Playing Fair

As often happens at big events such as Roland Garros, the story is often simmering below the money quotes.  What we all heard yesterday was seven time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal complaining that his opponent scored an unfair advantage when officials scheduled his second round match on Thursday latest than that of his future opponent, Fabio Fognini.  Nadal's profile ensures that the press will run with the quotes ruefully filed out to the press.  .... "You think this is fair.  I tell you this is not fair," opined the Spaniard.  In fact, the fairest thing might be that it was happening to a top player for a change.  Sport is the world's purest meritocracy, except when it just quite isn't. 

Roland Garros 2013 - Day 2, Three Thoughts

Gael Force - The consensus "best match on paper" of the first round, turned out to be the barnburner we all hoped for; 5th seeded Tomas Berdych vs. the wild card (in more ways than one) 81st ranked Gael Monfils, the former top 10 Frenchman on the comeback trail from injury.  On Court Phillipe Chatrier, Monfils known as Sliderman had the big stage he relishes, the big opponent he loves to face and seemingly for the first time in too long, the health to play at the highest level of the sport.

Roland Garros 2013 - Day 1, Three Thoughts

Roger Rolls - World No. 3 Roger Federer coasted past a potential challenge from Pablo Carreno-Busta, launching his Roland Garros campaign with a rather routine 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 win.  Coming into today's meeting with the all-time major champion, the Spaniard was the reigning King of the Futures, having amassed a 39-1 record on the lower-level circuit this year including a 25-0 run on clay.  His success at lower levels encouraged some prognosticators to assume he would give the Swiss an early test.  Federer, on the other hand, indeed proved that the future is not now, not yet at least.  The Swiss master won 83% of his first serve points and going 7-for-7 on break points.  Long story short, Federer blitzed the Barcelona native in a miserly 80 minutes as if he had lunch reservations at L'Entrecote.  Federer will face another less-heralded qualifier in his second round match, 28 year old Somdev Devvarman of India.  Federer won their first meeting back in 2011 and he'll be heavily favored to double up.

Roland Garros 2013 Bracket Breakdown - The Women

After a few years in the wilderness, women's tennis has re-emerged with a cache of compelling storylines and its own big three: Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka, the queen bees dominating the current era of the game.  The question going into this major is pretty much the same as it has been for the last two years.  Will Serena Williams win the title...or beat herself so someone else can do it?

For the 2013 French Open men's bracket breakdown, click here

Roland Garros 2013 Bracket Breakdown - The Men

Apropos, no?

It's the most wonderful time of the year to be a tennis fan.  The annual European swing between Monte Carlo and Wimbledon heralds the start of the northern summer which means as many hours on court as a man can stand, not to mention on TV, two of the tennis calendar's crown jewels - Roland Garros and Wimbledon; to say nothing of the most venerable events on tour jammed into this period: Monte Carlo, Rome, Stuttgart, Queen's Club, and on and on.

With Roland Garros, aka, the French Open upon us, we take a look at the draws to find out who will leave Paris with shiny new hardware and who will leave as annoyed as a Parisian waiter who was just asked for ketchup.  First up, les hommes (the men).

For the 2013 French Open women's bracket breakdown, click here

7, 4, 11 - Roland Garros Mens & Ladies Recap

Probably the most riveting aspect of sports is the ability of the narratives that surround them shift and flex, reverse and bend back upon themselves with an unpredictability that neither admittedly scripted, nor “reality” programming can touch.   Rafael Nadal came into Roland Garros with a head of steam.  His title runs in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome looked downright pedestrian given the beatdowns he would inflict once he reached claycourt tennis' biggest stage.  The King of Clay flat-out embarrassed some of the world's best clay court players.  To wit, the following Nadal scorelines: versus World No. 13, Juan Monaco 6-2, 6-0, 6-0; versus World No. 6, David Ferrer 6-2, 6-2, 6-1, what else ya got, his snarl seemed to chuckle as he romped through the field.  

Then suddenly, the man whose serve had been broken once all tournament was broken…and broken…and broken over and over again, seven times in all.  At one point, Nadal went from leading by 2 sets and a break to dropping eight straight games (or a set and a break) to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic.  Fitful, frustrated and feeling his grip on the match slipping away, Nadal’s old friend, the rain, intensified.  Fitful and frustrated with the turn of events, he and Djokovic left the court, for the night as it turned out.   Once they returned it took Nadal just over 50 minutes to win French Open No. 7, halt Djokovic’s bid for four majors in a row and increase his own majors tally to 11.

Maria Sharapova came to Paris with the wind at her back as well.  She had warmed up with titles in Stuttgart and Rome, things looked great for her to finally conquer Paris...except she was drawn to face a fit and focused Serena Williams if she reached the final eight.  Before the tournament even reached its stride, that specter was erased in a topsy, turvy match that left Williams a shocking 4-for-4 in poor showings (for her) at majors.  Serena's shock loss to Virginie Razzano eased Sharapova's path, while on the other side of the draw, a player who had never before advanced past the third round of a major was doing the hard yards herself.  Italy's Sara Errani knocked off two recent Roland Garros champions just to face another recent finalist for good measure in the semis.  Sara Errani wasn’t through though, she won her way all the way to the final before finally being outcompeted by a determined Sharapova.  

Nadal and Sharapova, as we predicted, are your Roland Garros champions...so what does it all mean?  Keep reading.

Semi Charmed Lives: Roland Garros Men's Semifinal Previews & Predictions

Four men left at Roland Garros and surprisingly enough, it's exactly the four we expected to see at the outset.  With all due respect to Andy Murray, the Big Three are here as well as the best player on clay outside of the top troika, No. 6 ranked David Ferrer.  There are no easy matches at this stage and no man int he draw who would not prove a worth champion of this tournament.  Roger Federer is seeking his record-extending 17th major title, but just his second at Roland Garros.  Rafael Nadal is seeking his 11th major title and his record-breaking 7th win in 8 attempts at the French Open.  Novak Djokovic is out to win his sixth major and more importantly his fourth in a row, a non-calendar year Grand Slam.  Winning in Paris would give Djokovic a sixth major and make him more importantly, the first man since Rod Laver to hold all four majors at once.  If 30 year old David Ferrer wins this tournament, he might just up and quit right there, and who could blame him.  Ferrer could become only the second man to win a major outside of the Big Three since the 2005 Australian Open.  To do it, he'll have to go through Nadal and either Federer or Djokovic.  Trust me, there's no way his career could go up from there, it's just not possible.  Who will play on the big Philippe Chatrier court on Sunday?  Here's our take:

Semi Charmed Lives: Roland Garros Women's Semifinal Previews & Predictions

Out of the 128 women who entered Roland Garros this year, only four are left with a chance at taking home the Suzanne Lenglen trophy.  If Sara Errani wins the whole shooting match, it will be her first major...and she still might miss the Top 10 on Monday.  For Petra Kvitova and Samantha Stosur, a win in Paris would further legitimize their recent results.  An all-important second major title would take both women beyond any thought of being one fortnight wonders and launch them into the conversation for future Hall-of-Fame candidacy.  Sharapova, already a veritable lock for Newport with three major titles to her name is playing for the Career Grand Slam, the No. 1 ranking and vindication that the four years of hard work coming back from her shoulder surgery indeed was worth all of the pain (physical and otherwise).  As Roland Garros draws to a close, we will break down Roland Garros match-by-match.  Up next, the ladies' semifinals.   Our thoughts on both matches after the jump:

Holy Sunday!

Alert: The Perrier supply at Roland Garros needs to be tested.  There was obviously something in the water today at Roland Garros and whatever it was, it was toxic to the top seeds.  For a heady couple of hours, the tennis galaxy of the Twittersphere was abuzz that perhaps the biggest day of upsets in the history of Grand Slam tennis could be upon us.  The seed-pocalypse that began with the fall of World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka threatened to fell Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer simultaneously on Phillipe Chatrier and Suzanne Lenglen, respectively.  Had those seismic events happened, they would have left a hole big enough in the top half of the draw for Juan Martin del Potro to walk through...or Tomas Berdych, same difference.  All three superstars (Azarenka, Djokovic and Federer) walked onto the court today heavy favorites.  All three walked off the court having faced far stiffer challenges than any of them (or us) could have imagined.  In the end, despite a trio of underdogs bringing the drama, it was only the highest seeded of them, 15th seeded Dominika Cibulkova, who finished the job.  She helped Azarenka book a ticket back to Minsk, with a surprising victory.  Here are my three thoughts from a wild and wooly day at Roland Garros.

It Happens To The Best Of Us

She came into Roland Garros fitter than we've seen her in years; with a 17-0 record on clay in 2012 and as the consensus favorite to claim her second title on the Parisian clay, her 14th career singles major.  Serena Williams left Roland Garros without that trophy, in fact, she left without a singles victory at all.  Three days (and for Williams, one round) into the tournament and one of the WTA's brightest was exiting the City of Lights. Serena Williams was a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 loser in the first round to French journeywoman, Virginie Razzano.  With Serena's tournament over, there's only one real question, left: How?

Roland Garros Day 1 (3 Thoughts)

The Anti-Rafa: We're accustomed to Andy Roddick struggling on the red clay of Roland Garros, it's almost annual rite of spring.  He came into the claycourt major with a 9-9 career record that one could describe as shocking given the fact that seven times he has played the event as a top eight seed.  Roddick in Paris is as the anti-Rafael Nadal.  Where Nadal's game on the clay becomes transcendant, Roddick's becomes maddeningly earthbound.  Where Nadal's servicable serve helps him set up the points to his advantage, Roddick's muscular delivery is neutered by the slow clay.  Nadal's movement and court positioning feels embedded in his DNA on this surface, while Roddick looks and presumably feels as if the Parisian clay is Martian versus anything he's encountered here on Earth.  Most tellingly, Nadal at Roland Garros looks all but invincible.  Sliding and stomping across every centimeter of the vast backcourt at Philippe Chatrier, there's a glint in Nadal's eye when he plays this tournament that all but verbally growls "This is my house."  Roddick, on the other hand, just looked like he wanted to go home.  It didn't take long before the American got his opportunity.

2012 French Open Bracket Breakdown: The Men

You might be asking why we're bothering to do a Roland Garros men's draw breakdown.  We all know there's a favorite, Rafael Nadal, what else is there to say?  Well Nadal has certainly earned that mantle with his six titles in the last seven years, but it's far from a foregone conclusion that the Man from Mallorca will hoist the Coupe des Mousquetaires in two weeks time.  That's why we watch sports.  Let's be honest, who would have predicted the Brian Baker story (first ATP event since 2005 and reached the finals, for the uninitiated) even a week ago?  Hell, who even remembered the guy's name before he won the USTA's reciprocal wildcard.  No one.   Among "others," there's of course, Novak Djokovic, the winner of the last three major finals (all against Nadal) going for four majors in a row, the "Nole Slam," a feat accomplished by neither Nadal nor Roger Federer.  Federer is still not retired, in case you were wondering.  You know he's 30 right?  You also know he's still clearly no worse than the 3rd best player in the world and certainly knows how to win a major.

But picking the champ is not the only reason for the Bracket Breakdown.  We also point out the most interesting first rounders (Grounds Pass Specials), dark horses and (projected) matchups you should be watching throughout the tournament, that at least stateside is better known as the French Open.

Want to know how this year's tournament will play out?  Read on.

Don't You Forget About Me

London may be the home of the world’s best known monarchy, but in the tennis world, Paris has seen its share of coronations.  Every May for the past five years, tennis fans, the international press and frankly the players, have trudged through the narrow paved pathways of Roland Garros, past the smaller dusty, red plots of Earth known as the outer courts expecting to see the familiar coronation.  The King of Clay, Rafa Nadal, wielding his Babolat sceptre in his left hand, was the man, until suddenly, he wasn’t.



Hey, winning the Australian Open and sweeping four of the year’s first five Masters events is a helluva way to siege the throne, no?  Walking into Paris holding seven titles this year, Novak Djokovic had suddenly relegated the King of Clay to second favorite, or bare minimum,1A.  Frankly, who couldn’t have forgiven the tennis world, even those who ought know better, for looking a bit past Nadal in their prognostications.