Men's Final French Open

Robin Soderling, in his speech after the match, said he was "yoking" with his coach, Magnus Norman, himself a finalist of the millenial French Open in 2000 (losing to Gustavo Kuerten in four sets), "yoking" that no one beats Robin Soderling 10 times in a row.

This was a riff on the famous quote by Vitas Gerulaitis, after beating Connors for the first time, that no one beats Gerulaitis 17 times in a row (Borg had a 19-0 record against Vitas, so even that was not true).

Soderling went to point out that he was wrong, and proclaimed no one beats Robin Soderling 11 times in a row. Despite being the giant killer and making it to his very first French Open title, Soderling couldn't feel too bad about his loss. He had played his best ever Grand Slam event, and losing in straight sets, 6-1, 7-6(1), 6-4 wasn't so bad. Soderling proclaimed he had lost to the best player of all times.

A quick overview of the match. Key to the match was Roger's serving. 66% first serves. 16 aces, including several in the second set tiebreak. 24 unforced errors. 41 winners.

Federer was looking to get to a quick start. When he does that, he gains confidence and begins to roll. Soderling started off nervous, missed first serves, and let Roger get off to a very quick start, taking the first set 6-1. Indeed, Federer played so well that Soderling only ever had two break points the entire match. Federer played aggressive, tried to keep Soderling running so he couldn't set up for his big shots, and used the drop shots deftly as he had throughout the entire tournament.

The only weirdness occurred early in the second set when a guy came on court with a flag of sorts and waved it in Federer's face. Federer seemed bothered. The interloper was chased around by security before being tackled and then dragged off court.

Perhaps it says something about American mentality that McEnroe's reaction was to have Roger Federer use his racquet to defend himself and Roger's reaction was mostly to be annoyed. Indeed, Mirka, his expectant wife, didn't seem at all distressed about the occasion, probably not sensing any potential harm. As it was, Soderling was serving and held serve, and it didn't seem to affect the match much except to get Roger a little off his rhythm, but not so much it affected the match results.

Let's look at the victory in perspective. Can we call Federer the best player of all times? Here are some stats to back it up. Tied for the most Grand Slam titles at 14 with Pete Sampras. Has won a career Grand Slam with his win of the French. Reached semifinals or better of Grand Slam majors for 20 Grand Slams in a row. Reached the finals of Grand Slam majors 15 of the last 16 times (the exception was the 2008 Australian Open).

There are those who can complain he's not the best ever. he's 7-13 against his biggest rival, Rafael Nadal including losses at the Australian, Wimbledon, and last year's French. On the biggest stages, Nadal has come up with the goods and beaten Roger. He's 2-6 against Andy Murray, but they've only met at a major once, and Roger won that.

But the case for Federer is his amazing consistency in Grand Slams. You can argue against Rod Laver. Laver won his first Grand Slam when amateurs played. Had pros played, he would never have gotten the first, as evidenced by the numerous early defeats he had when he turned pro. When he won his second Grand Slam, three of the four majors were played on grass, the lone exception being the French. If you were a good grass court player, you could dominate the Grand Slams. Imagine if 3 of 4 Grand Slams were played on clay. You could imagine Rafael Nadal being on the verge of winning Grand Slams every year.

Sampras won a lot of titles, but he never once made the finals of the French. As tough as he was at the Slams, he was basically a fragile person, who didn't try hard to win the regular tournaments so he could save himself for the majors. One could argue that he didn't try to win the French so he'd be in good shape to win Wimbledon. The one year Sampras got to the semifinals at the French (1996), he lost in the quarters to Richard Krajicek. The one big knock against Sampras is his record at the French.

Right now, Roger can savor the one title that was missing from his formidable portfolio.

You can now call Roger Federer, 2009 French Open champion.

Men's Final Preview of the French Open

After two weeks of play and 126 matches, it comes down to one match. One match to decide who the 2009 champion of Roland Garros will be.

For the first time in quite a few years, the finals will not feature the Spaniard, Rafael Nadal. Nadal lost to one of the finalists, Robin Soderling. And for once, if Roger Federer should lose, it won't be to Rafael Nadal.

Soderling was a completely unexpected finalist. There was a thought that someone like Fernando Verdasco might make it to the final. But he ran into Nikolay Davydenko. Davydenko completely diffused Verdasco's power. Indeed, it was such a convincing victory that no one expected Soderling to come back and easily defeat Davydenko.

Gonzalez beat the other potential finalist, Andy Murray. OK, Andy Murray wasn't really expected to be a finalist, but impressively enough, he lasted to the quarterfinals which was further than Nadal survived.

So who's going to win?

If you were to base it on head-to-head matchup, you'd have to give it to Federer. Soderling has never defeated Federer in 9 tries. Of course, del Potro hadn't beaten Federer in 5 tries, had never even taken a set off Federer, and yet was poised to take a match where he was 2 sets to 1 up on the former world number 1.

What does Soderling have working for him? He serves big. This is key. del Potro's big serve gave Federer fits in the first three sets, as did his big swipes off the ground.

Soderling has big groundstrokes. They confounded Davydenko, and gave Gonzalez a tough time. There's no doubt Soderling will be able to pressure Federer some off the ground. However Monfils pressured Roddick off the ground, and yet Federer handled Monfils rather easily.

Soderling is calm. OK, this is his first Grand Slam final, and surely this is the kind of pressure he's never faced. But he's dealt with the pressure of Davis Cup. He had to deal with the pressure of beating Nadal. He was 4-1 down to Gonzalez in his first ever Grand Slam semifinals and came back against that. Soderling is pretty calm for a guy in such a big occasion. That will probably be his greatest asset.

What does Federer have going for him? Federer takes big swipes at the ball. He tries to apply pressure quickly and often. He's rarely content having a long relaxing rally. This often leads to many errors, but if Federer is on top of his game, he can quickly apply pressure to his opponent forcing them to run around.

So here's the deal. It seems like del Potro is able to do everything Soderling can do, and better, and Federer handled del Potro. One could argue that del Potro fatigued in the latter parts of the match, but Soderling also began to produce more errors as the match went along as well.

Key to a victory by Roger will be getting to a fast start and serving well. If he does both, he can easily win this. However, Roger has struggled more than usual this go around. To be fair, his opponents do seem to be playing well, and it's not as if Roger has played awful. He's just not playing sublime. It did look like Federer was well in control of the del Potro match in the fifth set.

Can Soderling keep things interesting? Sure. He has the serve, the power off the ground, to make it interesting. However, Federer would also have to be playing quite off, and he's likely to be feeling pretty confident. Again, the key to the match is whether he gets to a quick start.

If so, Roger may be on the verge of completing a career Grand Slam. Other than those that have completed the Grand Slam, the only other players to complete the career Grand Slam were Andre Agassi and Roy Emerson. Pete Sampras, in his 14 titles, never reached the finals of the French, and only reached the semifinals of the French once.

After three years of being a finalist at the French, is Roger ready to finally take the one title that has eluded him?

Watch the match Sunday and find out!

Day 13 at the French: del Potro vs. Federer

When Federer sealed a win over Nadal in Madrid, 6-4, 6-4, a week before the start of the French, there were those that believed this was the year Federer would win the French. He had finally devised a strategy that would negate Nadal's advantage over him. He would win the elusive title.

Of those who believed Federer could win the French, few, if any, believed Nadal would not be there to meet him.

Nadal had, once again, shown his dominance on clay. He had won Monte Carlo. He had won Rome. He had reached the finals of Madrid. Federer had lost the last three French Open titles to his Spanish rival. Worse still, he had lost to him at Wimbledon in five sets ceding his stranglehold on the manicured lawns of the All England Club. He lost to him tamely in the fifth set of the Australian Open, despite Nadal's marathon match with fellow Spaniard, Fernando Verdasco, a match many felt would leave Nadal too tired to fight off Federer. In the ceremony, Federer could no longer contain how frustrating it was not to have won. Tears flowed. Nadal held the vanquished, telling him it would be all right.

One wondered if Federer would be able to recover, whether he might not hang it up, and decide his opponent was too mighty, his body too old, his spirit not willing. That feeling may have lasted a day. Federer had, after all, made it to his 19th straight semifinal at a Grand Slam event. He had made short work of Juan Martin del Potro in the quarterfinals. He had defeated rival, Andy Roddick. He still beat most players he played. He was increasingly vulnerable to his top rivals which had come to include Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

Then, a miracle, of sorts, happened. Nadal lost. An unheralded Swede, one Robin Soderling, clubbed his way to a four set victory. Nadal looked out of sorts and lost. He cowered many meters behind the baseline. Despite winning a second set tiebreak, Nadal couldn't hold off the powerful Swede that powered forehands down the line and inside out.

Everyone figured, this would be Roger's year. He merely had to play like he's always played. He would win for sure.

But was the pressure too much? Roger had been pushed to four sets by Jose Acasuso, who nearly pushed him to a fifth set. He struggled against Paul-Henri Mathieu, but won in four sets. It's not that these men played poorly, but that Roger wasn't playing his usual unbelievable quality of tennis. And when Nadal fell, Roger had to face Tommy Haas.

Haas was one of the few that had beaten Roger Federer, but this was early in Federer's career, back in 2002. Federer had won a slew of matches against Haas since then. Yet, Haas was hitting well. Despite a first set where Roger won every point on serve, he lost in the first set tiebreak. Haas would then break Roger late in the second set, and it didn't look good for Roger.

At 3-4 down, Roger would be down 30-40. A serve out wide, a return back to Federer's ad cour, then a hard hit, inside-out shot an inch inside the sideline. The point seemed innocent enough, but it brought the match back to deuce. It was, as Haas pointed out during the interview, Roger Federer being Roger Federer. Roger would not only go on to win the game, but he would break Haas in the next game, and serve out the third set.

He would then dominate a fourth set taking every single game. Haas would calm himself down in the fifth set and keep the early parts close. It would get to 2-all, but that was as close as it would remain, as Federer broke once and once again, and closed the fourth set comfortably at 6-4.

Next up was France's last hope. Gael Monfils, who had been a semifinalist, a year earlier, had miraculously worked his way through the draw. His knee had kept him out of most of the clay season. Monfils wanted, it seems, to save himself for his best effort at the French. Federer, on the other hand, had yet to play a really solid match.

Against Monfils, Federer squeaked out the first set, and that seemed to give him confidence. He rolled easily in the second set, 6-2, before the match again got tight in the third set. But Federer had a critical break late in the third set and closed it out against the Frenchman, 6-4 in the third.

At this point, many pointed out, without Nadal in the field, that Federer was 38-1 against everyone else. That one loss came to Fernando Gonzalez in a round-robin year-end Master's event, one that he won. He has 12 victories to that one loss. He had not lost to Juan Martin del Potro in 5 meetings. This included a straight set win Madrid only a little over a week before the start of the French.

del Potro didn't start off the clay season that well, but he beat Andy Murray en route. del Potro probably plays better on hard courts than on clay, but his precociousness seems to know no bounds. Prior to the US Open, del Potro won four tournaments in a row, including two minor clay court events and two minor hardcourt events. He buoyed that to a quarterfinal match against Andy Murray, one that seemed destined for a straight set win, but ended up being four sets, and might have gone five had del Potro not looked absolutely fatigued at the end.

del Potro's ascendancy is not quite as meteoric as Novak Djokovic. Recall 2007. Semifinals at the French. Semifinals at Wimbledon. Finals at the US Open. Were it not for the drama of Federer vs. Nadal, someone might have noticed the loud banging on the door from the scrappy Serb.

Nevertheless, del Potro had used his height, his powerful forehand, and muscle to reach the semifinals of the French Open, dropping only one set, to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, along the way.

Even so, del Potro hadn't even taken Federer to a tiebreak set, let alone win a set, in all his losses. Still, when you see a player making great strides, at some point, he starts to make progress.

Federer started off well enough, but then del Potro began threatening nearly every service game, and broke twice to take the first set against Roger, on the strength of powerful attacks on Fed's second serve. Roger was going to the slice backhand, trying to keep the balls low to the tall Argentine.

The second set was close, but Roger pulled it out in a tiebreak. Usually, once Roger wins a close one, he relaxes and plays very well. The third set didn't go to script. He got broken once early, and broken once late. 6-2 to del Potro.

Was Federer's chance to win the French evaporating against the charge of new blood?

Although the fourth set starts out close, Fed manages a break, then a second break, and takes the fourth set, 6-1. The magic appears to be back as del Potro appears to be fading.

Federer opens the fifth with a break of serve, and it looks like he will comfortably ride this to victory. A close game that eventually goes to Federer soon results in a 3-1 lead for Federer. del Potro holds, and then starts attacking Fed, and breaks back to 3-all. This appears like a replay of the Soderling-Gonzalez match where Gonzalez had broken early, but got broken back.

This is where Roger Federer is Roger Federer and not Fernando Gonzalez. He breaks again to 4-3, then holds to 5-3. del Potro then holds to 5-4, but Roger gets to 40-15, and serves it out to win the match.

Roger gets to the final once again. His reward? One hard-hitting Swede. He's never lost to Robin Soderling, but then Soderling had lost 4 in a row to Gonzalez, and del Potro had never won a set off of Roger.

Here's hoping to an easy match for Roger in the final, though, some would probably prefer it be competitive. The match will depend on how the first set goes. Roger wins the first set, and it probably goes straight sets. Soderling wins the first, and it could get interesting. At the very least, Roger has had some practice playing tall, hard-hitting players.

Finals on Sunday.

Be there!

NOTE: Nadal has withdrawn from Queen's club because of his knee injury.

Day 13 at the French, Soderling vs Gonzalez

Head-to-head results usually predict winners reasonably well in tennis. Federer against Roddick or Blake? Federer wins 9 times out of 10. He knows he has more weapons.

But when you look at a match like Soderling vs. Gonzalez, what does it mean? Gonzalez has more experience. He's been to an Australian Open final. He's been in the gold medal match of the Olympics. He's also won the last four times the two have met.

But for as huge a game as Gonzalez has, he should be a better player. That speaks to something mental, I think.

Soderling had an injury some time back where he hurt his left wrist. This injury forced him to take time off. He used this time off to work on his forehand and one-handed slice. The guy also has a big serve. But more than that, Soderling has played calm. These things work in Soderling's favor to turn the trend of losses he has to Gonzalez, who has beaten him four times in a row (none on clay). Soderling beat Gonzalez early in their head-to-head, winning their first 3 encounters. Could Soderling win in the biggest of stages?

Most people follow up a huge upset with, well, a huge disappointing loss. They are so excited about the win that they don't prepare for the next match. Not Soderling. He pummeled Davydenko who played a great match to diffuse Verdasco.

But Gonzalez isn't used to being in the semifinals either. When he's had his best chances, he's not been able to seize on them. The one thing Gonzo can take comfort in is the head-to-head results.

This is why they play the match.

Soderling takes the first set. Then, he takes the second. Gonzo knows he won't have many chances left. He's not Federer. He might hope to get one Grand Slam title in his career, ever. That's all he wants. And he knows he can beat this guy. Gonzo comes back and wins the third set. And the fourth set. And he's up a break in the fifth.

That should be it. Gonzo should be able to taste victory. Hold serve. Get in the finals.

Soderling should wilt. He's played well to get this far. He's pushed a tough player five sets. Down a break. Call it a nice tournament. There's no shame in what he's accomplished. Sure, he blew a two sets to love lead, but best of five sets generally favor the better player. Good for Gonzalez. The guy deserves the finals.

But Soderling does something funny. He breaks back. The match is tied. No fifth set tiebreak in the French. This could go a while. Soderling holds to consolidate his break. It's Gonzo's turn to hold and stay in the match.

Gonzalez must feel the pressure. Soderling holds. Then, Gonzalez serves to stay even. 0-15. Then, 15-all. 15-30, 30-all, 30-40, deuce, ad Soderling, deuce, ad Soderling.

Break.

Uh oh.

A guy that serves as big as Soderling? He's gotta be able to serve out the match.

40-15. Two match points. Gonzalez's chances have just slipped through his fingers. All he can do is watch the tall Swede serve.

6-4, game, set, match to Soderling.

The giant killer?

He just got himself into the finals of Roland Garros.

Day 12 at the French

On Day 12, the women take over Roland Garros playing both their semifinals. Essential Tennis Tour News has been focusing on the men's draw, but since the men are taking a day off, let's take a peek on the women's tour.

Dinara Safina played diminuitive Dominika Cibulkova, the 20th seed, in the semifinals. Cibulkova demolished Maria Sharapova who had been off the tour for months, and played quite well to reach the quarterfinals. Sharapova barely avoided getting double-bageled by Cibulkova and won 2 games. But Cibulkova still had a very comfortable 6-0, 6-2 win.

Women's tennis is suffering from a lack of a dominant world number 1. The men's side has enjoyed the long reign of Roger Federer followed by the longish reign of Rafael Nadal. Meanwhile, players like Serena, Ana Ivanovic, Maria Sharapova, Jelena Jankovic have all had some time at number 1. The resulting merry-go-round has lead to number 1's without Grand Slam majors to their credit.

Dinara Safina, whose rise to number 1, is actually shockingly remarkable, given her obscure status a year ago when she made the French final losing to Ana Ivanovic. Her success indirectly lead number 1, Justine Henin, to announce her retirement prior to the 2008 French, even though she would have been favored to win the title for her fourth chance.

After getting crushed by Serena Williams in the Australian Open, Safina has worked hard to establish herself as a legitimate number 1, and this means winning a title, preferably the French. Safina did her job. Unlike the marathon match against Victoria Azarenka, Safina had a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 win over Cibulkova. Cibulkova, who is only 5'3", showed that she can still hit a mean ball, but she didn't do enough to prevent Safina from reaching her second consecutive French final.

In the other semifinals, Svetlana "Kuzy" Kuznetsova is looking to reach her second French finals. She lost to Justine Henin in 2006, but had a very solid clay court season coming into the French. Kuznetsova will play the unheralded Samantha Stosur of Australia. Known primarily as a doubles specialist, Stosur has been focusing on her singles lately. A year ago, she was just returning back to the tour after suffering a bout with Lyme disease that left her debilitated as she worked through recovery.

The two have only met once, many years ago, which Kuznetsova won. Stosur feels the match will have little impact in their match today. She'll look to use her powerful serve and forehand to engineer another upset, and let her reach her first Grand Slam singles final. Stosur has yet to win a singles title on the WTA.

...and now, back to the men.

Of the remaining players, Federer is now 26-1 against the field that now includes del Potro, his next opponent, Gonzalez and Soderling, who are playing in the other semifinals. del Potro's rise to number 5 in the world has to be nearly as significant as Djokovic's rise to number 3 in 2007.

del Potro has only dropped one set, that to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in five matches played. He's playing in first semifinals at a major. The tall Argentine is a big server hitting as hard as players like Soderling and Roddick.

Although a talented player, del Potro has yet to win a set from Roger Federer. He was humiliated in the Australian Open when Roger Federer took two sets at love. Federer had a comfortable win, 6-3, 6-4 in Madrid. Basically, if Roger plays reasonably well, and he generally plays better as the tournament goes longer, he should be favored over del Potro. This isn't to say del Potro can't give Federer trouble, but that so far, Roger has felt pretty confident playing him.

In the other half, can Robin Soderling pull a rabbit out of the hat again? Against Davydenko, Soderling powered to a shockingly easy win. Although surprising, Soderling has a winning record against Davydenko and has beaten him twice on clay. One man he doesn't have a winning record against is his semifinal opponent, Fernando Gonzalez.

Gonzalez used his formidable forehand, perhaps the best in the business, to take Andy Murray out in four sets. When Gonzo is feeling good about his forehand, he can hit winners from anywhere. Only Nadal and Federer seem capable of diffusing his powerful shots. However, Gonzalez has lacked the consistency to play at the very top of the men's game. He's worked to shore up his weakness, which is his backhand, where's he's likely as not to slice when he's in trouble.

Soderling has remained remarkably calm, and has the kind of firepower off the ground to bother anyone. However, Gonzalez is no chump when it comes to hitting. Gonzalez has won their last five meetings, and he should be favored to win. If Soderling serves well, this could be an entertaining match.

Finally, Federer. It bears repeating. This is Roger Federer's 20th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal. This record speaks both to his health and his dominance. Consider 2008, a down year for Roger, where he lost his Wimbledon crown and his number 1 ranking. Federer still reached the semis of the Australian Open, the finals at the French, the finals at Wimbledon, and won the US Open. For anyone else, that would have been an incredible year. And even with all that, Federer still lost his number 1 ranking.

This year is clearly Federer's best chance yet. He still doesn't have a easy path to the final, but who does at this stage of a Grand Slam? The talented Frenchman, who gave Roger trouble in last year's semifinal, showed that he has yet to fulfill his prodigious talent. Federer found ways to befuddle Monfils into errors. del Potro is going to be a step up in quality of opponent, but he's not playing Djokovic.

Federer hasn't had a great French Open run, but he's showed flashes of playing well, and he's finished strong, one thing that had hurt him in various losses to Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray. Indeed, his pattern has reversed. Normally, Fed comes out firing to a big lead, and then fritters it away. Lately, he's had problems getting started, but won going away. This almost got him into huge trouble against Haas. Against, Monfils, Federer finally won the first set, which lead to a comfortable two break second set, and then got a key break in the third.

In interviews afterwards, Roger noted that he was nervous leading up to the Monfils match. Once he reached the court, it was fine. Experience, he said, in the later rounds of Grand Slam events would carry him through. Once he won the first set, it allowed him to relax and hit. Roger gets into moods with certain players where he feels he can just relax and hit. del Potro should be one of those players.

As an amusing side note, interviewers have asked del Potro where his name comes from. They seem confused about its origin. del Potro, for his part, has no idea where the name originates.

So tomorrow, the men's semifinals. Be there!

Day 11 at the French Open

38-1.

That's the record Federer had at the beginning of today against all potential opponents left in the French Open men's draw. It included Juan Martin del Potro, Tommy Robredo, Robin Soderling, Fernando Gonzalez, and today's opponent, Gael Monfils.

His lone loss comes against Fernando Gonzalez, and that's compared to 12 wins against him.

If anyone looks like they might have given Roger trouble, it might have been the talented Frenchman, Gael Monfils, who had met him only 4 times, the last time, a year ago in the French Open semifinals.

Federer's journey to his first French title hasn't been easy. He's been fortunate his two biggest rivals on clay lost early on. Philipp Kohlschreiber took out Novak Djokovic and Robin Soderling upended Rafael Nadal. Even so, he lost a set (and nearly two) to Jose Acasuso, one set to Paul-Henri Mathieu, and he was two sets to love down, break point down, to Tommy Haas.

Usually when Roger struggles, he plays at least one or two good matches. Roger tends to be a finisher, playing better as the tournament goes along. Nowhere was that more evident than when he beat Novak Djokovic, then Andy Murray in the semifinals and finals of the US Open, saving his best tennis for the latest rounds.

Gael Monfils made short work of Andy Roddick, a guy who should have given Monfils some trouble. This easy defeat lead some to believe that Monfils would give Federer trouble.

And for a set, he did. Monfils and Federer played a tight first set, which was tight even in the tiebreak, until Federer took it 8-6.

In the second set, Federer got a break, then a second, and cruised to a 6-2 second set. Usually, when Federer is up 2 sets, he gets very calm and confident. However, Monfils again played Roger tight to 4-all. At that point, Monfils gets to deuce, then it goes ad Federer, then he double faults back to deuce. Bad timing. Federer takes the next point to his ad, and then breaks Monfils.

Four quick points later, and Roger makes the semifinals of a Grand Slam event.

Again.

For the 20th consecutive time.

To put that in perspective. Nadal had his meter reset to 0, and has to start again. Djokovic had it reset three times. Once at Wimbledon, once at the Australian Open, and once again at the French. This is the one record of Roger's that's least likely to be broken.

It speaks to Roger's amazing consistency and health. Even in an off-year, like 2008, Federer wins in the big ones. He's a bit like Sampras in that respect (except Sampras could never play well on clay). Roger had mono, but made the 2008 Australian Open semis. Made the finals of the French, of Wimbledon, and won the US Open.

2009 actually looks worse. Roger didn't win his first tournament until May when he won Madrid. But he made the semifinals of Australia. And now again in Paris.

In the semifinal, he will meet new rival, Juan Martin del Potro. Federer demolished him at the Australian Open in the most lopsided match del Potro has probably had since entering the top 10. He has never lost to del Potro. He recently beat him in Madrid.

Even so, del Potro is a dangerous player. He easily handled Tommy Robredo who, surprisingly, was the last Spaniard in the field. Score: 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

In the other semis, the surprising Robin Soderling plays the powerful Fernando Gonzalez. Although Gonzalez leads their head-to-head 4-3, Gonzalez has won their last four encounters. This will be a hard hitting semifinal.

And so, 3 unexpected semfinalists.

And Roger Federer.

Always Roger Federer.

Day 10 at the French, Addendum

Despite his number 3 ranking, few expected Andy Murray to make a huge impact at the French Open. Murray himself said getting to the second week of Roland Garros would be good enough for him. Obviously, he wanted to do as well as possible, but it wasn't realistic to expect a title given his poor results on clay.

In this year's clay season, Murray lost to Nadal in the semis of Monte Carlo (not bad), in the second round to Juan Monaco, and in the quarterfinals of Madrid to Juan Martin del Potro. To be a top clay courter, Murray would have to beat the top clay courters, and he wasn't doing that. Murray is still vulnerable to any number of players who can outhit him on clay.

Murray had to face to biggest of big forehands. Fernando Gonzalez had entered the quarterfinals without dropping a set, and pummeled Victor Hanescu, in straight sets, powering 50 winners to 16 unforced errors. Many thought Gonzalez's forehand would tell the story. Gonzalez does so well to hit his forehand from anywhere. When he gets into a rhythm, he's hard to deal with. Only Federer and Nadal have had consistent success playing Gonzalez.

Gonzalez won the first set 6-3, but Murray evened it up 6-3. That made it the first set Gonzalez had lost. Gonzalez then won enough crucial points to roll over Murray 6-0 in the third. Gonzalez got a break up in the fourth set, then gave the break back, before breaking Murray again to win the fourth set, 6-4. Murray said, in an interview afterwards, that he rarely plays poorly after breaking, but this time he played poor points to go 0-40 and eventually lose serve and the match.

Up next for Gonzalez is Robin Soderling, the surprising Swede who followed up his stunning upset over Nadal with a surprisingly easy win over Davydenko. Soderling has had a few wins against Gonzalez. However, Gonzalez have won the last 4 meetings. They haven't met since 2007.

Tomorrow, the other semifinalists will be determined. Federer will play the last Frenchman standing, Gael Monfils. Federer has not lost to Monfils (indeed, against the rest of the field, he has a gaudy 38-1 record, the sole loss to Gonzalez) in four meetings. They haven't met since last year's French semifinals. Roddick points to Monfils as the most athletic player playing the game. He'll have the French crowd behind him as he tries to do something he's never done before.

In the other quarterfinals, Juan Martin del Potro faces Tommy Robredo. They've only met once and del Potro beat him in 2007 Madrid (indoors), in three tough sets. This could go either way though del Potro should be favored given his consistency on clay.

Day 10 at the French, Early Edition

No, no, it's not that I forgot to post an entry on Soderling's win over Nadal.

But how many people were predicting that Davydenko, off the strength of his beatdown of Fernando Verdasco, was on a crash course to meet Roger Federer in the finals? (Will H., I'm talking to you! :)). Former number 4 in the world, Nikolay Davydenko, diffused the mighty Fernando Verdasco, the guy who pushed Nadal to the limits at the Australian Open. When Davydenko won handily, everyone figured, here's a guy who has been to the semis of the French twice. This might be his time.

He'll be the one to take advantage of Nadal's loss. Davydenko would reach his first final and take advantage of the gift that Soderling gave. Right?

But Soderling is the gift that keeps on giving.

Of all the people that Soderling has played that's left in Nadal's half of the draw, Davydenko is the one guy Soderling has a winning record against. And this includes twice on clay. And this was back when Davydenko was ranked number 4. Soderling didn't have to worry, as other players might, that he would be intimidated by the Russian.

And it wasn't even close.

Not even.

Soderling banged his way to a 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 win over Davydenko.

And that's rare. You don't expect a huge upset to be followed by an easy win. If anything, the euphoria of a big upset usually leads to a sobering loss.

Now, Soderling plays either Murray or Gonzalez. Soderling has beaten both, but Gonzalez has won their most recent meetings, admittedly on faster surfaces. Still, Soderling in the final doesn't look so crazy now.

Murray and Gonzalez play later today.

Day 9 at the French Open, Addendum

The last Frenchman standing beat the last American standing. Gael Monfils had a surprisingly easy match against American, Andy Roddick. They played the late match as light was fading and Roddick was hoping that they would call play due to darkness.

It didn't happen. Instead, Monfils, surrounded by the cheers of jubilant Parisians hoping for the next Frenchman to win Roland Garros since Yannick Noah claimed the title from Mats Wilander in 1983.

Final score: 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.

It was hoped that the talented Jo-Wilfried Tsonga could beat the talented Argentian, Juan Martin del Potro. They had met only twice before but del Potro had been the victor twice. He was again the winner: 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-4.

With the loss of Nadal and Verdasco, the last Spaniard standing is Tommy Robredo. He beat German Philipp Kohlschreiber: 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2. Robredo had never lost to Kohlschreiber in 3 meetings, including twice on clay, even as recently as this year at Rome.

The quarterfinalists have the distinction of coming from different countries. Federer from Switzerland, Monfils from France, del Potro from Argentina, Robredo from Spain, Davydenko from Russia, Soderling from Sweden, and Gonzalez from Chile.

Tomorrow, Murray plays Gonzalez. This is brain vs. the beast. If Gonzalez plays on, he can overpower almost anyone not named Nadal or Federer. However, Murray is one of the smartest players on tour, and he's always played Gonzalez tough. They've split two meetings, but never played each other on clay. Gonzalez ought to be favored, but Murray continues to confound doubters, managing wins on clay when it doesn't appear like he's ready to master the dirt.

In the other quarterfinals, Swedish hero, Robin Soderling faces off against the resurgent Nikolay Davydenko. Although Davydenko looked solid beating Verdasco, Soderling has a 3-2 head-to-head lead over Davydenko, including two wins on clay. Although it's fashionable to pick Davydenko for the win. Soderling should feel confident playing Davydenko on clay. Of all the people Soderling would want to play that's left in the field, Davydenko would probably rate quite high. Much will depend on how well Soderling serves.

Day 10 tomorrow. Be there!

Day 9 at the French, Early Edition

Almost a day earlier, Rafael Nadal gave a gift to the rest of the field, in particular, to Roger Federer. He lost, shockingly, to Robin Soderling, the 24th seed, who had never beaten Nadal. Soderling complained, during the interview, that his 6-1, 6-0 loss to Nadal in Rome was actually much closer than the scores indicated, with break points and deuces, indications that he could hang with Nadal. Djokovic can sympathize.

Federer had to be counting his lucky stars. With his two major rivals out (Nadal and Djokovic), he has a winning record against everyone left. Davydenko also did him a favor by knocking out the dangerous Fernando Verdasco. Davydenko may himself be in trouble because Soderling actually has two wins against him on clay. And even if Davydenko finally makes his first Grand Slam final, Federer has a superior record against him. On his half, Federer has a great record against Roddick and del Potro, two major threats to the title. But first, Tommy Haas.

He hadn't loss to Tommy Haas since 2002. Perhaps feeling the jitters of being the newly anointed favorite, or perhaps because Haas felt this was a once in a life time opportunity, Federer came out flat.

Unlike Soderling, Haas wasn't even going for the lines. He was hitting with pace, for sure. Haas has one of the nicest backhands in the game, but it was his serve that was giving Roger fits. Roger shanked quite a few returns, unable to make an impression. It just seemed Roger was out of sorts, rather than Haas playing fantastic. Hass was playing mostly error-free, power tennis, but nothing too fancy, and it was enough to befuddle Federer who seemed bewildered.

When Roger lost an extended rally to Haas in the second set to give Haas the two sets to love lead, Roger looked done. His play wasn't much better at the start of the third. Haas had a break point in the third. If he took that, he would have a 5-3 lead and serve for the match, and at this darkest of moments, it looked as if Fed's golden opportunity would slip through his fingers.

But Roger played best when it counted. He kept hitting his shots. Federer hit a fantastic inside out shot for the winner to get the game to deuce and eventually dig himself out of what surely would have been a straight set win for Haas. Federer held to 4-all. Then gaining some inspiration, Federer broke Haas to lead 5-4 and held for the set. A glimmer of hope in what had been a dismal performance. Haas's spirit had broken.

Federer then cruised against Haas who had to feel like his chance to beat Federer had evaporated. In twenty one minutes, Federer broke Haas three times and won 6-0. In the fifth set, Haas appeared to regain control and had Federer struggling, taking a 2-1 lead on serve. But then Federer broke once, and then once again, and although Haas fought gamely as Roger served for the match, Federer finally held serve and beat Haas and kept his French title hopes alive.

By making this five set comeback, the great Roger Federer escapes the fate that befell Nadal. Final score: 6-7(4), 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.

Roger's play, like it has been throughout the French has been spotty. He is not as sharp as he should be, but he continues to find ways to win, which is what Roger does best. By raising the level of his play before it got too late, Roger was able to turn the tables on Tommy who also faded, making errors he hadn't in the early parts of the matches. Roger has sometimes played listless making his opponents look good, but Roger being Roger, often finds ways out of the holes he digs for himself. He'll need to up the level of play if he wants to win, and he probably will improve his play, if history repeats itself.

UPDATE: Robredo has beaten Philipp Kohlschreiber in four sets: 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2. Not unexpected given their head-to-head. Third set tiebreak was key.

OF INTEREST: Roger Federer won every point on his serve in the first set, except in the tiebreak. 24 points on serve in 6 games. However, Haas won all his serves too.

Day 8 at the French Open--Shocker

When Roger Federer made the finals of the 2008 Wimbledon finals, he was going for a record sixth straight Wimbledon title, breaking Borg's five consecutive Wimbledons in the Open era. Could he surpass the amazing Swede?

In the dusk of London, Rafael Nadal finally broke through, breaking Roger and holding to win his first Wimbledon. Roger tied, but could not break the record.

This year, Rafael Nadal was going for his fifth consecutive French Open. Borg had won 6 titles, but only 4 in a row (1978-1981). People were speculating in a rather silly way that there was a Borg curse. That you didn't break Borg's records.

Of course, this is folly. Sampras and Federer have broken plenty of Grand Slam records. Sampras with overall Wimbledon titles, Federer with number of consecutive US Opens (Borg never won the US Open).

So almost everyone believed Nadal would break Borg's consecutive French open title record. With two titles and a finals appearance on the three clays Masters 1000 events (Monte Carlo, Rome, Madrid) and with a beatdown of Lleyton Hewitt, most felt that there were only a handful of people who could beat Nadal. They included Federer, Djokovic, and perhaps, on a lucky day, Fernando Verdasco.

Of all the people who you might think could take Nadal down, you'd have to go down a pretty long list to come up with the name Robin Soderling.

The 24 year old Swede, 6 foot 4, had never beaten Nadal. You might expect Soderling to challenge Nadal on grass where the big Swede's huge serve rivals Ivo Karlovic. Think of him as Karlovic Junior with better groundstrokes.

Soderling had played Nadal as recently as Rome this year where he took 1 game off Nadal in a straight set pummeling. He lost in straight sets to Nadal at Roland Garros in 2006. This did not look like a man who was ready to take the king of clay down.

When Soderling took the first set, 6-2, attention picked up. Nadal had not dropped a set last year in 2008. He had yet to drop a set this year. And to drop a set so convincingly. Something must be going on.

Soderling pushed Nadal to a second set tiebreak, which Nadal won, and it seemed this would be enough for Nadal to get a four set win. Surely, Soderling wasn't tough enough to hang with the master. He'd crack.

But no, he breaks Nadal at 3-all in the third set to take a 4-3 lead. Ten minutes later, he's serving for the set at 5-4 and takes the third set.

Soderling stood calm. In the fourth set, Soderling fell back an early break. He managed to break back. You have to give credit to a guy to keep his nerve and keep holding serve, especially against a player as formidable as Nadal. Soderling had deuce games on his serves, but continued to power tough ground strokes which Nadal seemed, at times, helpless to recover.

In the tiebreak, Soderling served to go up 1-0, then Nadal held 1 of 2 points, and Soderling was up 2-1. Soderling held both points to go up 4-1, then took both points off Nadal for a 6-1 lead. Nadal hit a great forehand to get to 6-2. Soderling hits a short ball which Nadal attacks. On the pass, Nadal volleys the shot just wide, and Nadal has lost for the first time ever on the clay. As great as Nadal is at the backcourt, he's vulnerable coming to net where most of the top players pass incredibly well. Soderling won two points on Nadal approaches to the net during the tiebreak.

How did Soderling win? To be fair, Nadal was not on his game for whatever reason. However, that's not usually enough to beat Rafa. The other player also has to win points too.

Soderling used smart forays to the net to diffuse Nadal. He won 27 of 35 points at the net. More critically, he was amazing on break points. He broke 5 of 6 opportunities he had, which basically meant that if Nadal was down break point, Soderling won the game.

The whole draw opens up in Nadal's half. In particular, Verdasco has a chance to come through his half. Murray will need to play huge tennis to get to the semis. He has to get past Fernando Gonzalez, and if he gets past him, possibly Verdasco too.

Can Soderling actually use this win to move on? Past experience says no. When Federer beat Sampras at Wimbledon, he lost in the next round to Tim Henman. It's hard to engineer an upset, then to continue to ride a string of upsets forward. Soderling does have some weapons, especially on serve, so he could make that leap, but with so many tough players in his half, getting to the final would be an unbelievable achievement.

Perhaps, on this most monumental of upsets, they need a new slogan for the tournament.

Roland Garros.

Where impossible happens.

(Note: Davydenko just opened up with a 6-2 first set over Verdasco. This tournament is going crazy).

Day 8 at the French Open

Victor Hanescu had yet to drop a set at Roland Garros, but his opponent, Fernando Gonzalez had yet to drop a set either.

Someone had to give, and that someone was Hanescu.

Here's a telling stat. Hanescu had 16 winners to 8 unforced errors. A pretty tidy match for Hanescu.

In a straight set blowout, however, Gonzo had 50 winners to 16 unforced errors. To put this in perspective, another Fernando, Fernando Verdasco of Spain, hit under 100 winners in a 5 set thriller against Nadal at the US Open. 95 winners to 76 unforced errors, to be precise. If you double Gonzo's winners and errors, you'd get 100 errors to 32 unforced errors.

By the end, Hanescu looked like he had been beaten down, unable to run down shots, or find anything that would hurt the confident Chilean.

Final score: 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

In a match that looked like it would be a big challenge for Andy Murray, Murray came through in a tight match against Croat, Marin Cilic. The first set was pretty much both players dominating on serve. After each serve, the server would dominate the rally, and then win the game. This went on until 5-all when Murray engineered a break.

Cilic essentially took a Gonzalez strategy. He went for bigger shots, but then made a truckload of errors. He hit 41 winners, but 40 unforced errors, many of these big shots off either forehand or backhand that went wide or long with startling frequency. Murray, meanwhile, moved the ball around well, but was stingy with errors. He had 14 unforced errors and 24 winners.

Murray did have a break lead in the second set, but Cilic broke back, and the second set eventually went into a tiebreak which Murray won easily.

Cilic's play started getting more shaky, and Murray broke Cilic several times, to win the third set easily, 6-1.

There's been no live coverage of a potentially big upset brewing. Last year, Nadal did not drop a set. No one expected him to drop two sets. Soderling took the first set with a shocking score of 6-2. He was down a break in the second, but managed to break, and the second set went to a tiebreak, which Nadal won. Soderling showed mental toughness and again broke for a 6-4 third set. In the fourth set, Nadal was up an early break, but Soderling broke back to even the set score.

Will this be the biggest upset ever? Nadal's the toughest guy mentally on tour and has never been challenged like this on his favorite surface.

Day 7 at the French Open

Federer is probably breathing a sigh of relief. Of course, he needs to handle his end of business, but to not have to face Djokovic means he doesn't have to deal with one rival that's given him a lot of problems recently.

In a stunning upset, German, Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated fourth seed, Novak Djokovic, who most people had felt was the second strongest clay court player based on clay court season form.

Kohlschreiber wins 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

In that section of the draw that Djokovic was coming out of, the four players are now: del Potro, Tsonga, Kohlschreiber and Robredo. It's a tough section, and looks good for anyone. On form, del Potro is the one that's playing the best, with Tsonga perhaps the most talented.

Tommy Robredo beat Argentinian, Maximo Gonzalez (age: 25, rank: 71) in four sets: 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-0. Sounds like either Gonzalez got tired or Robredo caught fire at the end. Robredo faces Kohlschreiber next. Robredo has won all three encounters, twice on clay, and beat him recently in Rome in straight sets.

Andy Roddick cruised over Marc Giquel winning 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. This is the first time Roddick has made it to the fourth round at Roland Garros. Up next for Roddick is Monfils. They have a 3-3 head-to-head record with Roddick winning the last three encounters on hard courts/indoors. Monfils has beaten Roddick twice on clay however.

Although Giquel didn't win, two of his countrymen did. Despite ho-hum results, Monfils has been having a very nice French Open. He beat lefty Austrian, Jurgen Melzer, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has an easier win over Belgian, Christophe Rochus, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

Tommy Haas beat another Frenchman, Jeremy Chardy, 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Haas has had a history of bad injuries, so it's nice to see him playing well again. He will face the winner of Federer-Mathieu.

del Potro beat Russian Igor Andreev 6-4, 7-5, 6-4. He appears to be peaking at the right time. However, his section of the draw is very challenging. Up next for del Potro is Tsonga. He leads their head to head 2-0, but they've never met on clay.

Federer is having another interesting match. He and Paul-Henri Mathieu have split sets. 6-4 to Mathieu in the first set, and 6-1 to Roger in the second. 3-all in the third.

Tennis Channel probably has a deal with NBC not to televise the match at all so NBC can bring the whole match, tape delayed to viewers. Sad, but true!

CORRECTION: NBC is televising the Federer-Mathieu match live. They are in the fourth set. Federer broke Mathieu late in the third set and managed to hold for 6-4. Federer is up two sets to 1 and just broke to open the fourth set. Mathieu grunts a bit like Ferrer.

Day 6 at the French Open, Addendum

Make sure you read the earlier post on Day 6 action!

How often does this happen?

You've played ATP World Team Championship with your fellow Serb, Viktor Troicki, and won this Davis Cup wannabe tournament on clay against Germany.

You come into the French Open feeling pretty good about your form. You beat two guys that play well on the dirt in the first two rounds: Albert Montanes of Spain and Feliciano Lopez of Spain. Your third round match is against someone that still finds clay unfriendly, a guy, despite his number 3 seeding that has never made it past the third round of any major clay event until this year.

You've told the press that you think you can expose Andy Murray's lack of clay court prowess by making him move around. When the match starts, you get a two break lead.

And then.

Andy Murray begins to come back. He breaks once. He breaks a second time. He takes the first set in a tiebreak.

And then the second set starts, and you get broken again. Worse still--a groin injury! You call the trainer. You get a rubdown. This isn't looking good.

But you break back. Your opponent is furious. You hold serve. It's 2-1. Then, Murray holds, but you're not feeling 100%. You lose the next serve. It's 3-2. Then, he holds again and you fight to hold your own serve. 5-3. And then another break of your serve. It's 6-3. Two sets down. An injury to deal with. You decide, that's enough. You tell the umpire you must retire. You shake your opponent's hand. You leave, disappointed at the chances you had.

Andy Murray makes it to the fourth round of Roland Garros for the very first time as Janko Tipsarevic retires due to injury. It's impressive that the highest seeds almost never have injury problems (aside from Djokovic), as if they have some secret training that only they are told about. Players retire during matches all the time, but rarely does it affect any of the top seeds.

Andy Murray is now on a tour of former Yugoslavia. After playing Serb, Tipsarevic, up next is the Croat, Marin Cilic. Cilic has yet to drop a set with victories over Henrych of the Czech Republic (age: 29, rank: 74), Sela of Israel (age: 24, rank: 55), and Stepanek also of the Czech Republic (age: 30, rank: 29). Ranked 13 in the world, he's likely to give Murray a huge fight.

Murray has beaten him twice in head-to-head matches, once in Madrid. No, not the Madrid that was just played on clay two weeks ago: the one played last year indoors. Both head-to-head matches were close matches on faster surfaces.

In other news, Swede Robin Soderling beat Spaniard David Ferrer in four sets: 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (5). Soderling gets the pleasure of playing Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.

On Day 7, the French are out in force. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga plays Christophe Rochus. This will be Rochus's third Frenchman in three rounds (first round: Santoro, second round: Clement). Roger Federer plays Paul-Henri Mathieu. Gael Monfils plays Jurgen Melzer. Jeremy Chardy plays Tommy Haas. Andy Roddick plays Marc Giquel.

Other top matches are Novak Djokovic against Philipp Kohlschreiber and Juan Martin del Potro against Igor Andreev.

Day 6 at the French, Early Edition

As third round matches begin, there were a few folks that had to complete second round matches. In particular, up two sets to none against Russian, Sergiy Stahkovsky, Djokovic had to wait until today to complete the third set.

The third set was merely a formality, taken 6-1 in merely 35 minutes of play. The final score: 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.

Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany was locked in a battle with former number 1, Juan Carlos Ferrero. The two also had to wait until to day to complete the fifth set. Kohlschreiber took the fifth, 6-3. Final score: 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3.

Winning a third round match is the goal of two Andy's: Andy Murray and Andy Roddick, neither of whom have made it past the third round of the French. Winners of the third round head into the second week which is comparable to making it to the "Sweet Sixteen" of American NCAA Division 1 Men's Basketball Championships, often nicknamed "March Madness". To survive to the final 16 is quite the accomplishment.

The third round is where the matches become more competitive as top seeds begin to meet one another.

Verdasco vs Almagro is the battle of two hard hitting Spaniards. Verdasco had won all prior encounters. Given his newfound fitness and confidence, Verdasco is starting to win matches like these. He was given a challenge, but still won in straight sets: 6-2, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8).

Fernando Gonzalez continues to roll as he beats surprising upstart, Josselin Ouanna. Ouanna had beaten Granollers of Spain and Marat Safin before falling to the hard hitting Chilean: 7-5, 6-3, 7-5.

Nikolay Davydenko has been on the road to recovery and beat his first big challenge, Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka: 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

In current play, Nadal has won the first set 6-1 over Lleyton Hewitt. Nadal is up a break in the second, leading 4-3.

28 year old Victor Hanescu has taken a 2 set to love lead over Frenchman Gilles Simon: 6-4, 6-4, in what promises to be the first upset of the day.

Marin Cilic appears headed to a straight set victory over Czech, Radek Stepanek. He leads 6-1, 7-6 (4), 4-1.

David Ferrer and Robin Soderling are in a first set tiebreak.

UPDATE: Nadal has crushed Hewitt: 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. Looking a lot like last year. Hanescu beat Simon in straight sets: 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. This is an upset, but Simon hasn't played well this year. Hanescu appears to have a speedy second serve.

Cilic beat Stepanek 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-3. Ferrer won the opening set tiebreak against Soderling (7 points to 5). 5-all in the second set.

Day 5 at the French Open. Addendum

Make sure to read the previous post for results from earlier in the day.

Despite close matches with Czech Ivo Minar in the past and despite only getting to the 3rd round of Roland Garros once, Andy Roddick made quick work of his 25 year old opponent, serving 15 aces. Score was: 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (2).

The French continue to do well. Despite a bum knee, Gael Monfils won his match over Romanian, Victor Crivoi (age: 27, rank: 99) in straight sets: 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.

Fellow Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, had his hands full against up-and-comer, Juan Monaco. They went four sets: 7-5, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8). He is joined by compatriot, Paul-Henri Mathieu, who won in straight sets over Pablo Andujar (age: 23, rank: 101) 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.

Christophe Rochus of Belgium knocked out his second Frenchman in a row. He beat Fabrice Santoro in four sets in the first round (Santoro expects to retire this year) and then veteran, Arnaud Clement, also in four sets: 6-1, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

Tommy Haas needed five sets to beat Leonardo Mayer of Argentina (who beat James Blake in the first round): 6-3, 7-6 (2), 3-6, 4-6, 6-3. Mayer is 22 years old and ranked 93.

Two matches were suspended and will continue tomorrow. Novak Djokovic was up two sets to none over Sergiy Stakhovsky (age: 23, rank: 110).

Philipp Kohlschreiber and Juan Carlos Ferrero have split sets. Kohlscreiber took the first and third sets, both by the score of 6-4. Ferrero took the second set, 6-2. and the fourth set, 7-6(3).

Now that we're into the third round, Day 6, has promising matches: Nadal plays Hewitt (tied 4-all in head to head, though Nadal has won the last 3 meetings, including 2 on clay), Gonzalez vs. Ouanna (who beat Safin in five sets). The two have never met.

Murray plays Tipsarevic (tied 2-2 in head to head, never met on clay, Murray won last match on hardcourts), Almagro plays Verdasco (Verdasco leads head-to-head 2-0, both on clay), Soderling plays Ferrer (Soderling has 4-2 record, but Ferrer has won the last two), Stepanek plays Cilic (Stepanek has 1-0 record, but last played in 2007), Davydenko plays Wawrinka (never met).

Day 5 at the French, Early Edition

Jose Acasuso, 45th ranked player from Argentina, can add his name to the list that includes Tomas Berdych and Janko Tipsarevic, men who gave Roger Federer a scare in a major.

Acasuso was effectively trading groundstrokes with Federer, pressuring him off the ground, leaving Federer scrambling much like Andy Murray was scrambling.

A day after Andy Murray dug deep from 5-1 in the third set against Italian, Potito Starace, to win in four tough sets, Federer found himself playing a suprisingly hard hitting Argentinian.

You expect someone like Murray to struggle against lesser opponents. He doesn't have the power of Federer, nor the heavy ball of Nadal. He doesn't seem to hit much harder than his opponents. Tight matches are expected. But Federer? Here's a guy that takes risks, hits low percentage shots. In rallies, he's often taking advantage of the situation. You don't often see players attempting to dictate to Federer. And yet here was Jose Acasuso, trading tough groundies (and he had a one-handed backhand!) doing just that. It looked for all the world that Acasuso was going to upset the world number 2, making the hoped for meeting of Nadal vs Federer moot.

Acasuso had a break in the first set and was up in the first set tiebreak, only to lose the tiebreak 10-8. Despite the loss of the first set, Acasuso continued to pressure Roger taking the second set 7-5. Up 4-0 in the third, then 5-1, Acasuso was unable to press a two set advantage. Federer stormed back and forced a tiebreak, which he won easily, 7-2. After that, Acasuso had nothing more to offer, as Federer confidently finished the fourth set, 6-2.

The bad news for Federer was that he struggled in a second match (his first, he won easily, but he didn't look that sharp). The good news is that he's looked better as the match goes longer. Normally, against better players, Federer starts off well, then fades at the end.

These kinds of matches separate good players (those ranked 40ish) from great players. When great players are struggling, they still manage to win, and the good players begin to wilt under the pressure. Federer is likely to say that Acasuso played him tough, but he's not worried, that he is happy with the way he fought back, similar words to those of Andy Murray when he explained his struggles in the second round.

They say tennis is 90% mental. The physical component is certainly important. No one doubts that Federer and Nadal hit shots better than others. But the mental component is just as important. It allows these players to win close matches, and to come back when they are down.

On to the rest of the matches.

Former world number 4, Nikolay Davydenko, has been steadily working his way through the draw. He beat another Argentinian, Diego Junquiera (age: 28, rank: 80), in four sets: 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-2.

In one of the tougher matchups of the second round, Frenchman Jeremy Chardy beat Italian Simone Bolelli, in five sets: 6-2, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-1.

Spaniard Tommy Robredo continues to roll through the early rounds beating fellow Spaniard, Daniel Gimeno-Traver (age: 23, rank: 114) in straight sets: 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

Igor Andreev, 25th seed, had a tough five setter against an Argentinian as well. He beat Martin Vassallo Arguello (age: 29, rank: 49): 1-6, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

Finally, in a match that was expected to give del Potro problems, an easy straight set match instead. del Potro beat Serb, Viktor Troicki (age: 23 rank: 32): 6-3, 7-5, 6-0.

Day 4 at the French Open, Addendum

Former world number 1's have been doing well. Juan Carlos Ferrero won his first round match over Ivan Ljubicic. Lleyton Hewitt beat Ivo Karlovic in the first round. Today, he had a nice victory of Kazakh, Andrey Golubev (age: 21, rank: 88), 6-4, 6-3, 6-1.

Hewitt's reward for this? A date with current world number 1, Rafael Nadal. The series is surprisingly tied at 4-all, though all of Hewitt's victories have been on hard courts or grass, and he hasn't beaten Nadal since 2006 Queen's Club.

Hewitt has played Rafa twice at Roland Garros, once in 2006 and once in 2007. He's managed to take one set off of Rafa in these two meetings.

Although Hewitt's rank has slipped to 48, much like Juan Carlos Ferrero, he still has that champion's fight in him. He'll probably play Rafa reasonably tight but lose in straight sets, or take a set, if he can manage it. He's likely to be Rafa's toughest opponent so far.

Radek Stepanek had a fairly tough fight over Frenchman, Mathieu Montcourt (age: 24, rank: 123) winning in four sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Rafa, not surprisingly, beat Gabashvili (age 24, rank 72) in straight sets: 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. This is his 30th consecutive win at Roland Garros, a record.

After ekeing out a 5 set win, Stan Wawrinka had a relaxed win over Chilean and former gold medalist, Nicolas Massu (age: 29, rank: 120), 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.

Fernando Gonzalez had a deja vu moment, beating his second round opponent, Rui Machado of Portugal (age: 25, rank: 130) by the same score as his first round opponent: 6-3. 6-2. 6-3.

Janko Tipsarevic, who famously took Roger Federer to 5 sets at the Australian Open in 2007, beat 28th seed, Feliciano Lopez: 6-7 (9), 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3. Up next for the Serb is Scot, Andy Murray.

David Ferrer had a surprisingly tough time against the German veteran, Nicolas Kiefer (age: 31, rank: 37), winning in 5 sets: 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. Goes to show you that a high ranked player (ranked above 50) can give most seeded players some trouble.

Two of the older French players on two had different results. Both were finishing late 1st round matches from Tuesday.

36 year old, Fabrice Santoro, lost to 30 year old, Christophe Rochus of Belgium: 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. Santoro told French crowds this would be his last French Open, after 20 appearances.

31 year old Arnaud Clement (rank: 57) beat 26 year old (and 21st seed), Dmitry Tursunov: 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Day 5 has 46th ranked Jose Acasuso playing world number 2, Roger Federer. Federer has won all 3 previous meetings, all on hard courts.

A surprising number of Frenchman are scheduled to play Thursday: Monfils, Clement, Mathieu, Chardy, Rufin, and Giquel. Americans that made it to the second round? 2.

Andy Roddick looks to equal his best result at Roland Garros. He plays Czech, Ivo Minar (age: 25, rank: 85). They've met 3 times before. Roddick holds a 3-0 head-to-head, and has even played Minar on clay. However, the two have played very close matches in the past, even on faster surfaces. Expect a tight match.

Quick note: Mathieu Moncourt is being fined $12,000 and banned five weeks of play for betting about US $200 on tennis matches (not his). Andy Murray thought this fine was inappropriate for the amount in question. Coincidentally, Murray's opponent, Potito Starace was banned for 6 weeks and fined $30,000 in December 2007 for roughly similar amounts of betting.

Another note: Marat Safin doesn't pull it out. After coming from two sets to love down and forcing a fifth set, he loses to Josselin Ouanna of France (age: 23, rank: 134). Score: 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 3-6, 10-8.

Day 4 at the French, Early Edition

After a convincing first round victory over former top 20 player, Juan Ignacio Chela, it was fashionable to believe that Murray was starting to figure out this clay surface, and that a deep run might be possible. 27 year old Italian, Potito Starace, ranked 107 in the world (but in the top 30 only 2 years ago) appeared to be little challenge.

After taking the first set 6-3, Murray looked like he was cruising to a comfortable win. Not so fast. Starace came storming back, taking the second set, 6-2, and then going up 5-1 in the third set. All of a sudden, Murray looked like he was headed for a surprise second round exit. Starace was starting to dominate rallies. With Murray retreating many feet behind the baseline, Starace was able to employ a tactic Murray himself loves so much: the drop shot.

This isn't 2007 Andy Murray nor even 2008 clay court Andy Murray. That Andy Murray would likely have lost the third set and given away the fourth, unable to muster the resolve to come back. Heading into his second year under coach Miles Maclagan (and assisted by Alex Corretja), Murray now works hard to win matches and rarely has bad losses any more. When he's down, he often fights back to winning positions.

Down two breaks, Murray began to play more aggressive. Rather than exchange neutral rallies and let Starace dictate play, Murray moved the ball around, looking for angles on forehand and backhand, and taking hard shots when opportunities arose. While Murray is perfectly capable of playing this style, he seems reluctant to embrace aggression, fond as he is of making his opponent play the silly shot, while he patiently maneuvers the ball around the court. This style gets him into trouble against most wily clay court veterans who play with comparable pace to Murray, so much so that it often feels like Murray is the one scrambling to win points. Were it not for Murray's anticipation and defensive skills, he'd lose a number of these matches.

Murray won one game, then another, then another. Starace's confidence seemed to wither by the moment. When Murray took the sixth and final game and won the third set, momentum appeared to have shifted to the Scot.

However, Starace is a veteran, not so easily swayed by a monumental collapse. He kept the fourth set quite close until late when Murray, off the strength of good returns and aggressive hitting broke Starace at 5-4 to take the fourth set, 6-4.

Andy Murray is now in the third round where he'll face the winner of Feliciano Lopez and Janko Tipsarevic.

Much like 2008, Americans continue to wilt under the terre battue. The crushed brick and limestone has not been kind lately to Americans. 2009 is even worse. Where Odesnik and Ginepri both made it to at least the third round in 2008, this year, only Andy Roddick has a chance to move that far. Robert Kendrick was matched against Frenchman, Gilles Simon.

Although Simon's record has been spotty this year, he's recently played a little better. The two played a tight first set, which went to the Frenchman 7-5. Kendrick had opportunities to break. Then the wheels came off and Simon raced off with the next two sets: 6-0 and 6-1.

Victor Hanescu won over Mikhail Youzhny in three tight sets: 7-5, 7-5, 7-5.

Ernests Gulbis still finds himself on the losing end of too many matche, making it more doubtful whether this talented Latvian will ever find his way at the game's upper echelon. Gulbis loses to big serving Nicolas Almagro: 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-2.

Verdasco had an easy win over German, Philipp Petzschner (age 25, rank 67), 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.

Marin Cilic had an easy win over Israeli, Dudi Sela (age 24, rank 55), 6-0, 6-3, 6-1.

Janko Tipsarevic and Feliciano Lopez are battling it out. Tipsarevic is up 2 sets to 1, and they are even in the fourth.

Rafa, Stepanek, Davydenko, and Ferrer are all slated to play later on today.

Day 3 at the French

Although it's been more than 25 years since Yannick Noah won Roland Garros for his country, the French have generally performed reasonably well. The two superpowers in tennis might boil down to France and Spain with Spain having fared a bit better than their Gaelic counterparts.

Gael Monfils had to be considered one of the most promising players to come out of France after, well, Richard Gasquet. The French love to put pressure on their favorites. In 2004, he won 3 of 4 junior Grand Slams. The only one missing from the list was the US Open which went to current world number 3, Andy Murray.

Monfils had a fantastic French Open run last year, making it all the way to the semis before he fell to Roger Federer, but injury has plagued the talented Frenchman. It was uncertain whether he'd play the French this year due to a knee injury. Monfils only played one major clay tournament (Monte Carlo) losing tamely to Serb, Janko Tipsarevic, 6-3, 6-1.

Nevertheless, he went out there to face American Bobby Reynolds. Reynolds is a solid player, currently ranked 83. He is one of several Americans that have played well but aren't ready to carry the mantle of the best class of American tennis (that of Chang, Agassi, Courier, Sampras, and Martin). He, Robert Kendrick, Wayne Odesnik, Robby Ginepri, and Sam Querrey toil in the top 100 trying to break into the top 20 and respectability. On paper, Reynolds should have no chance against Monfils, but who knew if Monfils was healthy enough to beat Reynolds.

Indeed, he was. Monfils made easy work of the American: 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.

The French did fairly well on this third day of Roland Garros. Tsonga beat fellow Frenchman Julien Benneteau, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. More surprisingly, Marc Giquel routined 27th seed Rainer Schuettler, 6-0, 6-0, 6-4. Giquel is ranked 46 while Schuettler is ranked 29, so the differences in ranking are negligible.

The top seed playing on day 3 was Novak Djokovic. If Murray had an easy match, Djokovic had an easier one. His opponent, Nicolas Lapentti, retired after a set and a half, down 6-3, 3-1.

The other top player of note, Juan Marin del Potro, also won handily beating Frenchman, Michael Llodra, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

Americans again continued to perform poorly as two of the higher ranked Americans, James Blake and his buddy, Mardy Fish, both lost today. Blake lost to qualifier, 93rd ranked, 22 year old Leonardo Mayer of Argentina, 7-6(6), 7-5, 6-2. After playing pretty well on clay in recent weeks, this has to be a disappointing loss. An Argentinian also beat Mardy Fish. Maximo Gonzalez (age 25, rank 71), beat Fish in 4 sets, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(4).

Argentinian players continued to do well elsewhere. Upstart Juan Monaco handled Cypriot, Marcos Baghdatis, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

In the battle of the senior tour wannabes, 31 year old Tommy Haas of Germany beat 35 year old Romanian, Andrei Pavel, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

Local Aussie, Bernard Tomic, proved ineffective against German, Philipp Kohlschreiber, losing 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

Spaniard, Tommy Robredo, had an easy match over Adrian Mannarino (age 20, rank 126) 6-2, 6-1, 6-2. The upset of the day has to go to fellow Spaniard and former number 1 player, Juan Carlos Ferrero, who beat Ivan Ljubicic in five sets: 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Ferrero's ranking had slipped to 103 while Ljubicic has had one of his better clay court seasons leading up to the French. Perhaps even more surprising, Ljubicic leads the head-to-head, 3-1, though they haven't played one another since 2005.

Matches of interest on Day 4. Can Robert Kendrick, one of two Americans (the other being Andy Roddick) left in the draw, make an impression against Gilles Simon? Simon needed five sets to beat American, Wayne Odesnik. Can he go 2 for 2 against another American?

Radek Stepanek plays Mathieu Montcourt of France. OK, maybe the match itself isn't interesting, but Montcourt is being penalized for gambling a number of years ago to the tune of a few hundred dollars. Many feel the fine and suspension are too harsh for the crime.

Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal play tomorrow as the two top seeds on schedule for Wednesday play.