Roland Garros 2010 Men's Semifinals Preview

BY MADPROFESSAH

I previously made predictions of the four women's quarterfinals and four men's quarterfinals and got 4 of 8 results correct at this year's French Open. The 2010 Roland Garros men's semifinals are now set.

Roger Federer SUI (1) Robin Soderling SWE (5) vs. Tomas Berdych CZE (15). Soderling loves Court Phillippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros. Last year he beat defending champion Rafael Nadal in the fourth round before losing to Roger Federer in the final. This year he beat defending champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinal and seems destined to reach his second consecutive Roland Garros final on the biggest clay court in the world. But there's someone who is even taller and serves bigger in the way of Soderling's dream: Tomas Berdych. Berdych has cut through the men's draw like the 6'5", 200 pound Czech scythe that he is, eliminating Andy Murray and John Isner along the way without dropping a set. Berdych recently had a career milestone when he finally beat Roger Federer for the first time in 9 matches(second time overall) in Miami in March. Soderling beat Federer for the first time of his career on Tuesday. The two have played 8 times overall, with Soderling holding a slim 5-3 lead in their career head-to-head match up. They have split the two matches they played this year, and they have split the two matches they have played on clay. In my mind, either Berdych will continue his rout of the field and win easily in straight sets (a low probability event) or he will start off hot and not be able to sustain his high level against someone like the powerful Swede who can match him toe-to-toe. Also, although this is Berdych's very first major semifinal, it is only Soderling's second, but this is also where Soderling outlasted Fernando Gonzalez in a very thrilling semifinal last year. I believe he will make it to the final for the second year in a row.

MadProfessah's pick: Berdych in 3 sets or Soderling in 4 or 5.

Novak Djokovic SRB (3) Jurgen Melzer AUT (22) vs. Rafael Nadal ESP (2). Although Nadal survived his toughest test of the tournament in countryman Nicolas Almagro by having to play three very tight sets (7-6(2) 7-6(3) 6-4), there is almost no doubt that the Spaniard will reach his 5th Roland Garros final in six years by dismissing the surprising Austrian veteran relatively quickly. Many people (myself included) were salivating at the chance of seeing another showdown between Nadal and Novak Djokovic in an important clay court match which could possibly reprise their now-legendary 2009 Madrid semifinal where Nadal won a 3-set match in 4 hours. However, it is significant that the Serb let slip a double set and a break advantage to lose another Roland Garros semifinal, this time to the relatively unheralded Melzer. Could he possibly have blanched at the thought of having to face Nadal for the third time in four years in the semifinal round? Nadal and Melzer have only met twice before, once on clay, with Nadal winning easily both times and this time will be no different.

MadProfessah's pick: Nadal in 3 sets.

Roland Garros 2010 Men's Quarterfinals

BY MadProfessah

Here are my predictions for the men's quarterfinals at Roland Garros in 2010.

Roger Federer SUI (1) vs. Robin Soderling SWE (5). This quarterfinal is a repeat of last year's final, which Federer won relatively easily in straight sets. Although Soderling has not beaten Federer in an official ATP Tour match in 12 tries, he did beat the World #1 at an exhibition earlier this year in Abu Dhabi and having beaten Rafael Nadal in what some people call the greatest upset ever, the tall, powerful Swede knows he has the game to end Federer's jawdropping streak of 23 consecutive major semifinals. In fact, this match is very important to Federer, not only due to the semifinals streak, but also because he needs to win it in order to be certain that he will break Pete Sampras' record of 286 weeks at #1 before Wimbledon. Federer has yet to drop a set in Paris this year, but I am sure that he will take the challenge posed by Soderling seriously, even though the 6'4", 195-pound ballcrusher has only ever won two tie-break sets against him. After all, it is very possible to never lose your serve and still lose the match! Some say that Federer is losing his edge now that he is a husband, father and broken the major singles title record. I disagree, even though the fact is that Federer has already lost 6 matches this year (to Nadal, Tomas Berdych, Ernests Gulbis, Marcos Baghdatis, Albert Montanes, and Nikolay Davydenko). Regardless, I think that there is an inexorable march towards another Nadal-Federer final. PREDICTION: Federer in 4 sets.

Tomas Berdych CZE (15) vs. Mikhail Youzhny RUS (11). Berdych has been playing really well this year, and made a huge mental breakthrough by finally ending his losing streak against Roger Federer earlier this year in Miami. He has been demolishing his way through the draw, not dropping a set despite playing good clay court players like John Isner and Andy Murray. Youzhny got lucky in the previous round since an injured Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was forced to retire after losing the first set. Although head-to-head Youzhny leads Berdych 6-4 in career ATP matches, I believe the in-form Czech will take out the (un)lucky Russian. PREDICTION: Berdych in 4 sets.

Jurgen Melzer AUT (22) Teimuraz Gabashvili RUS vs. Novak Djokovic SRB (3). Gabashvili blew Andy Roddick off the court in the 3rd round in straight sets, blasting forehands into the corners of the court and defly handing the American's deflated serve easily. However, he was unable to repeat this performance on the clay against the wily lefty veteran Melzer, who like Samantha Stosur on the women's side, had previously experienced success and fame on the doubles court and used that to build confidence on the singles court. Melzer was one of the few Top 30 players never to reach the fourth round of a major, and now he finds himself in a quarter playing Djokovic. The World #3 has had mental lapses in the second set in three of the four matches he has played at Roland Garros this year. If that happens again, perhaps Melzer can find a way to win the resulting best-of-3 match. All the pressure will be on the higher ranked player to reach a 3rd semifinal against Nadal, who took out the Serb in that round in 2007 and 2008. Roland Garros 2010 is looking like a replay of those years, with another Nadal-Federer final. PREDICTION:Djokovic in 4 sets.

Nicolas Almagro ESP (19) Fernando Verdasco ESP (7) vs. Rafael Nadal ESP (2). The Verdasco and Nadal played one of the best matches of the year (probably of the decade) in the semifinals of the 2009 Australian Open, a five-hour, thrilling slugfest that both competitors were ennobled simply by their participation, although of course there was only one winner (Nadal). Almagro dashed hopes for a reprise of that thrilling Melbourne showdown by taking out Verdasco in four sets. Although Almagro has never beaten Nadal on any surface in 6 attempts, he did start off the match very strong when they played the Madrid Masters semifinal. It i beyond belief that Almagro could maintain that level of play over 5 sets in Paris when he could not do it for 2 sets in Madrid. PREDICTION: Nadal in 4 sets.

Roland Garros 2010 Day 9 Order Of Play

Reuters

Jurgen Melzer follows up his upset-of-the-tournament victory over David Ferrer and has just become a Grand Slam quarterfinalist for the first time in his career at the ripe old age of 29. Raise your hand if you saw this coming.


AP

The little backhand that couldn't. It was a long time coming, but Justine Henin finally loses her first match at Roland Garros in six years. Samantha Stosur got over herself and sent the diminutive one packing.

Schedule for Day 9: Monday, 31 May 2010

Court Philippe Chatrier 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Robby Ginepri (USA) v. Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3]
2. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Serena Williams (USA)[1] v. Shahar Peer (ISR)[18]
3. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Thomaz Bellucci (BRA)[24] v. Rafael Nadal (ESP)[2]
4. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Jelena Jankovic (SRB)[4] v. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK)[23]

Court Suzanne Lenglen 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) v. Jurgen Melzer (AUT)[22]
Not Before 13:00
2. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Justine Henin (BEL)[22] v. Samantha Stosur (AUS)[7]
3. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[7] v. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)[19]
4. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Jarmila Groth (AUS) v. Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ)

Court 1 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Lukasz Kubot (POL)/Oliver Marach (AUT)[6] v. Stephen Huss (AUS)/Andre Sa (BRA)
2. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Julien Benneteau (FRA)/Michael Llodra (FRA)[15] v. Wesley Moodie (RSA)/Dick Norman (BEL)[4]
3. Women's Doubles - Fourth Round
Liezel Huber (USA)/A. Medina Garrigues (ESP)[3] v. Gisela Dulko (ARG)/Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[5]
4. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Monica Niculescu (ROU)/Shahar Peer (ISR) v. Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/Jie Zheng (CHN)[10]
5. Women's Doubles - Fourth Round
Serena Williams (USA)/Venus Williams (USA)[1] v. Maria Kirilenko (RUS)/Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[11]

Court 2 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor (ESP) v. Leolia Jeanjean (FRA)
Not Before 13:00
2. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Thierry Ascione (FRA)/Laurent Recouderc (FRA) v. Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/Marcin Matkowski (POL)[8]
3. Mixed Doubles - Third Round
Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/Oliver Marach (AUT)[3] v. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Max Mirnyi (BLR)[5]
4. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Alona Bondarenko (UKR)/Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)[4]/Samantha Stosur (AUS)[4]

Court 3 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Taro Daniel (JPN) v. Lucas Pouille (FRA)
2. Girls' Singles - Second Round
Ester Goldfeld (USA) v. Amandine Hesse (FRA)
Not Before 13:00
3. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/Bruno Soares (BRA) v. Cara Black (ZIM)/Leander Paes (IND)[2] To Finish 5-7 2-0
4. Boys' Singles - Second Round
Gianni Mina (FRA)[3] v. Alessandro Colella (ITA)
5. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Vania King (USA)/Christopher Kas (GER) v. Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)

Roland Garros 2010 Day 8 Open Thread

AP

Austria's Jurgen Melzer reacts after defeating Spain's David Ferrer during their third round match for the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Saturday May 29, 2010. Straight. Sets. With a middle-set bagel. Upset of the event so far.

::

Just returned from my Harvard 20th anniversary reunion. Tennis comes on ESPN at noon in my market today, so I'm sure they're air matches that have already been decided and since I haven't watched a lick of tennis today, I'm posting this thread as though play has only just begun.

Humor me.

Right not, I'm barely watching this pushy pushy dogfight between Caroline Wozniacki and Flavia Pennetta on Tennis Channel. Ugly day in Paris.

I won't be commenting because I don't want to read any spoilers.

Schedule for Day 8: Sunday, 30 May 2010

Court Philippe Chatrier 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Elena Dementieva (RUS)[5] v. Chanelle Scheepers (RSA)
Not Before 12:00
2. Women's Singles - Third Round
Maria Sharapova (RUS)[12] v. Justine Henin (BEL)[22] To Finish 2-6 6-3
3. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Nadia Petrova (RUS)[19] v. Venus Williams (USA)[2]
4. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] v. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)[20]
5. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)[11] v. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)[8]

Court Suzanne Lenglen 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Maria Kirilenko (RUS)[30] v. Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[17]
2. Women's Singles - Fourth Round
Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[14] v. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN)[3]
3. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Marin Cilic (CRO)[10] v. Robin Soderling (SWE)[5]
4. Men's Singles - Fourth Round
Andy Murray (GBR)[4] v. Tomas Berdych (CZE)[15]

Court 1 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Olga Govortsova (BLR)/Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)[15] v. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP)/Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP)[2]
2. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Julien Benneteau (FRA)/Michael Llodra (FRA)[15] v. Rohan Bopanna (IND)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)
3. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Julian Knowle (AUT)/Andy Ram (ISR)[10] v. Nicolas Almagro (ESP)/Santiago Ventura (ESP)
4. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Serena Williams (USA)/Venus Williams (USA)[1] v. Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/Lucie Hradecka (CZE)[16]

Court 2 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Lukasz Kubot (POL)/Oliver Marach (AUT)[6] v. Leonardo Mayer (ARG)/Horacio Zeballos (ARG)
Not Before 13:00
2. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Guillaume Rufin (FRA)/Alexandre Sidorenko (FRA) v. Daniel Nestor (CAN)/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB)[2]
3. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Lukas Dlouhy (CZE)Leander Paes (IND)[3] v. Santiago Gonzalez (MEX)/Travis Rettenmaier (USA)
4. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Vania King (USA)/Michaella Krajicek (NED) v. Nadia Petrova (RUS)/Samantha Stosur (AUS)[4]
5. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)/Bruno Soares (BRA) v. Cara Black (ZIM)/Leander Paes (IND)[2]

Court 3 11:00 Start Time
1. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Liezel Huber (USA)/A. Medina Garrigues (ESP)[3] v. Iveta Benesova (CZE)/Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)[13]
2. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Alexandr Dolgopolov Jr (UKR)/Denis Istomin (UZB) v. Mariusz Fyrstenberg (POL)/Marcin Matkowski (POL)[8]
3. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Maria Kirilenko (RUS)/Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[11] v. Lisa Raymond (USA)/Rennae Stubbs (AUS)[7]
4. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Yung-Jan Chan (TPE)/Eric Butorac (USA) v. Aurelie Vedy (FRA)/Michael Llodra (FRA)

Court 4 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Danka Kovinic (MNE) v. Kristyna Pliskova (CZE)[8]
2. Boys' Singles - First Round
Jozef Kovalik (SVK) v. Agustin Velotti (ARG)
3. Boys' Singles - First Round
Lucas Szewczyk (FRA) v. Dane Webb (USA)
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Micke Kontinen (FIN) v. John Morrissey (IRL)
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) v. Katarena Paliivets (CAN)

Court 5 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Morgane Pons (FRA) v. Karolina Pliskova (CZE)[2]
2. Boys' Singles - First Round
Sam Barry (IRL) v. Mitchell Frank (USA)[13]
3. Boys' Singles - First Round
Sebastian Lavie (NZL) v. Tiago Fernandes (BRA)[5]
4. Girls' Singles - First Round
Elina Svitolina (UKR) v. Jana Cepelova (SVK)
5. Boys' Singles - First Round
Filip Horansky (SVK) v. Darian King (BAR)

Court 6 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Gianni Mina (FRA)[3] v. Ricardo Rodriguez (VEN)
2. Girls' Singles - First Round
Monica Puig (PUR)[1] v. Clothilde De Bernardi (FRA)
3. Boys' Singles - First Round
Daniel Berta (SWE)[1] v. Junior A. Ore (USA)
4. Girls' Singles - First Round
Charlene Seateun (FRA) v. Jovana Jaksic (SRB)

Court 7 11:00 Start Time
1. Men's Doubles - Second Round
Colin Fleming (GBR)/Ken Skupski (GBR) v. Wesley Moodie (RSA)/Dick Norman (BEL)[4]
2. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Marcelo Melo (BRA)/Bruno Soares (BRA) v. Daniele Bracciali (ITA)/Potito Starace (ITA)
3. Men's Doubles - Third Round
Marc Lopez (ESP)/Pere Riba (ESP) v. Frantisek Cermak (CZE)/Michal Mertinak (SVK)[9]
4. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)/Zi Yan (CHN)[9] v. Gisela Dulko (ARG)/Flavia Pennetta (ITA)[5]
5. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Julie Coin (FRA)/Nicolas Mahut (FRA) v. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Max Mirnyi (BLR)[5]

Court 8 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Grace Sari Ysidora (INA) v. Ulrikke Eikeri (NOR)
2. Boys' Singles - First Round
Alessandro Colella (ITA) v. Hugo Dellien (BOL)
3. Girls' Singles - First Round
Nour Abbes (TUN) v. Daria Gavrilova (RUS)[7]
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Mikhail Biryukov (RUS)[14] v. Juan Sebastian Gomez (COL)
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Timea Babos (HUN)[5] v. Ilona Kremen (BLR)

Court 9 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Dominic Thiem (AUT)[8] v. Ashley Hewitt (GBR)
2. Girls' Singles - First Round
Adriana Perez (VEN) v. Garbine Muguruza Blanco (ESP)
3. Girls' Singles - First Round
Paula Kania (POL) v. Silvia Njiric (CRO)
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Andrea Collarini (USA) v. Jiri Vesely (CZE)[4]
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Emi Mutaguchi (JPN) v. Doroteja Eric (SRB)

Court 10 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Ons Jabeur (TUN) v. Sophia Kovalets (UKR)
2. Boys' Singles - First Round
Carlos Boluda-Purkiss (ESP) v. Jannick Lupescu (NED)
3. Girls' Singles - First Round
Tamara Curovic (SRB)[12] v. Ester Goldfeld (USA)
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Andrew Whittington (AUS) v. Tobias Blomgren (SWE)
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Zarah Razafimahatratra (MAD) v. Lauren Davis (USA)[10]

Court 11 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Guilherme Clezar (BRA) v. Raymond Sarmiento (USA)
2. Girls' Singles - First Round
Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) v. Grace Min (USA)
3. Boys' Singles - First Round
Facundo Arguello (ARG) v. Kevin Krawietz (GER)[7]
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Denis Kudla (USA)[6] v. Justin Eleveld (NED)
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Gabriela Dabrowski (CAN)[6] v. Chantal Skamlova (SVK)

Court 14 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Romain Arneodo (FRA) v. Renzo Olivo (ARG)[11]
2. Girls' Singles - First Round
Risa Ozaki (JPN) v. Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR)[13]
3. Boys' Singles - First Round
Mick Lescure (FRA) v. Oliver Golding (GBR)
4. Girls' Singles - First Round
Akiko Omae (JPN) v. Nanuli Pipiya (RUS)[16]
5. Boys' Singles - First Round
Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN)[16] v. Karue Sell (BRA)

Court 16 11:00 Start Time
1. Boys' Singles - First Round
Tristan Lamasine (FRA) v. Peter Heller (GER)
2. Girls' Singles - First Round
Jade Suvrijn (FRA) v. Richel Hogenkamp (NED)
3. Girls' Singles - First Round
Amandine Hesse (FRA) v. Luksika Kumkhum (THA)
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Thomas Szewczyk (FRA) v. Federico Gaio (ITA)
5. Girls' Singles - First Round
Natalija Kostic (SRB) v. Estelle Cascino (FRA)

Court 17 11:00 Start Time
1. Girls' Singles - First Round
Caroline Garcia (FRA)[15] v. Mai Grage (DEN)
Not Before 13:00
2. Women's Doubles - Third Round
Cara Black (ZIM)/Elena Vesnina (RUS)[6] v. Kveta Peschke (CZE)/Katarina Srebotnik (SLO)[12]
3. Women's Doubles - Second Round
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)/Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[8] v. Monica Niculescu (ROU)/Shahar Peer (ISR)
4. Boys' Singles - First Round
Mate Pavic (CRO) v. Mathias Bourgue (FRA)

17:00 Start Time
1. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Andrea Hlavackova (CZE)/Michal Mertinak (SVK) v. Tathiana Garbin (ITA)/Marcin Matkowski (POL)
2. Mixed Doubles - Second Round
Vania King (USA)/Christopher Kas (GER) v. Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB)/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK)