Third is the One with the Hairy Chest

(Pic: ampvisual.tv)

Neutrality:

The excitement continued on the red dirt for an action packed round three:

Federer carried on his impressive form demolishing opponent Janko Tipsarevic 64 61 63 in just 90 minutes.

Rafael Nadal silenced a few of his critics (including himself) with a much more convincing win over qualifier Antonio Veic, overpowering him to take the match in three fairly easy sets – 61 63 60.

Andy Murray suffered a major injury scare when he rolled his ankle whilst running for a sweetly struck drop-shot by opponent Michael Berrer. The Scot fell to the floor in agony before he received a medical timeout for a spray, tape and pain pills. The scare wasn’t much of a setback for Murray however as he upped his aggressive game to take the next two sets convincingly and win the match 62 63 62. However doubts have been raised about his fitness for the rest of the tournament. "I don't know if I will be 100 percent fit. I don't know if I will be playing the next match. Maybe I will be," he told the press conference. He will be undergoing a scan on the ankle to find out.

Djokovic kept his streak alive despite early threats from del Potro. With their match being scheduled last on Philippe Chatrier, it was looking like it would stretch to a two-day encounter. However not before the players were moved to Suzanne Lenglen first which caused a bit of a riot from the chatrier ticket holders as a herd of them proceeded to Lenglen, feeling like they should be let in to watch. The dramatic atmosphere continued throughout the rest of the match with del Potro taking a set off Djokovic for the first time. The match was all one way traffic when it resumed however, as Djokovic steamrolled ahead to take the next two sets, winning 63 36 63 62.

Proceedings on the women’s side were far more dramatic however with the top seed Caroline Wozniacki being booted out emphatically by the no. 28^th seed Daniela Huntachova 61 63; while last year’s finalist Samantha Stosur fell to world no. 51 Gisela Dulko 46 61 36. The women’s draw leaves Maria Sharapova who is in good form poised for a victory at Roland Garros to give her her fourth Grand Slam trophy.


Click 'Read more' to get Omes' views. Go onnnn :)

Super Saturday at Roly G

(Pic: Mycathatesyou)

Omes:

Just had to say something about Super Saturday tomorrow ‘cause it’s going to be a cracker!

We’ve got Vika who HAS to be a favourite now Woz, Sam Stosur and Kimmie are all out. We’ve got Delpo taking it to the Big Bad Wolf – one set all : O – can he do it???

Then Rafito who is trying to dig deep into the depths of his wedgie to silence his critics (vamos).

Then Mohammed Ali aka Maria Sharapova who’s the other womens’ favourite. And we can’t forget Murray who the draw seems to have selected as its object of affection.

Ahhhh I can’t wait to spend the entire day on the sofa – I may not even stop for loo breaks – eating, tweeting and just generally being disgusting.

Second Round's on Me

Neutrality:

The competition het up at Roland Garros as the top seeds all muscled their way through to the third round in straight sets. Nadal d. Andujar 75 63 76; Federer d. Teixeira 63 60 62; Murray d. Bolelli 76 64 75; and Djokovic d. Hanescu 64 61 23 r.

Djokovic kept his winning streak alive and well and steamrolled his way into a third set until his opponent was forced to retire with a thigh injury. Rafael Nadal displayed some flashes of brilliance to keep an inspired Andujar at bay. The Spanish underdog took it to Nadal, matching him in winners; refusing to let him run away with the match. He hit his way to a 51 lead in the third set before Nadal showed that fighting spirit that has won him 9 Grand Slams, to level, take it to a tie break and close out the match.

French frontrunners Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also made it safely through. However Austria’s Jurgen Melzer who defeated Novak Djokovic in the quarter finals last year was upset by Czech qualifier Lukas Rosol. Hard-hitter Juan Martin del Potro enjoyed a convincing win against Blaz Kavcic of Slovakia to set up a third round showdown against Novak Djokovic, in what has all the ingredients to be the first high-profile match of the tournament.

The big scares and upsets came on the women’s side, with former champion Maria Sharapova battling her way from a 1-5 deficit in the second set to defeat Caroline Garcia 36 64 60; and former two time Roland Garros finalist and 4 time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters conceding two match points in a 63 57 16 loss to Dutch player Arantxa Rus.

Omes:

Ok I’m mostly going to talk about Rafa surprise surprise. I think he played much much worse than yesterday and Andujar was basically wannabe Nole. Andujar played great. But enough about him.

There’s something wrong with Rafa, and I know his fans on the interweb are dying a little on the inside and probably have no nails left. I however believe this is a mental thing. I think the indomitable Novak plus, the injury he sustained in the Aussie Open are responsible. He played great in Oz pre-injury but ever since he got back it’s like he’s afraid he’s going to get injured again. He’s inhibiting himself and not moving freely, which is affecting his strokes and his slide on clay. Then there’s what the big bad wolf a.k.a Nole did to him in the Masters – it’s plaguing his mind man. We all know that – he knows that, he’s admitted that he’s not as confident.

The good news – yes I believe there is – is that these are things he can quickly overcome. Even as quick as during the next match. More hitting = more wins = improved confidence = better mentality. I STILL think Rafa can win here. It’s going to be hard but the matador always relishes a challenge no? So there is still hope for me. But no calm. And I want calm. I want to be able to sleep through the night.

In other news, oh Kimmie why? Two match points? Sigh. I guess it’s all on Sharapova now!

Just an after-thought, Roger has slipped nicely under the radar, how funny would it be if he came through to win?! Hahahaha...   

Not very >: |.

Rafa's Roland Garros First Round Scare

(Pic: Roland Garros)

Omes:

Rafa played WONDERFULLY. I mean not the best ever ever. But I was surprised! It's tough drawing Izzo in the first round, he's definitely more of a third round opponent - 'twas actually bad luck for HIM that he got Rafs first. Jisner did play vundaba though, especialmente when you consider his form coming into the tourney!

It was really the break of serve in the second that let Izzie in. But if you think about it, Rafs was only broken once and was silly in the tie breaks – even he admitted that. Well he said he was nervous, but being nervous in tie breaks is silly. (I’ve never been nervous in any of my tie breaks whenever I’ve played them in the slams.)

And it’s hard to break Acey Acerson. Rafs killed his service games and he was able to whip that Babolat ball like it was naughty. I felt he wasn’t really able to do that in the other clay Masters. And he’s moving like a DREAM. His tennis was so beautiful, I actually fancied it. I wanted his tennis to propose to me. Zero unforced errors in the fourth? Are you kidding me??!

I actually think Izzie Iz played him into form; and in a way prepared him for a showdown against the indomitable Novak, should that happen. MUHUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA >: D.

Thanks Isner!

Round One...Fight!

Neutrality:

The big four made it past their opening opponents with some style and are looking on course to go deep into the tournament. Federer d. Lopez 63 64 76; Djokovic d. De Bakker 62 61 63; Murray d. q.Prodon 64 61 63 and Nadal d. Isner 64 67 67 63 64.

Of course, the story of the opening round was Isner’s courage as he took Nadal to five sets in scorcher. Both men received a standing ovation from the french crowd. “His serve is almost unstoppable” reflected Rafa. “I just want to congratulate him for this fantastic match”. Rafa admitted that he was too nervous in the tie breaks and that the turning point came when he broke Isner in the fourth; with allowed him to finish off the match with confidence.

Del Potro, Ferrer and Gasquet also safely advanced. The first round was not without its share of upsets though - with Stephane Robert taking out number six seed Tomas Berdych in the biggest win of his career, and Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo dismissing Marin Cilic, whose run of poor form unfortunately continues. For the most part everything finally ended up is as it should have. Round two, here we come.

Omes:

Fed finshes off, Djoko demolishes, Muzz muscles and Rafa...recovers. You like that? Didn’t think you would. It was poor but I’m on a clock here. I haven’t even had a chance to watch any of the big dog matches ‘cause of work : (. I'm just putting it out there, but I’m guessing the big story of the first round is RAFA ALMOST MAKING ME DIE OF A HEART ATTACK BY GOING TO FIVE SETS IN HIS MATCH. But more about that once I’ve actually seen the match.

I did get to see Gasquet the Haskett serve out his match with some p’zaz – he’s looking good. I also like Monfils’ purple attire. Sucks for Berdych – to think last year he took out the indomitable Novak (from now on I will refer to Nole as this until he loses) and made it to the final at Wimbledon!

And so we begin another second round, my pretties. Let’s hope that Rafito catches a friggin’ break...jeez.

Novak turns 24 today

Omes:

Happy Birthday Novak!!! You're welcome re the shirtless photo.

Roland Garros Begins

Neutrality:

The French Open is here. The clay court swing reaches its climax with a little difference this year; it’s a little more wide open. Well as wide open as Novak Djokovic which for many, rather unsurprisingly is the favourite to win. 

Aside from the big four, stand out players on the clay so far have to be David Ferrer who reached the finals of Monte Carlo and Barcelona; Nicolas Almagro who has just won his third title this year in Nice. Rafael Nadal arguably has the toughest opening round against big server John Isner, however Roger Federer faces an in-form Feliciano Lopez in the first round who had match points against him in just about the tightest best-of-three match ever in Madrid. 

Other players to watch are Tomas Bellucci who was a set and a break up to the indomitable Novak in Madrid -his first ATP Masters semi-final ever; and Richard Gasquet who derailed Federer, fighting in two tie-breaks in Rome and endured a very high quality first set in the semi-finals against Nadal.

Omes:

It’s Grand Slam o’ clock! This time last year I was Smuggy McSmuggerson. This year not so much but I still have confidence in my mandem. I reckon Rafito will pull out all the stops, it’s one thing to win him in Masters tournaments but it’s another in Grand Slams, of which he has nine, may I interject – oh the smugness is coming back! Besides he said on his Facebook that he was eager to play which is a very good thing. The determination has grown, if that were possible. 

I also tip the Muzzard (Murray) to go deep – he’s having a bon clay season so good on him! Roger, I don’t know. He could get to the finals or he could lose out in the last 16 – I really don’t know where his head at is at the moment. His game is looking killer though – I’ve never seen anyone play so aggressively as he did against Rafs in Madrid. The only thing he failed to do was leap over the net and punch Rafa in the face. No comment on Nole because it would inevitably be a typical thing to say. 

Anywhoo I am incredibly excite, I might even pay to subscribe to the Eurosport iplayer so I can watch on my lunch break at work. [Side note: I love Tsonga’s outfit also he’s looking like he’s dropped some lbs.] I’m also rooting for Daveeeed and Monfils (at my own peril). So I’m going to sit back, relax, bite off all my nails when I watch Rafa’s matches and we will see what happen no?