Djokovic/Del Potro French Open Round 3 Review

Juan Martin Del Potro (left); Novak Djokovic (right)

The match that everyone has been waiting/hoping for since the French Open draw came out has come and gone.  I don't really know what the schedule makers were thinking when they decided to make this the last match of the day.  I'm sure they didn't expect the matches before it to go the distance, but this was a time when the women's match should have been scheduled last, this match was too big of a blockbuster to even have the possibility of being played over a two day period...but I digress.

Juan Martin Del Potro

Day one, Friday, May 27th.  The match started off as expected, with both guys knocking the fuzz off of the ball, Nole feeding off the pace that DelPo was feeding to him.  Serving at 2-2, Nole saves two break chances on his serve, then went on to break Juan Martin in his next service game to go up 4-2.  This proved to be the only break needed for Nole to take the set 6-3.  DelPo didn't play a bad set, but he gave Djokovic too much of what he likes - a lot of pace coming at him.  In the second set, Juan Martin realizing what mistakes he had made in the first, started taking some pace off the ball & putting more air under his shots, forcing Djokovic to create his own pace, thus making more errors. It was the fourth game of the second set in which Juan Martin broke serve, with the help of a Djokovic double fault, to go up 3-1.  Same as the first, one break was all that was needed for DelPo to take the set 6-3.  At this point, one hour 37 minutes after the match began, it's dark, and for whatever reason, the folks at Roland Garros have decided never to install lights on the courts.  Each player is sitting in the chairs, DelPo looks over to Nole, nods his head & says, "we stop, okay?".  Nole packs up his rackets, as does Juan Martin, and the tournament umpire comes out to confirm the obvious, play suspended until Saturday.

Novak Djokovic

Day two, Saturday, May 28th.  The match begins with Juan Martin firing missiles from the 'Tower of Tandil', but Nole's movement and defense skills fought each one of them off.  Forgetting what he had done to take the second set, and missing out on break chance opportunity with Nole serving at 2-2, Juan Martin in frustration, slammed his racket into his racket bag during the changeover.  With DelPo serving, Nole did what he does best, breaks serve to go up 4-2 in the second.  Both guys started taking the spin off the ball, hitting hard & flat, both holding serve, but the one break proved too much for Juan Martin to overcome.  Nole takes set number three 6-3.  First point of the forth set, DelPo comes out with the heavy artillery and hit a passing shot that froze the Djoker in his tracks.  For a moment it looked like it would be a replay of Friday's second set, but it wasn't meant to be.  Serving at 1-1, DelPo saved one break point against him, but then gave Nole the gift of a double fault - DelPo goes down 1-2 in the set.  He was able to break back, but so was Nole, two more times, to take the set and the match 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.  "Today he’s done much better than me and he took his opportunities and made the match very difficult," Del Potro said. "I had my chance in third set, 2-all, two break points, and I miss it. Against this player, if you don’t take your chance, you lose." 

Friends once again, Nole (front), DelPo (back)

Djokovic improves his season record to 40-0.  Next up for the Serb, will be France's own, Richard Gasquet on Sunday.  If he wasn't before, Nole is looking more & more like the clear favorite to win this year in Paris, especially with Rafa playing scratchy - scratchy for Rafa's standards anyway.

French Open 'Preview'

The main draw at the French Open begins this Sunday, and a wonderful occasion it will be.   Three guys are the talk of the tournament - the usual suspect, Rafael Nadal, will be there to defend his title from last year, and also try to tie the Björn Borg record of six French Open titles, Roger Federer will be there trying to salvage his year, and course, tennis' boy wonder, Novak Djokovic will be there.  Some other players that may possibly have a chance at the title, or at least going deep into the tournament are, Andy Murray, Robin Soderling, and Juan Martin Del Potro.

Novak Djokovic

The most talked about guy is without a doubt, Serbian, Novak Djokovic.  Nole is on a 39-0 run this season, with seven titles - one slam, and four masters series titles.  Currently sitting at number two in the world, if Nole makes the final, even if Nadal wins, he will take over the number one ranking position.  He has become the second player who has beaten Nadal four consecutive times, the only player who has beaten Nadal in four consecutive finals.  In their last two matches, Nole has beaten Nadal in straights sets ON CLAY.  Up until this year, when a Nadal has gotten ahead in a point, that point was his for the taking, but Djokovic has changed that dynamic.  His best performance at the French Open to date were two semifinal births in '07 & '08, losing to Nadal each time.  In '10 he made it to the quarters before being ousted by Jurgen Melzer. 

Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal is currently the number one player in the world, but only by 405 points, and this French Open could very well be the end of his reign.  Up until about three weeks ago, Rafa was on a 37 match win streak on clay (186-6 record overall since 2005), but then he came up against Nole in the finals of Madrid and that streak was ended.  People said that it was only because Madrid's clay was faster, and the altitude had a say in the way things happened, but then the following week in Rome, on a court that plays similar to those at Roland Garros, Djokovic captured another straight sets win.  His notorious forehand shot with the high kicking ball placed at his opponents backhand side used to prove an effective weapon, but Nole has been able to neutralize it - the short of it is that the Djokovic backhand has become a much better weapon than the Nadal forehand.  The days when the  longer rallies, especially on clay, that used to go Rafa's way are gone, at least against Djokovic.

Roger Federer

Roger Federer was known as the second best player on clay, behind Nadal. He was a French Open finalist in '06, '07, 08, losing each time to Nadal, and he won the 2009 French Open (with the absence of Nadal in the final).  This year he has been beaten by only four men - Richard Gasquet in the round of 16 in Rome, Jurgen Melzer in the quarters in Monte Carlo, three times by Djokovic - Aussie Open & Indian Wells semis, the finals in Doha, and twice by Nadal - Madrid & Miami semis.  Early years in his days of domination The Fed was always under control, always stoic, and rarely showed any negative emotion on the court. Now he's often visibly frustrated, 'Roddicking' - arguing with umpires, he's a step slower, his forehand doesn't have the sting it once had, and his backhand has become a definite liability.  Having lost the number two ranking to Djokovic earlier this year, The Fed will want to have to make a good showing if he wants to make his way back up to the top - or at least put himself in a position where he doesn't have to meet Nadal or Djokovic is the semifinals of tournaments.

Andy Murray

Andy Murray, oh Andy Murray - I really don't know what to say.  After the beat down he took in the Aussie final from Djokovic, his lil engine just couldn't/wouldn't go any further.  Traditionally, clay isn't his best surface, but maybe there is a glimmer of hope in the fact that he took Nadal to three sets in the semifinal in Monte Carlo, and also Djokovic  in Rome - this match in Rome is being hailed by some as the best match of the year & I agree. His best performance at the French Open came in '09 when he made the quarterfinals, '10 he went out in the fourth round.  We can only wait to see which Andy shows up.  Let's hope for the best...I really like this guy, and would like to see him win a major one day - Great Britain would love him for it.  I would love him for it.

Robin Soderling

Robin Soderling in the past two French Opens has been the 'giant killer'.  In 2009, he took out (an injured) Rafael Nadal in the round of 16, in 2010, he took out '09 champ Roger Federer in the quarterfinals.  So far this year, his performance has been decent, and he has reached the quarterfinals in his last three clay tournaments.  He can be very unpredictable on the clay, or in general for that matter.  Like Mr. Murray, it's a wait & see kind of thing with him as well.

Juan Martin Del Potro

Juan Martin Del Potro has gotten progressively better since his return to the tour earlier this year.  At the end of 2009, before his wrist injury, he was expected to be the guy to break up the Federer/Nadal duopoly. In route to his '09 US Open title, he took out Nadal in straight sets in the semis, and Federer in a five set thriller in the final - hitting them both off the court in the process.  He has two titles this year, one on clay at Estoril earlier this month.  He booked himself a third round clash against Nadal in Madrid, but had to withdraw before the match with a hip injury.  Up until earlier this week, he wasn't sure he'd be healthy enough to play at Roland Garros.  He could possibly face Djokovic in the third round, which will be interesting, but with Nole playing the way he is, DelPo will have to be very well rested to get by him...unless, of course Nole has a let down in playing form.  I wish him luck, but don't see him getting past the Djoker.


There are of course other guys who can possibly threaten, but these six guys I see that have the game and the mental fortitude to get the job done.  Regardless of anything else that may go on in the course of the tournament, the Nadal/Djokovic/Federer storyline is making this one of the most anticipated French Opens in a long time.

This French Open is going to be tasty! 

Ce français Ouvert va être délicieux!

Update - ATP Tennis - Six players to look out for in 2011

Earlier this year I wrote about six players to look out for in 2011, in this post, I'll briefly update their progress/failures up to this point in the season.  The players are Juan Martin Del Potro, Milos Raonic, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Tomas Berdych, Andy Murray, and Novak Djokovic.

Juan Martin Del Potro

Juan Martin Del Potro started the year ranked number 485 after coming off an inactive 2010 season because of a wrist injury, and consequent surgery.  Now he is back up in the top 50, currently ranked number 32.  He has won two titles since his comeback, Del Ray Beach in February, and most recently, Estoril just this past Sunday - which was also his '11 clay court debut. So far at the start of the clay season he is looking like he's regained his 2009 form.  The last time he played on the red dirt at Roland Garros was in 2009, and he lost in the semifinals to eventual champion, Roger Federer.  With a game of big hitting, big hitting, and more big hitting, he is without a doubt a dark horse contender for the crown at Roland Garros.  He's only meeting with Rafa on the clay was at the '07 French Open round of 128 - Rafa won, but was two years before DelPo 'blossomed' - the DelPo of present is much more physically fit & much better suited to handle that insane Rafa topspin.  As of 5/5/11, DelPo pulled of the Madrid Open just before his third round match against Rafa with a hip injury he suffered in the finals at Estoril.  "Hopefully I can recover quickly and it's nothing serious," said Del Potro, "I won't be in Rome and I don't know if I'll be able to play in Nice or Roland Garros."

Milos Raonic

Milos Raonic, the Canadian born & raised Croat, started to make noise in the men's field with his performance at the 2011 Aussie Open.  At the beginning of the year he was ranked number 153, and he has swiftly moved up to number 25. Raonic won his first ATP singles titles earlier this year in San Jose, defeating Fernando Verdasco in the process.  So far, he's had a respectable clay court season - he made it to the round of 16 at Monte Carlo & Barcelona, and made it to the semifinals at Estoril.  At Estoril he retired with back injuries, and obviously wasn't back to form when he got beat in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open.

Alexandr Dolgopolov

Alexandr Dolgopolov started the year ranked number 48 and has moved up to just outside the top 20, currently sitting at the number 21 spot.  He began to impress the tennis world with his performance at the '11 Aussie Open, defeating Robin Soderling in the fourth round before losing in the quarters to finalist Andy Murray.  He made his first career final earlier this year at the Brasil Open, on clay, losing to Nicolas Almagro.  In his most recent clay court outings he lost in the first round at Barcelona, and most recently, Monte Carlo.  He's next scheduled tournament will be the Roma TMS in Italy.

Tomas Berdych

Tomas Berdych has been rather steady this year, starting 2011 ranked number 6, and falling just one spot to his current number 7 position.  He hasn't been impressive so far this year, but on the flip side of the coin, he has remained consistent - his best result this year was reaching the semifinals of Dubai, losing to Novak Djokovic.  Last year he made it to the semifinals of the French Open, but with Djokovic playing with his current level of  confidence, Del Potro coming back into his 2009 form, along with the other guys in the field starting to come into their own, his prospects at this year's Roland Garros may not prove to be as successful as his 2010 journey in the tournament.  May 5th, Berdych made it to the fourth round of the Madrid Open by defeating Juan Monaco.

Andy Murray

Since he miserable performance at the Aussie Open final against Djokovic, Andy Murray has had a miserable 2011 season.  In the three tournaments he played after the Aussie Open, he lost in his opening round to players ranked as low as 143 in the world.  He did bounce back in his most recent tournament at Monte Carlo, making it to the semifinals, losing to Rafael Nadal in three sets - an improvement over his results from last year, where he lost in the round of 32.  Traditionally, clay is not his best surface - at last year's French Open, he lost in the round of 16 - he's best French Open performance was a quarterfinal run in 2009, but maybe with his second consecutive disappointing Aussie Open final, and even more disappointing results in subsequent events, he will be even more determined to better his clay court results.  He started off the year ranked number 5, and even with his lackluster play, has actually moved up one spot to number 4.  Thursday, May 5th, Murray was beaten in the third round of the Madrid Open by Thomaz Bellucci.

Novak Djokovic

Last, but certainly not least is the man of the year, Novak Djokovic.  So far this year he is undefeated, and has recently taken over the number two spot in the rankings, pushing Roger Federer down to number three.  He beat Andy Murray in straight sets in the Aussie Open final, Federer twice this year - once in Dubai final, and again in semifinal of Indian Wells, and he has beaten Nadal in two finals - Indian Wells and Miami.   He won the Dubai championship for the third consecutive year.  In years past he was a decent clay court player, but winning (especially against the guys he has been winning against) brings confidence, lots of confidence.  He is a definite contender at this year's French Open.  May 5th, Nole made it into the fourth round of the Madrid Open by beating Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in 52 minutes.  He is currently on a 29 straight match winning streak.