Federer and Nadal in the Finals at Roland-Garros
Rafael Nadal reached his sixth final at the French Open by defeating Andy Murray in straight sets yesterday.
It was a close and competitive match that took over 3 hours to complete, but it could have easily taken longer. Murray was playing from behind for most of the match, though he was often able to fight his way back on serve and even had chances to take the outright lead. Nadal, displaying his best form of the tournament so far, quelled any hopes Murray might have had of extending match by keeping his nose firmly in front and playing the big better than Murray.
The biggest story of the semi-finals day was the clash of Federer and Djokovic.
Coming into the match, Federer has been playing extremely well on the clay and was having a picture-perfect tournament. Djokovic had the 41-match winning streak to open 2011 going for him and he was very well rested after advancing to the semis in a walkover. The tennis was of the highest quality from the word go, with both players showing why they are the best returners in the game. Federer lead for most of the match, dropping just one set to Djokovic who was unable to force a deciding fifth set.
Perhaps by ending Djokovic's winning streak, Roger Federer has restored some balance to the universe.
On Sunday, we will have a Federer-Nadal final at Roland-Garros. I will be the first to admit that I would have loved to see a Djokovic-Nadal final, with Nadal reasserting his King Of Clay status by defending his title and defeating the man who beat him in the last two finals in Madrid and Rome. But it just seems right to have Rafa and Roger in the finals again. Especially at the French, where there has been so much debate around the relative greatness of these rivals. Granted, Roger finally got his Career Slam by winning the French Open in 2009, but he didn't have to beat Rafa to do it. Surely, if Roger can claim another French Open title over Rafa in the final there will be little doubt as to who is the greatest of all time -- at least for a while, until we see how many more major titles Nadal can add to his growing collection.
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Final Four at Roland-Garros
Since Milos Raonic went out in the first round of the French Open, we haven't had much to report on. In the meantime, we've been treated to some great clay court tennis during the past two weeks -- and the final weekend hasn't even arrived yet!
On the men's side, the top four seeds in the draw have taken their rightful place in the semi-finals. The preeminent Roger Federer, who reached his record-setting 28th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal a few days ago, will be looking to prevent Novak Djokovic from tying McEnroe's record for the best start to a season. In the other semi, Rafael Nadal will have his hands full with Andy Murray, who has shown himself to be a formidable clay courter as of late. Murray's 3-setter with Djokovic in Rome a few weeks ago was one of the best matches of the year so far, with Djokovic saving some match points to keep his winning streak alive.
The women's final was set today after Li Na defeated Maria Sharapova in straight sets, and defending champ Francesca Schiavone crushed the hopes of there being a French woman in the final with her win over Marion Bartoli. This is no battle of top seeds, and there have been upsets all along the way in the women's draw. Li Na is continuing to make history for Chinese tennis, and she will have a chance to capture one of the biggest prizes in tennis this weekend. She has admitted that she never thought she could make the semis, or the finals for that matter, at the French Open, but she's proven herself to be a tough opponent on the clay. But Schiavone has the kind of versatility in her game that is highly effective on this surface, and she hasn't been shy in showing her affection for the dirt in Stade Roland-Garros.
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“Top-Class Tennis” from Novak Djokovic and J. M. del Potro at the French Open
It was an awesome beginning to the most anticipated match of the day at Roland Garros; del Potro and Djokovic split the first two sets 6-3, 3-6, and play has been postponed until the start of the day tomorrow. It promises to be a wicked conclusion!
Here's a decent article from the folks at RolandGarros.com about the first part of the match this evening: http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/news/articles/2011-05-27/201105271306526570881.html
Canadian men’s hopefuls go down, women advance at Roland Garros (French Open – First Round)
Raonic and Dancevic lose their first round matches
Milos Raonic's first main-draw French Open journey was cut short today, when Michael Berrer (GER) defeated him in four sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Canadian Frank Dancevic suffered a similar fate; he was also defeated in four sets ( 6-1, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 ) by Simone Bolelli of Italy. (read more)
Wozniak and Marino advance to second round
Rebecca Marino defeated Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) yesterday in her first round match up in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. She will play Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) (view head-to-head) in her second round match. (read more)
Qualifier and fellow Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak achieved even better results this afternoon, winning her first round match versus Junri Namigata of Japan with a sizzling 6-1, 6-1 score. Aleksandra will face World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki (view head-to-head) in the second round. Caro ousted her first-round opponent, Kimiko Date-Krumm, also of Japan, with similar ease at 6-0, 6-2 today. (read more)
Schedule of Play
According to the schedule, Wozniak and Marino will not be playing their next singles matches tomorrow, although Marino will be first up on Court 11 in doubles action. Television coverage is being provided by TSN and TSN2 in Canada.
Canadians Qualify for Roland-Garros; Raonic Draw Preview
Canadians Frank Dancevic and Aleksandra Wozniak qualified for the main singles draws at Roland-Garros today.
Two Canadian women began the day hoping to qualify for the main draw. Wozniak was able to get it done in straight sets over Jamie Hampton (USA), 7-5 6-3. Stephanie Dubois easily won the first set of her match against Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP), but things turned around for the Spaniard when she won the second set in a tiebreak. Dubois would lose in three sets and thus will not be joining Wozniak in the main the draw.
On the men's side, Dancevic won in convincing fashion over his Romanian opponent, Victor Crivoi, 6-1 6-3. Dancevic will face Simone Bolelli (ITA) who also advanced through the qualifying rounds to earn a spot in the main draw. Their career head-to-head is even at one match a piece, but they haven't played each other since 2008.
Milos Raonic, who has been seeded No.26 in the tournament, will play Michael Berrer of Germany in the first round at the French Open.
Berrer is currently ranked 94 in the world, and reached a career high ranking of 42 last year. Raonic and Berrer are separated in age by 10 years, and they have never faced each other at the ATP tour level or in a Grand Slam. Berrer is a tall lefty who has had some success playing doubles on clay, so he may prove to be a tough opponent for Milos in the first round.
Looking ahead, Raonic is in (4) Andy Murray's section of the draw. Raonic could meet Murray (GBR) in the third round, which would be a huge match to say the least. Other names of note in this section of the draw are (21) Alexandr Dolgopolov, (8) Jurgen Melzer, and (11) Nicolas Almagro.
As it turns out, Rebecca Marino and Aleksandra Wozniak have been placed in the same section of the women's singles draw. Marino is set to play Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) and Wozniak will face Junri Namigata (JPN) in the first round.
The tournament itself gets underway this Sunday, May 22. TSN and TSN2 will have coverage throughout the 2-week event at Roland-Garros beginning on the main network at 1PM ET on Sunday. There is also a French Open preview show scheduled for 11AM ET on Saturday on TSN.
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Canadians Qualifying at Roland-Garros: Update
Both Aleksandra Wozniak and Stephanie Dubois earned a chance to play for a spot in the main draw in the French Open with wins today.
Wozniak was dominant on serve as she took out No.22 seed Kathrin Woerle (GER) in less than an hour, 6-2 6-3. Dubois defeated Oksana Kalashnikova (GEO) in straight sets as well, needing a tiebreak in the second set to close out the match 6-4 7-6(5).
The final round of qualifying for both the Men and Women is on Friday, May 20. Wozniak will face the No.9 seed Jamie Hampton (USA), and Dubois will play the No.4 seed Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP). On the men's side, Dancevic will take on Victor Crivoi (ROU) who is unseeded in the qualifying draw.
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Qualifying for Canadian Women Begins at Roland-Garros
It was another promising day for Canadians looking to qualify at Roland-Garros. The women's qualifying rounds started today, and Frank Dancevic was looking to advance to the third round in the men's qualifying draw.
In what proved to be a very tight match, Frank Dancevic defeated Eduardo Schwank of Argentina, 7-6(3) 7-6(5). His opponent in the next round will be Victor Crivoi (ROU) -- again, the two have yet to meet at the tour level so there is no head-to-head record to speak of. For what it's worth (probably not much, if at all), Dancevic has a slightly higher ranking than the Romanian. Presumably, their third round match will take place tomorrow.
As for the women, both Aleksandra Wozniak and Stephanie Dubois advanced to the second round of qualifying with wins today. Wozniak defeated Jing-Jing Lu (CHN), 6-0 7-5, and Dubois pulled out a win in three sets over Alexandra Panova (RUS), 7-5 4-6 6-2. Heidi El Tabakh was elimanted in the first round by Australian Sally Peers in straight sets.
There are just a few more days of qualifying before the main draws are finalized and announced, which is when we'll see where Milos Raonic and Rebecca Marino end up in their respective draws. Let's hope a few more Canadians can make it through qualifying to join them there.
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Canadian Men Qualifying in Paris
Qualifying for the men's singles got underway at Roland-Garros this morning. Two Canadians, Peter Polansky and Frank Dancevic, were in action today and achieved mixed results.
After taking the first set in a tiebreak against Lukasz Kubot (POL), Polansky would end up losing the match in three sets, 7-6(3) 1-6 0-6. Dancevic closed out his first round match in straight sets against his Slovakian opponent, Lukas Lacko, 6-2 6-2. Dancevic will face Eduardo Schwank (ARG) in the second round of qualifying. The two have never met at the ATP World Tour level, or at a major or in Davis Cup play.
The the qualifying draw for the women's singles won't be released until later today.
Of course, Milos Raonic will be entered directly into the main draw since he is currently No.28 in the ATP Rankings. This means Milos should be seeded in the tournament as well. Being seeded at a Major is obviously a huge deal in its own right but it's also an advantage when it comes to early round opponents, which was a problem recently in Madrid and Rome. The main draw won't be available until Friday, when the qualifying rounds have been completed.
Until then, why not check out Part 2 of the Globe & Mail's 3-part series on The Tennis Project?
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Milos Raonic: The Article
Here's a great article by Rachel Brady from the Globe & Mail. It's another "Brief History of Milos" detailing the early days when Raonic used to get up early in the morning to get some training in before school started. It's a very Canadian story, except in this case it's tennis practice instead of hockey practice.
And I think we have a new nickname for Milos:
In jest, Mr. Raonic calls his son “The Tennis Project” because this journey has been no one-man endeavour.
If that nickname doesn't catch on, I may use it for the name of my progressive rock band. Expect the debut double-album, entitled "The Canadian Missile", to hit shelves sometime in late 2024.
The Raonic / Verdasco Saga: Part 4 – Fernando Strikes Back
Fernando Verdasco defeated Milos Raonic at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, 6-4 6-4.
Milos wasn't serving well to start the match. The first serve % was low and he was having a tough time winning points off his second serve. Raonic faced 4 break points against him in the first game alone before he was able to hold. The opposite was true for Verdasco, who was serving lights out. With Milos serving at 1-1, Verdasco earned two more break chances and converted on the second one to take the early lead. Toward the end of the set, Raonic settled down and was having an easier time holding his serve. But he was still down a break when Verdasco was serving for the set at 5-4. Verdasco didn't give Raonic any chance of getting back on serve and held comfortably to take the set. Milos hit only 3 aces during the set.
The serve was looking much better for Milos to open the second set, but Verdasco was still contesting every point. But Raonic's serve would drop off again in his next game, resulting in Verdasco getting the break and a 2-1 lead. Things weren't looking good for Milos at this point. Raonic had an opportunity to turn things around with Verdasco serving at 3-2, but was unable to convert on break point. Verdasco continued to serve well throughout the set and never allowed Raonic to have an easy service game.
The single break of serve in Verdasco's favour proved to be the difference in the second set, just as it was in the first. It just wasn't Raonic's day. With the win, Verdasco levels his head-to-head record against Raonic at 2-2. The Saga continues...
That's two weeks in a row that Milos has had tough opening round matches in ATP 1000 events. Despite going out in the first round in Madrid and Rome, he's had an impressive clay court season. As far as I'm concerned, he's exceeded expectations. Let's not forget, Roland-Garros is just around the corner.
Now time to focus my attention on the rest of the Nadal / Djokovic final in Madrid...
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