Serena Survives While Djokovic Enjoys Easy Street at French Open
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So is there anything write about after the first round of the French Open? Remarkably, the men’s draw has been rather tepid, whereas the women’s first round had some surprising intrigue and excitement. ADHEREL
Serena Williams was pushed to the very brink in three sets earlier today winning on her ninth match point against Klara Koukalova-Zakopolova. Serena’s sister, Venus, also went the distance as did Maria Sharapova. Even defending champ Ana Ivanovic felt the pinch when her opponent served for the first set and Caroline Wozniacki struggled while Amelie Mauresmo got bounced.
I know I don’t comment much on the women, but I’ll even admit they were the better attraction through the first few days of French. Hell, that Johansson-Diatchenko debacle was time capsule kind of stuff with Mathilde gagging EIGHT match points and many of them on double faults. Wow!
Although the women had – or arguably had – the drama the first round, the men’s field was not entirely devoid of suspense. On a quick glance, I count no fewer than 13 five-set matches already for the men, but unfortunately nearly all of them involved the lower ranked players.
And thanks to some very sweet tasting draws, I don’t see much in the way of competition in round two for the likes of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick (yes, I included Roddick). That said, it’s hard to say who has looked the best thus far, maybe Dinara Safina? Even Nadal didn’t look great. And while Rafa’s rivals like Djokovic, who played just a set and a half today, had it easy, their competition was quite lackluster. But hopefully that should begin to change starting Friday when the seeds begin to collide, and I can’t wait.
Before then, there are some notable second round matches like Kiefer v. Ferrer, Almagro v. Gulbis, Del Potro v. Troicki, Chardy v. Bolelli, Acasuso v. Federer and probably the best of the pick, Tsonga v. Monaco. Plus Marat Safin is hanging around as is Juan Carlos Ferrero, and watch out for Fernando Gonzalez!
I also have to like the fact that my man Gael Monfils destroyed Bobby Reynolds today, though I’m not convinced that he’s anywhere close to being “out of the woods” when it comes to his knee. But I’ll take it. Allez!
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