Tennis

There is no doubt the kazakhs walked a very narrow path to find themselves in this position, but it could be argued that this path should not have existed in the first place, because a top 10 player should not have two out of four sets reach a tie-break when playing Golubev. The double is a different beast, but still you would expect the favorites to win most of the breakers and here they won none).

France beat Germany 3-2
Kamke never managed to plant the seed of doubt in Tsonga's mind and Gojowczyk (who I mislabeled an adept of serve&volley) had a shot at making things interesting by reaching a tie-breaker in the second set against Monfils, but the frenchman dominated it from start to finish (7-0!).


Italy beat Great Britain 3-2
I expected a tight affair between Murray and Fognini and a choke fest between Seppi and Ward, but I ended wrong on both accounts. Fognini discarded an off-color Murray in straight sets and Seppi did the same with Ward after a scrappy first set (6-4 with a very WTA score of 7 breaks of serve).


Switzerland beat Kazakhstan 3-2
When Kukushkin managed to reach a breaker in the first set against Wawrinka and won it (extending the record of the week-end to 5-0 in that exercise), things smelled bad for the swiss team. Kukushkin proved very regular and patient, finding good first serves in tight situations, trying to break down the Wawrinka forehand, to make the swiss doubt and miss and doubt some more with that shot. This worked pretty well, but as the match went on, Wawrinka managed to expose the weak second serve of his opponent and make him pay for too low a percentage of first serves. Wawrinka prevailed in four sets. Both Federer and Golubev played very well in the first set of the decisive rubber, so I let you guess what was my state of mind when it went to yet another tie-break... expect the unexpected: in spite (or maybe because?) of having the match exactly where Golubev wanted it, the kazakstani choked big time just when Federer found an additional gear: 7-0 for the swiss! From there, Golubev had some moments, Federer had some wobbles, but there was very little uncertainty as fas as the outcome was concerned.


Surprisingly, all three winners were lead 2-1 after Sunday! Unsurprisingly, all the favorites won.

The semi finals will be played mid September, just after the US Open. France vs Czech Republic (in France), Switzerland vs Italy (in Switzerland). We'll see then the health and level of play of everyone involved (will Berdych play now that they are in semi?). Federer in his post match interview already confirmed his presence (talking to the crowd: 'I hope you will be there in September, because I will').

Monte Carlo's Master 1000 this week: Ferrer is currently leading Nadal by a set and break! A lot of breaks in the first set that lasted an hour an a half and got concluded by a surprisingly one sided tie-break. Ferrer is being very sound tactically and only allows Nadal defensive forehands. There is a light cloud cover and the temperature is not too high, so that might also factor in Nadal's struggle, not gettng as much wizzzzz out of his shots as usual.

EDIT: So Ferrer won. It's a big surprise because over the years we saw a lot of matches where Nadal's opponent plays a very good first set, even manages to win it, only to fade away and offer little resistance after that. Counter-examples are the famous Simon match in Madrid a few years back where Nadal won the first set to lose the match and now this Ferrer match where after a very tight contest during the first 12 games, Nadal faded in the tie-breaker and second set. Ferrer played his only poor game when serving for the match, but he was two breaks up and helf firm the second time around.

Federer played a brilliant match against Stepanek, followed for a brilliant match against Rosol (though the underdog had a brilliant super aggressive start and lead early by a break) so it was a bit of a surprise to see a pretty tame Federer today against a surprisingly in form Tsonga (surprisingly because he is playing pretty meh tennis in 2014). With a number of unforced errors but still an healthy volume of winners, what cost Federer a lot today was poor shot selection and/or poor execution on big points. He was the first to have opportunities to break, failed to convert, was broken right after it. He had break back points... failed to convert and got broken again the next game. 6-2 for Tsonga in the first. The frenchman having a lot of success serving slow but high bouncing kick serves to the Federer backhand and managed his shots well from the base line, looking for volume and length with his weaker backhand and trying to dictate play with his stronger forehand.

Federer's struggles continued in the 2nd set. He managed to play well enough to hold with relative ease and to create break opportunities, but not well enough to convert them, always denied by an inspired (and occasionally lucky) Tsonga or by his own shortcomings. As the set went on, it really felt like Tsonga dodged just too many bullets and was bound to benefit from a loose game by Federer. All credit to Federer to have not allowed this scenario to happen despite failing to break on 13 occasions spread over 6 return games (he did take a warning for sending a ball in the sea out of frustration though). The swiss took an early lead in the breaker courtesy of some Tsonga unforced errors, but still failed to convert two set points on his serve and one returning to allow Tsonga back to 6-6. Once again, it stank: too many missed opportunities. Another Tsonga unforced gave him a fourth bite at the cherry, a third on his serve and did not miss.

That was a huge confidence booster for Federer and obviously a big test of character for Tsonga, who failed as he faded quickly in the third, finally getting broken and twice in a row for good measure. 6-1 Federer in the third.

Fun facts:

- Federer reaches his 50th Master 1000 semi-final!

- Federer was not supposed to play this week asked for a wild card to participate. His pregnant wife is about to give birth and as a result will probably miss a good chunk of the clay court season, even possibly Roland Garros!

- Monte Carlo is a Master 1000 that Federer has never won. Note that he won six Master 1000 titles on clay: 4 in the now demoted Hambourg event and two in the somewhat recent Clay version of Madrid. He previously reached the final of MC and Rome.

It was also a struggle for Djokovic today after blitzing through his first two matches. The opponent of the day, Garcia-Lopez just won in Casablanca last week-end and downed Berdych on the way to the quarter final. The spaniard played some very consistent baseline tennis with some good injections of pace here and there on both wings and when forced to defend he covered his ground brilliantly. Helped in the beginning by a very off color Djokovic, things got a lot closer late in the the first, but the damage was done: 6-4 for the spaniard. The second set was a pure battle as Djokovic slowly but surely raised his level of play and Garcia Lopez fought tooth and nail to stay with the world N?1, forcing him to play the extra shot, covering unthinkable ground (never knew this guy could defend so well, but again the somewhat slow conditions of the day might have helped). A number of incredible rallies ensued, but Garcia Lopez blinked first after an exceptionally hard fought 7th game: 6-3 Djokovic. (Not as hard fought as earlier in the day when the third game of the Nadal-Ferer match lasted more than 15 minutes!).

After that, it was all Djokovic. Garcia Lopez fought valiantly, but all these rallies that he won in the first set and were evenly split in the second were now won by the world N?2. 6-1 Djokovic.

The rumor: Djokovic does not talk about it in press conference, but it seems that he is slightly injured at his right wrist and as a result did not train between his first two matches. It must not be too much of a problem considering he won both matches with ease and do not seem to wear any kind of strapping/bandage, but by the end of his match today he was doing some odd stretching of his wrist. Let's hope it will not end up like Davydenko who had a painful wrist for weeks before the doctors finally realized it was in fact broken! We'll see how it evolves, but with Nadal not at his best, Federer possibly taking time off for the birth of his child, Djokovic possibly injured and Murray not caring much for the surface, we could be in for a strange clay court season.


Tomorrow:

Wawrinka vs Ferrer: will the spaniard's consistency be able to withstand and even best the swiss' barrage of shots? Pretty even head to head (5-7), 3-2 for the recent meetings. It should be a good match.

Djokovic vs Federer: 16 - 17 in the head to head, 3 - 3 on clay. 1-1 this year in two three sets matches. Both played brilliantly early in the tournament and had a tough time finding their game today. Good luck picking a winner. Djokovic is a little injured, Federer has his expecting wife on his mind... Hopefully they will both play well and we will get a good contest.

Ferrer had a very clear game plan against Nadal and he executed it to perfection. Sadly for him, the plan against Wawrinka today was nothing more than 'let's hope I outlast this guy'. Truth is there is not much of a winning game plan against Wawrinka when he plays well as he can be equally aggressive and efficient from both wings, he is not clumsy at all at the net and the usual weakness of single handed backhand, high balls, is almost totally negated by his upper body strength and the heavy lift he can impart on the ball even from high contact points. Still, Ferrer's 'strategy' almost paid divident. The swiss started all guns blazing and made winners rain on a defensless Ferrer which lead to a clean 6-1 set. In the second though, Wawrinka's intensity dropped a little, errors creeped in his game and that was enough for Ferrer's court coverage and consistency to make it a tight contest. If it went the distance it would have been a tough challenge for the swiss, but luckily for him he managed to raise his level in the breaker to win it comfortably.



Federer and Djokovic are taking to the court as I write this: the serb wears a bandage that covers his whole forearm.

High quality first set from both players in the Federer vs Djokovic semi. Federer especially impressed with his movement and his aggressive mind set. Still, it's Djokovic that had the first opportunities late in the set, but Federer stood firm, broke at 5-5 and closed the set. Federer kept his foot on the gas in the 2nd set and sadly, Djokovic's injury caught up with him. Visibly in pain, unable to produce anything as soon as he had to play single handed backhands (slices or defensive lobs when stretched wide), his level dropped as fighting the pain and this Federer for the other two sets required to win seemed out of the realm of the possible. Djokovic made a point to fight until the end, but there was no miracle, he lost the second set 6-2.

We'll probably learn a bit more in the coming hours on the nature of Djokovic's injury and how it might impact the rest of the clay court season (or the whole season if it requires surgery). As far as ranking goes, there is not much direct impact considering how far ahead the top 2 players are.


This is the first time Wawrinka and Federer will meet in a final. The head to head heavily favors Federer at 13-1, but the only time Wawrinka won, it was in Monte Carlo in 2009. Unless there is some major brain cramp from one or the other, this should be a hard fought affair with some high quality tennis. Wawrinka is after his first Masters 1000 title and winning would be keeping his N?3 ranking. Federer is after is first title in Monte Carlo (one of the 3 Master 1000 he never won with Rome and Shanghai - 4 if you add the Canada Master when it takes place in Montreal) and winning would mean overtaking Wawrinka at the N?3 spot.

Very strange match this all swiss final. As often with matches between friends, it felt like the match had difficulty finding its rhythm and intensity. Great shots were followed by lame errors, crazy rallies by boneheaded choices. At this strange game it was Wawrinka who was the most nervous and least consistent of the two. That allowed Federer to claim an early break and bag the first set. Despite all his experience, the GOAT did not avoid the little drop in intensity you can have after winning a set. Wawrinka grabed this opportunity with both hands.... only to give the break back to love thanks to a mix of unforced errors and high level tennis by Federer. From then on, Wawrinka played cleaner tennis. While that was enough enough to break, that was enough to hold, which brought us to a tie-breaker.Wawrinkas started by a winning serve followed it by a deep return that draw an error from the Federer backhand. It so happened that this very early mini-break would be the only one of the breaker, Federer serving brilliantly, but being unable to produce good enough tennis to catch up with Stan The Man.

Wawrinka's morale got a huge boost from the win of this set, which allowed him to raise his level even further. Not missing, slapping the ball around like there was no tomorrow, bossing the rallies, forcing Federer on the back foot. The quality of Wawrinka's play added to the fact Federer found himself in a third set when he was pretty close to seal the deal in two certainly did not help the World N?4 to relax. In fact, for a few games he got tighter than a piano string. When Wawrinka cooled down somewhat and Federer found more freedom in his arm, the damage was done: Wawrinka lead 4-0. Even if things got closer in the end, the deficit prove too much, allowing Wawrinka to bag a deserved first Master 1000 crown.

Fun facts:

- Wawrinka is currently N?1 in the race (ranking taking into account only the events played in 2014)

- Only 10 currently active players ever won a Master 1000. The big four got more than the lion's share. Other than them, Wawrinka joins Tsonga, Ferrer, Davydenko, Berdych and.... Hewitt!

- Other than the big four, Hewitt and Wawrinka are the only two active players to have won both a Grand Slam title and a Master 1000 title.

Thanks for doing updates Szlia. I look forward to reading them during events, and your Swiss bias is appreciated because Fed/Wawrinka are probably my two favorite players.

My pleasure! I hope I'll get to see them both for the Davis Cup semi-final, but it's in a long while (september).

Madrid is shaping up to be a strange one. Djokovic is out because of his wrist injury, Federer is by his pregnant wife, Wawrinka just lost to rising star Thiem... Maybe Nadal, who lost last week in Barcelona to Almagro, will get some needed confidence by winning this week?

In other news, Elena Baltacha the Kiev born English player died this past week-end. A sad story really: she retired in November of last year, got married, but then got diagnosed with liver cancer in January and died on the 4th of May. She was 30.

So Nadal ended up winning Madrid thanks to Nishikori getting injured and retiring. It really took that to stop the japanese youngster who was leading 6-2 4-2 and giving an anti-Nadal masterclass. Rome ended with a classic Djokovic vs Nadal final that the serb won in 3 sets. Maybe Nadal ran out of gas: he began that week by a 3h20 battle against Simon and followed it by two 2h40 matches against Youzhny and Murray!

Anyway.... it's FRENCH OPEN TIME!

- Only Del Potro is missing from the top 32 seeds.

- Rain will likely play a significant part though all two weeks of the event.

- I am not redoing the whole count, but out of the 128 players in the Men draw, 36 of them are 30 and older!

A quick look at The DRAW:

NADALcome off the back of a clay court season well below his standards. Still, it's Nadal at the French open so he is the de facto favorite. The heavy conditions will dull his lift somewhat, but it will also dull the attacks of most of his opponents (no Del Potro or Soderling around to hit through the marsh, but maybe a Berdych, a Wawrinka or a Gulbis can too).
R128:Ginepri. The american veteran is still playing for matches like these and might play above his level for the occasion which might be enough to force a close set but not much more.
R64:Possibly Thiem. The young german is making waves and a name for himself this season. Too young to be scared or overly respectful so Nadal will have to assert his authority early or it could turn into a battle.
R34:The seed is Pospisil but the guy has been semi injured through 2014 and lost his past 7 matches...
R16:Almagro or Haas. The spaniard played a decent clay season and managed to beat Nadal in Bareclona. Haas is a god, but sadly his shoulder has been troubling him these past weeks so I doubt he will reach this stage.
R8:Ferrer is the most likely candidate to reach this stage and he had a convincing win over Nadal in Monte Carlo. Could be interesting.


WAWRINKAa bit up and down through the clay court season and it's a bit unclear how well or poorly he will deal with the fact he arrives with the 3rd seed and as the guy who won the previous Slam.
R128:Garcia-Lopez. A tricky first round against an experienced player with a good serve who beat a number of top players (like Berdych a couple weeks ago). A solid clean win could set the tone for the tournement.
R64:Mannarino or Lu: the frenchman is having a terribad 2014 and the taiwanese is not much of a clay court player.
R32:Lopez is the seed and can be a tricky opponent, but he prefers faster surfaces and has not won much on clay this season.
R16:Fognini. The italian played a great south american clay swing earlier in the year, but his european clay swing as a final... but also three first round exit. You never know what you'll get with the guy.
R8:Murray is the 7th seed, but topsy turvy results and a surface he does not care much about could make him lose before that. Maybe Kohlschreiber who just won in Dusseldorf will emerge?

FEDERERreached the final in Monte Carlo but then skipped the rest of the clay season for the birth of his sons and lost his first round match in Rome (he played an ok match though and Chardy pulled a pure Houdini escape trick on the match point he faced in the breaker of the third).
R128:Lacko got beaten in straight sets without the swiss facing a break point. A clean enough and fast enough job that does not give much indication as to his level.
R64:Schwartzman, a young argentinian qualifier. The guy only lost the one set in four matchesso he must be doing something right and it's not serving aces since he is listed at 5'7" (1m70)!
R32:Tursunov or Querrey: two guys who can play but without much references on the surface.
R16:Gulbis. Youzhny and Stepanek are around but their battled 5 sets in their first round. Benneteau is also in this part of the draw, but the heavy conditions will certainly not help him, so I'll go with the very much in form Gulbis who just won in Nice (6 titles in 6 finals played btw!).
R8:Berdych on paper, but in 7 of the last 10 French open, the guy lost in the first or second round... the slower conditions could help his game though, giving him time to move and fire his huge shots. If not Berdych... Bautista Agut? The least charismatic percentage tennis guy to burst into the scene these last few years! But you can't argue with his results (18th at the 2014 Race).

DJOKOVICskipped Madrid over some slight wrist issue and had to fight hard through Rome, but in the end the guy won 24 matches to only 3 losses in 2014. The only reason he is not the favorite is because Nadal only lost the once at the French in 60 matches (and only 2 of those went to 5 sets!).
R128:Sousa. Won in straight sets already.
R64:Chardy. The guy played a good first round and the slower conditions could help his game because of the big preparation for his huge forehand.
R32:Cilic. The guy won a lot of matches after the Australian Open but it sorta died down during the clay season (though he mostly lost against quality players). Can beat anyone when he plays well.
R16:Janowicz or Tsonga. Two very dangerous players that are a bit struggling for results lately. The one that will reach this stage will arrive with some much needed confidence though.
R8:On paper it's Raonic (another big serve-big forehand guy that could be helped by the weather). If not him, we know it will not be Nishikori who lost his opening round in straight set (still injured? Klizan inspired?), so maybe Dolgopolov? Simon?

Ouch Wawrinka.

I thought Wawrinka's power could allow him to hit through opponents even in heavy conditions, but it was not really the case today. As Garcia Lopez played a clean match and defended well, a nervous Wawrinka got increasingly frustrated and ended with more than 60 unforced errors: 15 games worth of gifts to the opponent when the guy needs 18 to win! (obviously it does not quite work like that with tennis' scoring system, but you get the idea). Also lame are the facts he broke first in the first set yet lost it and had several break chances to level the third set but could not convert any... He can blame lack of support: I was watching qualifier and first time ATP tour player Bagnis fighting Benneteau in a clutch fest of epic proportion as it ended 18-16 in the fifth which is a pretty uncommon feat on clay as there were a lot of grueling hi-octane rallies.

Amazing heart showed by veteran Benneteau who fought back from two sets down to get a match point late in the fifth and insane zen master skills from Bagnis, who managed to keep his focus in spite of the dramatic scenario and the increasingly unknown territory in which he ventured (never played an ATP level match, never played a best of 5 match, never played in front of that big of a crowd, never played in front that big of a crowd that was at 99% for his opponent, destroyed Benneteau in the first two sets and got destroyed in the next two, lead 4-2 in the fifth with an opening to lead 5-2 only to find himself 5-4 down a bit later, serving 12 times in a row to stay in the match, 4+ hours match, etc). The argentinian leftie also showed some very good tennis: he has a big swing on his forehand, generating a lot of spin and uncertainty when he has time to set up the shot, he hits his backhand pretty flat and is not shy on taking it early, generating short replies that he can then spank with his big forehand, he is able to abbreviate his swing for the forehand returns and he showed a very good hand, able to slide nasty touch shots when stretched, and turning a number of volleys into the most delicate drop shot winners. Add a reliable leftie serve that does not produce a lot of aces but is acurate and spinny enough to generate errors and short repliesand you have a pretty serious package. It's unclear why it's only now, at 24, that we see this guy for the first time. Sadly, considering the physical and mental effort this match represented, it's unlikely that we will see him past the next round if at all (as he will most likely play on court 81743 against Gulbis).


Wawrinka's early exit opens his part of the draw but... for who? Possibly for Fognini or... Murray! It certainly is a good deal for Nadal (unless austrian - and not german - youngster Thiem decides to do some giant slaying)!

Seedicide day: Almagro and Haas had to retire (meaning that Nadal's path to the quarter final has no more seed on it), Ace machine Karlovic confirmed his good form (he reached the final of D?sseldorf last week) by ousting Dimitrov in straight sets (and a single tie-break!).

Ferrer won cleanly. Murray won in four in a terrible match against Golubev (Murray had a 1/2 ratio of great shot to boneheaded error, but Golubev had a 1/5 ratio so it did the trick). Gasquet, who plays with a big question mark above his head because of a chronic back issue, also won, but the limbo dweller Tomic also did not seem to have much of a competitive bone left in his body.

A strange start to the open, not helped by sad weather.

The upset of the day was french youngster Mladenovic managing to beat in three sets a somewhat off-color Li, the 2nd seed of the WTA draw and former champion! A tall (6") and athletic player, Mladenovic mostly made waves on the double and mixed double circuit (several grand slam titles in mixed - a third rate event with small draws, but still) where I guess she can put the quality of her serve to good use.

The WTA seedicide goes on as Larsson beat Pennetta (12th seed), the young slovakian Schmiedlova beat Venus Williams (31st seed) and, last but not least, the young spaniard Muguruza destroyed Serena Williams (1st seed), 6-2 6-2!

The world N?1 had trouble serving but also had trouble with the quality of Muguruza's game: serving well, returning well, playing a pretty clean if somewhat stereotypical aggressive baseline play, covering a lot of ground, she kinda looked like a professional athlete out there! The american missed first more often than not and the spaniard kept a very cool head throughout. I was not overly impressed by Muguruza's net play (I guess she also does not impress herself at the net because she does things like not following drop shots to the net or hit short balls deep in the middle and goes back!) and her forehand is a bit... odd. You teach juniors to show the opponent the logo on the butt of their racket so that they take the racket head back before the shots. Muguruza was sick on that day because she has a rather short take back and the racket head does not go fully back, so it looks a bit like she pushes through the ball. That looks like a recipe for disaster, but she did not miss much at all and certainly packed some punch with it so... good for her? It still feels like a shot that could go away during matches and be a source of troubles. She'll get to find out in the next round!

(not a picture from the actual event)

On ATP seed watch, we also lost Dolgopolov (20) to Granollers after the ukrainian lead by two sets... And Youzhny (15) downed by Stepanek in four sets. Djokovic made light work of Chardy and Federer won a short straight set match against qualifier Schwartzman, but I found the swiss not very good. He served very well, had the occasional moment of brilliance that make for a good show reel at the end of the match, but he also made a lot of unforced error and was seldomly able to outplay the modest Schwartzman in rallies. The argentinian made a good account of himself: competing well, counter-punching, running down every ball, not giving much. A professional performance, with his weapons. Not enough to really threatened even an off-color Federer, but, still, a commendable effort.


About the two youngsters that upset the Williams sisters, that funny because they had a very similar story to tell that went like this: 'I played against her once before and it was horrible. I was so nervous that I could not play. So this time, even if I knew I had not much of a shot at winning I decided to at least play my game, forget the opponent and just play.' Serena's opponent found this state of mind from the get-go and it took a set for Venus'.


By the way, another WTA upset was created by the young american Townsend who won in three sets against french hope Cornet (20). I did not get to see any of it, but I really wanted to because Townsend has been one of the top 4 junior the last couple years and that boggled my mind because she was almost obese (that seems slightly better now). I mean there are and have been WTA players that do not exactly look extremely fit (Bartoli, Kleybanova, Groenefeld at times, Serena Williams at times), but Townsend bring it to a whole new level. Stranger even, she is apparently a very offensive player. In her match against Cornet she went 30 times to the net in 200 points. That's 50% more than Federer against Schwartzman!!!

The first two rounds are done so we reached the phase were the 32 seeds were supposed to meet. Considering only 23 are left, it's not going according to plan!

NADALproved too solid for Thiem. The youngster showed some good things but found himself unable to play the right game plan with enough consistency to be competitive.
R32: Mayer. The german one can be tricky, but the argentinian one is a dirt baller and as a result shall be summarily discarded.
R16: Sock, the american youngster (who beat fellow american Johnson) or serbian journeyman Lajovic... Nadal is not worried.

FERRERcruised so far.
R32: Seppi usually arrives in the 3 round after having played 10 sets. This time, only the six! He will need that energy he saved up!
R16: Karlovic or Anderson. Two guys not at their best on clay but still able to be dangerous no matter what.


FOGNINImanaged to beat in straight set the very trick brazilian Bellucci. Encouraging signs for the italian.
R32: Monfils played two decent enough and short enough matches but german youngster Struff really helped him out today by makeing unforced errors on just about every key points of the match!
R16: Garcia-Lopez, who confirmed against Mannarino his good win over Wawrinka, or Young, the american journeyman, who pulled a surprising straight set upset over Lopez, the 26th seed.

MURRAYcruised so far.
R32: Kohlschreiber won in straight sets over Istomin and his surfing on a wave of good form. A first test for the scott.
R16: Gasquet (who arrived on the back of an injury but did just enough over a shaky Berlocq) or Verdasco (who had to dig very deep to recover from two set to love down against clay court gladiator Cuevas).


BERDYCHjust lost the one tie-break against Nedovyesov, a player on the rise.
R32: Bautista Agut, the master of no-nonsense tennis is always difficult to beat.
R16: Robredo, the hardened veteran, or Isner, who won two out of three breakers against Kukushkin...

FEDERERdid what he had to do without being impressive.
R32: Tursunov, the russian veteran plays a pretty flat ball with pace, a style not suited for clay and that usually does not trouble Federer much.
R16: Gulbis or Stepanek. I am watching this match for sure. Two players that have a big bag of tricks, Stepanek having experience where Gulbis has overwhelming power. Both can be very dangerous when they play well.


RAONICis untroubled so far.
R32: Simon is the unexpected in form player of the french aramada. Will he be able to frustrate Ranoci by making a lot of balls, forcing a lot of rallies that the canadian will want to avoid like the plague? With the slow conditions this week, that might be the case.
R16: Klizan, a talented player even if it does not translate in results just yet, confirmed his upset over an injured Nishikori by beating in five sets dutch veteran Haase. Granollers, out of nowhere really, managed to recover from two sets to love down against Dolgopolov (20th seed) to reach the round of 32.

DJOKOVICin cruise control.
R32: Cilic started the year very well, cooled down a little since then, but his a guy with a huge pentential. If he plays well... who knows what might happen?
R16: Tsonga or Janowicz. Two guys with huge weapons who played rather well this week. Also two guys that are not exactly bursting with confidence at the moment, not exactly clay court players and not exactly known for having the mental discipline and fortitude needed to beat the very best in grand slams (though Tsonga occasionally did).



At this point it's pretty safe to say that there is a 99% chance that Nadal will be in the quarter final. All the others top guys have still tricky opponents ahead of them. Of all, Djokovic was probably the most impressive, but he is also the one with the toughest opponents on his way. My dark horse to reach the quarter is Gulbis because he is currently managing his shots very well and I found Federer's game to be a source of worry (he seems extremely 1st serve dependent).