Roland Garros – And Then There Were Eight (Men’s)

Posted by wbgene on June 1, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Well with the ousting of Rafa Nadal in round 4 I am sure everyone is saying that Federer can finally get his French Open win. I am certain Roger would prefer to win it while playing Rafa head to head. It just won’t be the same if he beats someone else to get it.

Personally I think it makes the field wide open, as well as makes for an exciting Quarter Finals – Finals.

Especially since Federer’s road to the quarters hasn’t been exactly easy. He cruised past Spainiard Alberto Martin 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, but then had to play a fourth set with two tie-breaks to get past Argentine Jose Acasuso 7(10)-6(8), 5-7, 7(7)-6(2), 6-2. then in round 3 he dropped the first set to Frenchman #23 Peul-Henri Mathieu, but came back to finish it in four sets 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. In the fourth round German Tommy Haas looked like he was going to oust Federer early too. It started off with Haas winning the first two sets 7(7)-6(4), 7-5). Federer rallied back though to win the final three sets 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 to advance to the quarters. It would have been a very strange final three rounds with no Rafa or Federer.

Fed will face Frenchman #11 seeded Gael Monfils who has only played one extra set through the first four rounds while eliminating Victor Crivoi, #24 Jurgen Melzer and Americans Bobbie Reynolds, and #6 Andy Roddick.

Monfils will certainly be the better rested of the two, and should have the crowd squarely behind him when they play on Wednesday.

In the other Wednesday match it will be #5 Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina vs. Tommy Robredo #16 of Spain. Neither has really been challenged to this point. Robredo faced off against Philipp Kohlschreiber who had just upst Novak Djokovic, while Del Potro’s biggest challenge was Jo-Wilfried Tsongas in round four which he only dropped one set to.

On Tuesday there is a match no one expected to see in the quarters, #23 Robin Soderling vs. #10 Nikolay Davydenko. to get to this point Davydenko had to get past #17 Stanisla Wawrinka, as well as #8 Fernando Verdasco. Soderling had to get past both #14 David Ferrer, and World #1 The King of Clay Rafa Nadal. This should be an exciting match to watch. Both of them are obviously on top of their game, and can see the window to a French title open with no Nadal in sight any longer.

That of course is not to say it will be an easy trip to the finals for the wwinner of that match, as in the other quarters match on Tuesday we have #3 Andy Murray facing off against #12 Fernando Gonzalez. Murrays was pushed to a fourth set just once, while Gonzalez finished all of his matchs in three sets. They have however played the same amount of sets as Murray only had to play two sets against Janko Tipsarevic before he had to retire.

It will definitely be fun to watch the final week of Men’s tennis at Roland Garros, even without Rafa, if not moreso due to his absence.

Here are my picks.

Tuesday -

Soderling will defeat Davydenko to continue his Cinderella-like charge toward the finals. I think it should take four sets with him losing a tie-break in one of the first three. I would like to go on record that I think Soderling might just win the title.

I think Andy Murray will continue to play well and get past Gonzalez. I think he will be pushed to the brink though and need five sets to win it. This will set up Soderling to have a slight energy advantage in the semis.

Wednesday -

I think Del Potro should cruise past Robredo, possibly in straight sets, but no more than four.

I am about to make a bold prediction that will probably make me look bad when Federer winds up winning in straight sets, but I am going to do it anyway. I think the crowd wills Monfils on to help him eliminate Roger in an epic five set battle.

That’s right, after 3 straight years of a Rafa – Roger finals I am predicting neither will be present even for the semis.

We’ll see how my picks go.