French Open (Day Six) - May 25- June 8 Season I
Roland Garros - Men's Singles
Day Six - Third Round - Paris
Seeds
Draw - Section One
Draw - Section Two
Draw - Section Three
Draw - Section Four
Draw - Section Five
Draw - Section Six
Draw - Section Seven
Draw - Section Eight
World number 42
Jojo Mustard has made it to the second week of the French Open for the first time after a come-from-behind win against Hungarian
János Varga. In an epic four-set slog, Mustard continued his sparkling form which has seen him already defeat fifth seed
Darcy Cowan. The CWLand player will put off his grass court aspirations for a week, but found himself troubled early by the Hungarian who took an early break of service. Whilst Mustard managed to draw level at 3-3, he continued to look lacklustre on service as Varga controlled the game with his ability to put some work on the ball. But Mustard regained his confidence in the second set and looked a different player; Varga only just staying the set due to Mustard's inability to capitalise on some three break points. But in a marathon tiebreaker, the CWLand deservedly took the second set to head into the third with all the momentum. The break point chances began to be converted by Mustard as he got the better of Varga in the third set, but the Hungarian fought back valiantly in the fourth. Whilst both players struggled to hold service, it was Mustard who advanced to the second week with a
4-6, 7-6(10), 6-2, 7-6 win. His opponent will be German 21st seed
Becker Haas who also produced an upset against twelfth seed
Tiago Matias. Haas' straight sets victory sends him into his fourth round clash with Mustard as overwhelming favourite; the German dropping just one set in his first three games.
Another CWLander competing in the fourth round is eighth seed
Sven Oxenstierna who survived a massive scare in his third round contest against local hero
Jean-Alain Depuis. In front of a massive centre court crowd, the 36-year old's dream was turning into a nightmare as he managed to claim just two games in the first two sets against the very solid Oxenstierna - the CWLander bagelling the Frenchman who had previously defeated 27th seed
Morgan Carter. But keen not to embarrass himself in front of a packed stadium, Depuis rallied to pull a rabbit out of his hat and storm back into the contest with an early break in the third - a set he would go on to secure. It was a similar story in the fourth, but whilst Oxenstierna managed to break back he was looking increasingly frustrated as Depuis had the crowd off their feet by prevailing in a thirty shot rally to get the all-important second break of service of the set. Heading to a fifth - with the momentum firmly behind him - Depuis began to tighten up as a determined Oxenstierna fought hard. In the eighth game of the fifth, it was the eighth seed who devastated the crowd by breaking serve and going on to claim a
6-2, 6-0, 4-6, 5-7, 6-4 win.
He will not, however, be facing fellow CWLander
Randy Smeltz as the 24th seed ended a disappointing clay season with a five-set loss to ninth seed
Illya Altman. The Ukrainian played poorly for the majority of the match, but produced a fantastic come-from-behind victory against a confident Smeltz. The ninth seed started very brightly by taking the first set 6-2 against an overawed Smeltz; but the CWLander came flying back into the contest to swoop on the next two sets in just over an hour. But there was another twist in the tale as Altman regained his touch and made Smeltz fight for ever point. His renewed vigour paid off in the fourth as he levelled the match at two sets each; ensuring another five-set slog would occur. In a tight decider, it took until the final game for Altman to get the decisive break to seal a dramatic
6-2, 3-6, 1-6, 6-4 7-5 victory.
Section 1 saw the last of the Frenchmen in the draw fall before the start of the second week as
Jason Hall and
Henry Charles booked a date for next week. 13th seed Charles ended the brave run of until-recently injured
Pierre L'Estrange in straight sets. The Brit broke service just three times, but that was enough for him to prevail in a dull contest
6-4, 6-4, 6-4. The Jason Hall-
Patrick Pascaul clash was a more exciting contest as the pair traded dominant opening sets. In a match full of powerful baseline tennis, it was Hall who continued his brilliant start to the tournament with a
6-2, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) victory to advance to the fourth round. The world number one came into the Open with some scratchy form behind him, but seems to have overturned that with some impressive early displays.
Finally, big-serving Norwegian
Kim Vollan continues to surprise after upsetting fourteenth seed
Davis Kennedy in four sets. In a typically topsy-turvy Vollan match, the unseeded Norwegian fired down twenty-five aces against his Canadian opponent en route to a sensational victory. As one has come to expect, the world number 67 dropped one set 1-6, but played storming tennis for the rest of the match as he continues to excite crowds with his explosive play and all-or-nothing style. His opponent will be American
Dwayne Murdoch who was forced to five sets by big-serving Czech
Radek Špidla. Had Špidla won, it would have set up a most unlikely fourth round clash considering the surface.
- Seeded players out: Davis Kennedy; Tiago Matias; Patrick Pascaul; Randy Smeltz; Radek Špidla.
Roland Garros - Men's Doubles
Day Six - Second Round - Paris
Seeds
Draw - Section One
Draw - Section Two
Draw - Section Three
Draw - Section Four
Makeshift pair
Jefferson Drake and
Martti Korpinen have won the battle with twelfth seeds
Rob Bowenburg and
Ninteh Doh to earn a place in the third round of the men's doubles tournament. Bowenburg and Doh got the upper hand against the CWLand pair early with some handy doubles play - the twelfth seeds easily looking the more cohesive pairing both at the net and on service. But Drake, who was obviously frustrated by yesterday's singles exit, lifted the tempo to break service early with a pair of forehand winners; and whilst the favourites broke back, it was the Drake-Korpinen pairing who managed to level the match at a set each. In a wild third set, there were five breaks of service with the underdogs getting the better of Bowenburg-Doh as they sealed a
4-6, 7-5, 7-5 upset.
Their opponents in the third round will be Croatia's
Nilikar Midid and
Brett Read to ensure at least one CWLander will be in the quarterfinals. The big-serving Midid combined brilliantly with Read as the pair snared a
6-3, 6-3 win over the team of
Martin Reiter and
Adam Schroder. In just over an hour-and-a-half, the favourites produced tennis which was generally better than that of their opponents as they gave the German-Austrian connection the run around from the net. After knocking off seventh seeds
Lee Inmin and
Qingdong Tsai in the first round, Read and Midid find themselves moving through the tournament as a real threat to the rest of the draw.
Meanwhile, tenth seeds
Dênis Rodrigues and
Roberto Santos have been defeated in three-sets by China's
Gai Kai and
Lu Xun. The Brazilians took the first set 6-4, but never looked the same team after as the Chinese pair combined brilliantly to control the play with volleys and smashes galore. The
4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win mirrored that of top seeds
Ion Andueza and
Sanchez Emelio who were forced to come a set down to defeat Romanian pair
Viorel Iftime and
Marius Micu. The Romanians were the highest ranked players not to be seeded, and fought well against the Spaniards to claim the first set 6-4. But in a draining contest, the top seeds edged their way back into the contest and, after three hours of competitive tennis, produced the
4-6, 7-6(2), 8-6 win.
- Seeded players out: Dênis Rodrigues / Roberto Santos.
Alessandria Challenger
Semifinals - Alessandria
Draw
Fourth seed
Denis Isaev will face off against local
Paolo Scalforo in the final of the Alessandria Challenger this Sunday. The Belarusian produced an upset of sorts to defeat
Mario Timko - the man who defeated top seed
Fok Zhenyu. The
6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win was impressive by the fourth seed, and he will have to produce similar tennis to defeat the local hope Scalforo. The Italian 32-year old, ranked 154th in the world, played brilliantly to defeat third seed
Petr Brozik - prevailing
5-7, 7-6(1), 6-3.
- Seeded players out: Petr Brozik.
