Tennis Atlantic

2012 French Open Week 2 Men’s Preview
by Steen Kirby, TennisEastCoast.com

Week 1 of the French open has finished up and what a week it has been, filled with upsets, injuries, 5-set thrillers and even a 38 shot rally that left one player vomiting and the other lying on the ground crying and cramping.

With 16 players left vying for the title, here is a breakdown of the 8 Round of 16 match ups and predictions for the remaining part of the tournament.

Novak Djokovic vs. Andreas Seppi

Top seed Djokovic has blitzed through his first 3 matches as expected, taking out Potito Starace, Blaz Kavic and qualifier Nicolas Devilderall in straight sets. He showed no signs of weakness, but now he will face the red-hot Seppi, who has beaten Nikolay Davydenko, Mikhail Kukushkin in 5 sets and Fernando Verdasco in 5 to make it this far. While Seppi is playing well, he is more fatigued than Djokovic and would be a heavy underdog anyway.

Stanislas Wawrinka vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Wawrinka has played a couple of gritty 5 set matches in week 1, his first against Flavio Cipolla and then after dismissing Pablo Andujar in 4 sets, played another grueling 5 setter complete with long rallies against home favorite Gilles Simon. He will try to take out the other French hope ,Tsonga. Tsonga has had an easier time of things, and even though he dropped a set in his first 2 matches against Andrey Kuznetsov and Cedrik Marcel Stebe, he dismissed Fabio Fognini with ease to reach the quarters. Tsonga will have the crowd behind him and has been somewhat more consistent, but rumors about his lack of confidence have been swirling and Wawrinka is a fine player in his own right.

Roger Federer vs. David Goffin

Federer who, after dispatching Tobias Kamke, dropped a set to both Adrian Ungur and Nicolas Mahut in his 2nd and 3rd round matches, has otherwise looked to be in good form. He’ll take on the young lucky loser Goffin, who was able to be in the draw because Monfils withdrew. Goff then preceded to takeout Radek Stepanek in 5, veteran Arnaud Clement, a Frenchman playing for the final time at Roland Garros in 5, and Lukasz Kubot in straights to reach the round of 16. An amazing feat in its own right, he now gets a chance to play his “idol” Federer.

Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Tomas Berdych

In the big men’s section of the draw, it was top players Del Po and Berdych making it through. Del Potro has struggled with knee problems but survived over  Montanes in 4, Edouard Roger-Vasselin in 4 and fellow big man Marin Clic in straights. Berdych survived a 5 set battle with Kevin Anderson in the 3rd round, where they traded aces and forehands the whole match. He also beat the tricky Michael Llodra in the 2nd round and Dudi Sela in the opener with both in straights. Berydch, who is seeded higher, will be a slight favorite, but both players have similar styles and Berdych is coming off a 5 set battle.  Del Potro, if his knee holds up, might have a better chance to advance.

David Ferrer vs. Marcel Granollers

Both players come in red-hot as Ferrer rolled over Lukas Lacko, Benoit Paire and Mikhail Younzhy in straights to reach the round of 16. Granollers beat Joao Sousa in 4 in a contest where he got into a shouting match with his opponent.  He then overcame Malik Janziri in 5 before knocking off the man who had the most thrilling matches and run of week 1, Paul Henri-Mathieu. Mathieu beat Bjorn Phau in 5, John Isner in 5 (in what was the most thrilling match of week 1, 18-16 in 5) and came back from 2 sets to love down to push Granollers into a 5th set with the crowd behind him. He ultimately fell short. A former top 10 player, Mathieu has been out a lot with injuries and has only played a few challenger level matches this year, but the wild card has shown he still has plenty left in the tank and can hang with the best. Ferrer will be a heavy favorite over Granollers, due to fatigue and similar styles of play.

Richard Gasquet vs. Andy Murray

Gasquet, the notorious under achiever, has this time given the French some real hope after dispatching Jurgen Zopp in straights, a cramping Grigor Dimitrov in 4 and surprising vet Tommy Haas also in 4. Haas, who qualified to reach the main draw, gave a good account for himself and even took the 1st set off Gasquet but faded after that and simply ran out of gas in a battle of the one-handed backhands. Murray survived back spasms that nearly forced him to withdraw from his 2nd round match against Jarkko Nieminen, and he carried on and after beating Tatsuma Ito with ease in the 1st round, survived Nieminen in 4 and looked much sharper against Santiago Giraldo, who he beat in straights looking the fitter and more accurate of the 2 players. Still, Murray has struggled with inconsistency, similar to Gasquet, and he may have lingering back issues, so any victories he gets from here on out will be a lot harder to come by. Gasquet also rides a hot streak into this match. This is a rematch of their 3 set battle in Rome that Gasquet won over a bitter Murray.

Janko Tipsarevic vs. Nicolas Almagro

Tipsy, who beat Sam Querrey in 4 and then proceeded to dispatch a couple of Frenchman, Jeremy Chardy and Julien Benneteau in straights, will take on Almagro. Almagro dispatched Paolo Lorenzi and Marcos Baghdatis along with Leonardo Mayer to reach the round of 16. Both players are striking the ball well and it is Tipsarevic’s 1st round of 16 appearance at Roland Garros. This match is basically a wash and you could pick it either way.

Rafael Nadal vs. Juan Monaco

Rafa has crushed his 1st three opponents: Simone Bolleli, Dennis Istomin, and Eduardo Schwank. He’s playing like the king of clay, while Monaco beat Guillaume Rufin in 4, Lukas Rosol in straights and outlasted big bomber Milos Raonic in 5 sets. He has been holding serve exceptionally well and hasn’t dropped a service game in 8 sets, but Rafa is looking so sharp his chances still look slim.

Predictions:

QFs

Djokovic d. Wawrinka

Federer d. Del Potro

Ferrer d. Gasquet

Nadal d. Tipsarevic

SFs

Djokovic d. Federer

Nadal d. Ferrer

Final

Nadal d. Djokovic