Today’s Men’s News (06/11) – Roland Garros, Halle, & Queen’s!

Written by: Staff on 11th June 2012

Today's Men's News (06/11) - Roland Garros, Halle, & Queen's! |

Roland Garros

Singles – Final: (2) R Nadal def. (1) N Djokovic 6-4 6-3 2-6 7-5

On Sunday, it was Rafael Nadal who really wanted to halt play. Novak Djokovic — who was up a break at 2-1 in the fourth set — was on a roll, and clearly didn’t want the momentum to shift.

Nadal definitely got what he wanted. He was quickly in control of the resumption, which ended soon enough that the weather had no chance to intervene again. And Djokovic helped shorten things, double-faulting on match point.

So we get a long list of records not made. Novak Djokovic does not become the third player in the four-surface era to win all four Slams. And Djokovic does not become the first player since Rod Laver to win four consecutive Slams.

On the other hand, Rafael Nadal does take sole possession of the record for titles at the French Open. This is #7 for him, passing Bjorn Borg’s total. Hard to believe that that record will be broken any time soon!

(Footnote for the literal-minded out there: It certainly won’t be broken in less than six years, since no other active player has more than one title in Paris.)

And Nadal also earns enough points that he will retain the #2 ranking. And he will be the #2 Wimbledon seed. He is about 2200 points behind Djokovic, which is obviously a very big gap. But Djokovic has 2000 points to defend at Wimbledon. If Nadal can take the Wimbledon title this year, he just might make it back to #1….

Halle

Singles – First Round: (5) M Raonic def. (WC) P Petzschner 7-5 7-6(7-1)

This will be the first time a fully healthy, in-form Milos Raonic plays a grass season. It will be truly interesting to see how he does. This wasn’t the greatest win — but Philip Petzschner can be a very tough opponent on this surface.

Singles – First Round: (8) P Kohlschreiber def. (WC) D Brown 7-6(7-4) 7-6(7-4)

Philipp Kohlschreiber is right on the cusp of a Wimbledon seed. This isn’t enough points to matter, but obviously it keeps his hopes alive of earning more. Plus he extends his winning streak here.

Singles – First Round: L Kubot def. J Nieminen 6-4 6-4

This is a bit of an upset on paper — but Jarkko Nieminen seems to be in a real funk; it isn’t really a surprise.

Singles – First Round: C Stebe def. C Berlocq 6-3 3-6 7-5

After a very strong start to the year, Carlos Berlocq seems to have stalled badly. Of course, the grass doubtless contributes.

Singles – First Round: M Youzhny def. R Haase 6-3 6-2

There wasn’t any real chance that Robin Haase would be seeded at Wimbledon, but now it’s no chance at all.

Singles – First Round: (Q) Z Zhang def. T Kamke 7-4 7-6(7-2)

Tobias Kamke is still looking for his first win since San Jose.

Doubles – First Round: Brunstrom/Marx def. (WC) Haas/Waske 6-4 6-2

Queen’s

For most of the day, the story wasn’t matches, it was postponement of matches. Every hour or so, there came another hour’s delay. Finally they gave up for the day — meaning that they will have 24 first round matches to finish tomorrow….