Today’s Men’s News (05/30) – Roland Garros

Written by: Staff on 30th May 2012

Today's Men's News (05/30) - Roland Garros |

Roland Garros

Singles – Second Round: (1) N Djokovic def. B Kavcic 6-0 6-4 6-4

Has Novak Djokovic even broken a sweat yet? Not much sign of it so far. At the rate he is going, he will go into Wimbledon with a substantial lead over his rivals in safe points — something that was not assured coming in.

Singles – Second Round: (3) R Federer def. A Ungur 6-3 6-2 6-7(6-8) 6-3

We still don’t know whether Roger Federer will be #2 or #3 next week, but we know that he will hold a record. This is Slam victory #234 for him, putting him ahead of Jimmy Connors for the all time record.

Singles – Second Round: (7) T Berdych def. M Llodra 6-2 6-3 6-3

Tomas Berdych moves a little closer to the #6 ranking — and to a meeting with Roger Federer, which would be very interesting indeed.

Singles – Second Round: (9) J del Potro def. E Roger-Vasselin 6-7(5-7) 7-6(7-3) 6-4 6-4

Juan Martin del Potro remains about 150 points behind Janko Tipsarevic in the contest for #8. That is likely to remain interesting for several more days.

Singles – Second Round: (11) G Simon def. B Baker 6-4 6-1 6-7(4-7) 1-6 6-0

If this is how Brian Baker does on clay, how will he do on hardcourt? (Of course, the other question is how well his hip will hold up.) Gilles Simon is now perhaps one win away from rising to #11, but how much did this take out of him?

Singles – Second Round: (14) F Verdasco def. G Muller 6-7(5-7) 6-3 6-2 6-2

Fernando Verdasco continues to press his case for the fourth Spanish spot in the Olympics. One more win and he passes countryman Feliciano Lopez….

Singles – Second Round: (18) S Wawrinka def. P Andujar 7-6(7-3) 6-7(4-7) 6-2 6-1

Last year’s quarterfinalist Stanislas Wawrinka now looks pretty safe in the Top 25. Pablo Andujar will be a little below #35.

Singles – Second Round: (21) M Cilic def. J Ferrero 7-6(7-4) 6-2 6-3

Juan Carlos Ferrero will probably hit the Top Forty despite the loss, but not by much. And there is always the question of whether he will be back next year. Was this his last Paris loss?

Singles – Second Round: (22) A Seppi def. M Kukushkin 6-7(5-7) 6-2 2-6 6-1

Andreas Seppi has now defended his points and more; he has pretty well guaranteed his Top 25 spot.

Singles – Second Round: (31) K Anderson def. H Zeballos 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-0

A solid result for Kevin Anderson, given the surface — and one that makes a Top Thirty spot quite likely.

Singles – Second Round: N Mahut def. M Klizan 4-6 6-4 7-6(7-5) 6-3

After a dozen years of intermittent appearances at the French Open, Nicolas Mahut reaches the third round for the first time.

Singles – Second Round: N Devilder def. M Berrer 7-6(7-5) 6-4 6-2

A pretty amazing run for Nicolas Devilder, considering that he hadn’t done anything for a couple of years. But this is probably it; he faces Djokovic next.

Singles – Second Round: L Kubot def. F Serra 7-6(7-0) 6-2 7-6(7-4)

Lukasz Kubot still has a few points to defend, but this will keep him right around #50.

Doubles – First Round: (1) Mirnyi/Nestor def. Haase/Nieminen 6-3 6-4

Mirnyi/Nestor make a good start to their title defense, but…

Doubles – First Round: (2) Bryan/Bryan def. Stakhovsky/Youzhny 7-5 6-3

…they remain some 250 points behind the Bryans in safe points. We currently show the doubles Top Ten as follows:

1..(3) Bryan…………..7800

3..(1) Mirnyi………….7540

3..(1) Nestor………….7540

5..(5) Llodra………….6410

6..(6) Zimonjic………..6390

7..(7) Paes……………6295

8..(8) Fyrstenberg……..5825

8..(8) Matkowski……….5825

10.(10) Lindstedt……….5120

Doubles – First Round: (8) Melzer/Petzschner def. Knowle/L Mayer 6-3 6-4

Melzer and Petzschner both produced disappointing results in singles, but evidently it wasn’t anything physically wrong with them.

Doubles – First Round: (9) Cermak/Polasek def. Falla/Giraldo 7-6(7-1) 7-5

Doubles – First Round: (10) Qureshi/Rojer def. Dasnieres de Veigy/Renavand 6-3 6-2

Doubles – First Round: (15) Lipsky/R Ram def. Fisher/Matosevic 7-5 6-2

Doubles – First Round: (16) Cabal/Farah def. Brown/Marray 6-4 7-6(7-4)

Doubles – First Round: Huey/Inglot def. Russell/Young 7-5 6-2

Doubles – First Round: Cerretani/Hanescu def. Chardy/Dimitrov 7-6(7-5) 6-6(9-11) 6-3

Doubles – First Round: Chela/Schwank def. Lacko/Lorenzi 6-3 7-6(7-5)

Doubles – First Round: Elgin/Istomin def. Darcis/Rochus 3-6 6-3 7-6(7-0)

Doubles – First Round: Lu/Soeda def. Ball/J Murray 7-6(7-5) 4-6 6-3

Doubles – First Round: Phau/Shamasdin def. Herbert/Olivetti 3-6 7-5 6-1

Doubles – First Round: Dolgopolov/Molchanov def. Mannarino/Paire 3-6 6-4 6-3

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Grandin/Hanley def. (4) Raymond/Bopanna 7-6(8-6) 4-6 10-6 (Match TB)

If you look at today’s Mixed Doubles feature, you’ll note that we were a little dubious about this year’s Mixed seedings. But they got at least one thing right: They would have demoted Raymond/Bopanna (to unseeded).

Mixed Doubles – First Round: (5) Vesnina/Paes def. Hradecka/Cermak 6-1 6-1

Vesnina/Paes, on the other hand, would have been promoted. And, based on this, they look like they deserve it. Note that we lost both of last year’s women’s doubles champions in Wednesday’s action.

Mixed Doubles – First Round: (7) Mirza/Bhupathi def. Kops-Jones/Butorac 6-2 6-4

Mixed Doubles – First Round: Voskoboeva/Bracciali def. (8) Hlavackova/Qureshi 6-4 6-1

Mixed doubles rankings would have left Hlavackova/Qureshi unseeded. So, on Wednesday at least, they were two for two. But Serena Williams and Mike Bryan haven’t played yet….