicia Molik (AUS)
2. Nicolas Mahut (FRA) vs John Isner (USA) [23] T/F 4/6 6/3 7/6(7) 6/7(3) 0/0 0-0*
3. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) [26] vs Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)
4. Rainer Schuettler (GER) vs Denis Istomin (UZB)
5. Daniel Nestor (CAN) and Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) [1] vs Jonathan Marray (GBR) and Jamie Murray (GBR)

COURT 5 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Shahar Peer (ISR) [13] vs Angelique Kerber (GER)
2. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) [24] vs Vania King (USA) 10 T/F 6/7(4) 7/6(4) 0/0 0*-0
3. Shenay Perry (USA) vs Maria Kirilenko (RUS) [27]
4. Arnaud Clement (FRA) vs Peter Luczak (AUS)
5. Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) and Bobby Reynolds (USA) vs Bob Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan (USA) [2]

COURT 6 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Nicolas Almagro (ESP) and Santiago Ventura (ESP) vs Jamie Delgado (GBR) and Joshua Goodall (GBR)
2. Fabio Fognini (ITA) and Kevin Ullyett (ZIM) vs Chris Eaton (GBR) and Dominic Inglot (GBR)
3. Jocelyn Rae (GBR) and Heather Watson (GBR) vs Casey Dellacqua (AUS) and Alicia Molik (AUS)
4. Sania Mirza (IND) and Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) vs Anne Keothavong (GBR) and Melanie South (GBR)

COURT 7 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Kveta Peschke (CZE) and Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) [6] vs Jill Craybas (USA) and Marina Erakovic (NZL)
2. Jesse Levine (USA) and Ryan Sweeting (USA) vs Stephane Robert (FRA) and Rogier Wassen (NED)
3. Vania King (USA) and Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) vs Alberta Brianti (ITA) and Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU)
4. Daniele Bracciali (ITA) and Potito Starace (ITA) vs Santiago Gonzalez (MEX) and Travis Rettenmaier (USA)

COURT 8 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Somdev Devvarman (IND) and Treat Conrad Huey (PHI) vs Rohan Bopanna (IND) and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)
2. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) and Aravane Rezai (FRA) vs Liga Dekmeijere (LAT) and Petra Kvitova (CZE)
3. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) and Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) vs Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) and Olga Govortsova (BLR) [17]
4. Xavier Malisse (BEL) and Olivier Rochus (BEL) vs Jurgen Melzer (AUT) and Philipp Petzschner (GER)

COURT 9 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Jonathan Erlich (ISR) and Dusan Vemic (SRB) vs Martin Damm (CZE) and Filip Polasek (SVK)
2. Tatjana Malek (GER) and Andrea Petkovic (GER) vs Timea Bacsinszky (SUI) and Tathiana Garbin (ITA)
3. Iveta Benesova (CZE) and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) [12] vs Eleni Daniilidou (GRE) and Jasmin Woehr (GER)
4. Christopher Kas (GER) and Viktor Troicki (SRB) vs Thiemo De Bakker (NED) and Robin Haase (NED)

COURT 10 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Gisela Dulko (ARG) and Flavia Pennetta (ITA) [4] vs Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) and Arina Rodionova (RUS)
2. Leonardo Mayer (ARG) and Horacio Zeballos (ARG) vs Lukasz Kubot (POL) and Oliver Marach (AUT) [5]
3. Natalie Grandin (RSA) and Abigail Spears (USA) vs Sara Errani (ITA) and Roberta Vinci (ITA)
4. John Isner (USA) and Sam Querrey (USA) [12] vs Michal Przysiezny (POL) and Dudi Sela (ISR)

COURT 11 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Leos Friedl (CZE) and David Skoch (CZE) vs Robert Lindstedt (SWE) and Horia Tecau (ROU) [16]
2. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK) and Klara Zakopalova (CZE) vs Melinda Czink (HUN) and Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP)
3. Julie Coin (FRA) and Marie-Eve Pelletier (CAN) vs Alicja Rosolska (POL) and Zi Yan (CHN) [15]
4. Marcel Granollers (ESP) and Tommy Robredo (ESP) [11] vs Johan Brunstrom (SWE) and Jean-Julien Rojer (AHO)

COURT 14 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Viktor Troicki (SRB) vs Jurgen Melzer (AUT) [16]
2. Jarmila Groth (AUS) vs Melanie Oudin (USA) [33]
3. Andrea Hlavackova (CZE) vs Vera Zvonareva (RUS) [21]
4. Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) and Max Mirnyi (BLR) [4] vs Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) and Sebastian Prieto (ARG)

COURT 15 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Ekaterina Dzehalevich (BLR) and Tatiana Poutchek (BLR) vs Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) and Meghann Shaughnessy (USA)
2. Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL) and Marcin Matkowski (POL) [6] vs Michael Kohlmann (GER) and Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)
3. Rik De Voest (RSA) and Mischa Zverev (GER) vs Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) and Leander Paes (IND) [3]
4. Maria Kondratieva (RUS) and Vladimira Uhlirova (CZE) vs Cara Black (ZIM) and Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) [11]

COURT 16 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE) vs Michal Przysiezny (POL)
2. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) vs Edina Gallovits (ROU) and Klaudia Jans (POL)
3. Brendan Evans (USA) vs Albert Montanes (ESP) [28]
4. Kimiko Date Krumm (JPN) and Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) vs Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) and Francesca Schiavone (ITA) [8]

COURT 17 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Florian Mayer (GER) vs Mardy Fish (USA)
2. Yung-Jan Chan (TPE) vs Nadia Petrova (RUS) [12]
3. Victor Hanescu (ROU) [31] vs Marsel Ilhan (TUR)
4. Alona Bondarenko (UKR) [28] vs Varvara Lepchenko (USA)

COURT 19 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Regina Kulikova (RUS) vs Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) [30]
2. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) [29] vs Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS)
3. Alejandro Falla (COL) and Santiago Giraldo (COL) vs Lukas Lacko (SVK) and Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)

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Dive Of The Day

Posted on 10 June 2010 by Craig Hickman

LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 10: Dudi Sela of Israel dives to win match point during his third round match against Andy Roddick of USA on Day 4 of the the AEGON Championships at Queen's Club on June 10, 2010 in London, England.
Getty

Dudi Sela of Israel dives to win match point during his third round match against Andy Roddick of USA on Day 4 of the the AEGON Championships at Queen's Club on June 10, 2010 in London, England.

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Roland Garros 2010 Day 7 Open Thread

Posted on 29 May 2010 by Craig Hickman

Andy Roddick of the U.S. wipes his face during his match against Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris May 29, 2010.
Reuters

Had to cater a dinner party last night. Watched much of the tennis (too much, really) in between set up chores, but was too wiped out to write about any of it. Apologies.

Woke up late to see Serena Williams dizzy and Andy Roddick getting his clocked cleaned by Teimuraz Gabashvili. Whenever tennis genius (/snark) Brad Gilbert boasted that Roddick would be excited to play a qualifier in the third round, I wondered if he'd ever seen the Russian play. I thought Roddick might win a set, but if the Russian kept his head, no way would Roddick get through.

The Russian kept his head.

Funny how everybody else can hit through court Suzanne Lenglen but Roddick who thinks it's the slowest court in Stade de Roland Garros. Gabashvili, a flat ballstriker with virtually no topspin on his shots, hit 58 winners, Roddick 14.

Tennis is mental. It was too much to ask for Roddick to make the second week of Roland Garros twice in a row. At least Serena survived her dizzy spell.

Then the score scrolled by and I saw the Bryan Brothers are also lost while I was asleep. Now, Nadia Petrova is trying to serve for the match for the third or fourth or fifth time against Aravane Rezai in an unending chokefest. Both have held three match points, all of Miss Nadia's on her own serve, and yet they're still out their slugging away. I know the match was suspended by darkness, but it feels like it went on through the night for I can see no progress in this storyline. Much like a soap opera.

Anyway....

Schedule for Day 7: Saturday, 29 May 2010

Court Philippe Chatrier 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Third Round
Serena Williams (USA)[1] v. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)[29]
Not Before 12:00
2. Women's Singles - Third Round
Aravane Rezai (FRA)[15] v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)[19] To Finish 7-6(2) 4-6 7-7
3. Men's Singles - Third Round
Victor Hanescu (ROU)[31] v. Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3]
4. Men's Singles - Third Round
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)[28] v. Rafael Nadal (ESP)[2]
5. Women's Singles - Third Round
Maria Sharapova (RUS)[12] v. Justine Henin (BEL)[22]

Court Suzanne Lenglen 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Third Round
Andy Roddick (USA)[6] v. Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS)
2. Women's Singles - Third Round
Shahar Peer (ISR)[18] v. Marion Bartoli (FRA)[13]
3. Men's Singles - Third Round
Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[7] v. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER)[30]
4. Women's Singles - Third Round
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)[4] v. Alona Bondarenko (UKR)[27]

Court 1 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Third Round
Jarmila Groth (AUS) v. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS)
2. Men's Singles - Third Round
Jurgen Melzer (AUT)[22] v. David Ferrer (ESP)[9]
3. Men's Singles - Third Round
Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)[16] v. Robby Ginepri (USA)
4. Women's Singles - Third Round
Anastasia Pivovarova (RUS) v. Samantha Stosur (AUS)[7]

Court 2 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Bob Bryan (USA)/Mike Bryan (USA)[1] v. Marcelo Melo (BRA)/Bruno Soares (BRA)
2. Women's Singles - Third Round
Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)[23] v. Yanina Wickmayer (BEL)[16]
3. Men's Singles - Third Round
Ivan Ljubicic (CRO)[14] v. Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)[24]
4. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Serena Williams (USA)Venus Williams (USA)[1] v. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)/Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)

Court 3 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Thierry Ascione (FRA)/Laurent Recouderc (FRA) v. Andrey Golubev (KAZ)/Paolo Lorenzi (ITA)
2. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Alberta Brianti (ITA)/Alexandra Dulgheru (ROU) v. Gisela Dulko (ARG)/Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[5]
3. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Julian Knowle (AUT)/Andy Ram (ISR)[10] v. Gael Monfils (FRA)/Josselin Ouanna (FRA)
4. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/Oliver Marach (AUT)[3] v. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (FRA)/Thierry Ascione (FRA)
5. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/Santiago Ventura (ESP) v. Marc Gicquel (FRA)/Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA)

Court 5 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)/Julia Goerges (GER) v. Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/Lucie Hradecka (CZE)[16]
2. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/Zi Yan (CHN)[9] v. Sara Errani (ITA)/Roberta Vinci (ITA)
3. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Maria Kirilenko (RUS)/Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[11] v. Petra Kvitova (CZE)/Stefanie Voegele (SUI)

Court 6 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Darija Jurak (CRO)/Petra Martic (CRO) v. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)[2]
Not Before 12:00
2. Men's Singles - Third Round
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)[11] v. Viktor Troicki (SRB) To Finish 2-6 7-6(4) 6-2 3-1
3. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Lucie Safarova (CZE)/Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) v. Iveta Benesova (CZE)/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)[13]
4. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Mardy Fish (USA)/Mark Knowles (BAH)[13] v. Guillaume Rufin (FRA)/Alexandre Sidorenko (FRA)
5. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Rennae Stubbs (AUS)/Robert Lindstedt (SWE) v. Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/Bruno Soares (BRA)
6. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Tathiana Garbin (ITA)/Marcin Matkowski (POL) v. Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/Mark Knowles (BAH)[4]

Court 7 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - First Round
Rohan Bopanna (IND)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) v. Fabio Fognini (ITA)/Michael Russell (USA)
2. Women's Singles - Third Round
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)[28] v. Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)
3. Men's Singles - Third Round
Nicolas Almagro (ESP)[19] v. Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr (UKR)
4. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Liezel Huber (USA)/Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)[1] v. Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/Eric Butorac (USA)
5. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Elena Vesnina (RUS)/Andy Ram (ISR) v. Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[6]/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)[6]

Court 8 11:00 Start Time
1. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Julie Coin (FRA)/Nicolas Mahut (FRA) v. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)/Horia Tecau (ROU)
2. Men's Doubles - First Round
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP)/Albert Montanes (ESP) v. Wesley Moodie (RSA)/Dick Norman (BEL)[4]
3. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Viktor Troicki (SRB)/Dusan Vemic (SRB) v. Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/Travis Rettenmaier (USA)

Court 16 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Jonathan Erlich (ISR)/Dudi Sela (ISR) v. Stephen Huss (AUS)/Andre Sa (BRA)
2. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/Max Mirnyi (BLR)[5] v. Marc Lopez (ESP)/Pere Riba (ESP)
3. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR)/Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) v. Frantisek Cermak (CZE)/Michal Mertinak (SVK)[9]
4. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Lisa Raymond (USA)/Wesley Moodie (RSA)[7] v. Vania King (USA)/Christopher Kas (GER)
5. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Flavia Pennetta (ITA)/Dusan Vemic (SRB) v. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Max Mirnyi (BLR)[5]

Court 17 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)/Leander Paes (IND)[3] v. Yves Allegro (SUI)/Andreas Beck (GER)
2. Men's Doubles - First Round
Lukasz Kubot (POL)/Oliver Marach (AUT)[6] v. Thiemo De Bakker (NED)/Rogier Wassen (NED)
3. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Simon Greul (GER)/Peter Luczak (AUS) v. Daniel Nestor (CAN)/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)[2]
4. Mixed Doubles - First Round
Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) v. Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE)/Filip Polasek (SVK)
5. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)/Julian Knowle (AUT) v. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)/Frantisek Cermak (CZE)

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Day 5: Rain

Posted on 27 May 2010 by Craig Hickman

Italy's Fabio Fognini celebrates winning against France's Gael Monfils during their men's second round match in the French Open tennis championship at the Roland Garros stadium, on May 27, 2010, in Paris. Fognini won 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 9-7.
Getty

Fabio Fognini shut down Gael Monfils 9-7 in the fifth and the French crowd actually applauded the Italian's effort. That was perhaps the biggest highlight of the day, given the drama that unfolded in the dark last night.

Andy Roddick lost his serve seven times and still won his match. That might not seem like a big deal, but I've never seen Roddick remain composed on any surface, much less his least favorite, when his opponent is returning his first serves with interest and breaking almost at will. If the American has ever been more patient, suffice it to say I've never noticed.

As for Blaz Kavcic. What a fighter. I overlooked all his gamesmanship today (imagine that) and just focused on his game. His return of serve is top notch. Yes, the conditions were slow and Roddick wasn't able to penetrate the court, but Kavcic got his racquet on more serves than I would have imagined and actually placed them well. If he ever developed a serve he might be a complete player.

To develop that complete game, he's got to get off the clay every once in a while. This is the time of year Americans are berated for their inability to "construct points" and slide on the slippery stuff, claims I just don't buy, especially since the evidence of things seen betrays such nonsense, but clay court specialists, exactly what the Kavcic is, can benefit from playing on faster surfaces so they're forced to at least consider developing a serve. Starting the point with a weak serve on clay is fine, but the Slovenian's serve would be eaten for lunch on hard courts or the lawns.

I wasn't able to watch much else today and with all the rain there wasn't much else to watch. If anyone saw any of the other matches, please give us an update in the comments.

Till tomorrow....

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