[RosyLily]

Quite surprised that Djokovic is in Federer's half of the draw; definitely thought there might be a chance for a Djoko-Murray SF - something different for a change. But alas, not to be!

Defending champion Rafa Nadal has a managable route to the SF imo. He plays Simone Bolelli in his opening match. Others in his quarter include Janko Tipsarevic, Milos Raonic, Juan Monaco & Nicolas Almagro. Not terrible- he can beat these players. I would reckon we'd see a Nadal-Tipsy QF. Possible SF opponents for the Spaniard are Murray & Ferrer.

This quarter of the draw could be very unpredictable! Many good players in here - Isner, Gasquet, Granollers, Dolgopolov & Tomic. Murray isn't playing great on clay, nursing a back injury and I wouldn't be surprised if he's eliminated early-ish in the tournament. The Scot/Brit (depends what's going on) will play Tatsuma Ito in the first round. Ferrer plays Lukas Lacko in his opener. I would say Ferrer will come through this quarter and face Nadal in SF...but who knows!

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is in the top half of the draw. Possible QF opponent for him is Tsonga; would like to see this match! He plays Potito Starace in his opening match. Interestingly, he could face Lleyton Hewitt in the 2nd round; they had a great match at AO earlier this year. Other players in that part of the draw include Davydenko, Melzer, Verdasco, Simon and Wawarinka. A possible SF opponent for Djokovic is - wait for it - Federer! Hmm, yeah, didn't see that one coming!

Speaking of the Swiss, he'll kick off his FO campaign against Tobias Kamke. This quarter of the draw is probably the stuff of some players' nightmares - Berdych, del Potro, Ferrero, Lopez - all very good on the dirt! Roddick is in this part as well but his form on clay isn't the best. Federer could face Nalbandian in the 2nd round. If Federer manages to made the SF, it's possible that previous matches will take a lot outta him.

BTW, completely agree with the del Potro assumption. He has a horrible draw!!! If he wants to win the FO, he's gotta be at 110% and then some!!

Women's defending champion Na Li is probably not people's favourite for the title. She's been very up-and-down since winning last year. Can't close out matches to save her life sometimes. Fairly tough draw too - Schaivone, Jankovic, Kvitova, Vinci & Zvonareva. If any of these players are in good form and Li is a little off, they will make her pay. Li faces Sorana Cirstea in her opening match. I predict that Kvitova will come through this part of the draw - provided she's over her virus and healthy.

World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka will start her FO against Alberta Brianti of Italy. I don't see any problems for her in this match or others; she might face problems against Cibulkova in the 4th round. I'm looking forward to the other (possible) 4th round match here- Stosur vs. Lisicki. I'm not sure if Vika will come through here. I always find the women's draw at French Open so unpredictable; I never pick the winner!

As for the Williams Sisters, Venus has a big task ahead of her. If she defeats Paula Ormaechea in the first round, she will face World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round. Draw doesn't let up after that - Kerber, Ivanovic, Bartoli & Kuznetsova.

Serena doesn't have it any easier. She faces Virginie Razzano in the first round. Sharapova will probably be her QF opponent (thanks a lot Rafa!!). Could be a good match but I would have preferred to see a Serena-Masha final. Other players lurking in the draw include Wozniacki, Goerges, Kanepi, Kirilenko & Pavlyuchenkova.

Gonna be an interesting fortnight!

[Rjd2]

Originally Posted by RosyLily

Defending champion Rafa Nadal has a managable route to the SF imo. He plays Simone Bolelli in his opening match. Others in his quarter include Janko Tipsarevic, Milos Raonic, Juan Monaco & Nicolas Almagro. Not terrible- he can beat these players. I would reckon we'd see a Nadal-Tipsy QF. Possible SF opponents for the Spaniard are Murray & Ferrer.

This quarter of the draw could be very unpredictable! Many good players in here - Isner, Gasquet, Granollers, Dolgopolov & Tomic. Murray isn't playing great on clay, nursing a back injury and I wouldn't be surprised if he's eliminated early-ish in the tournament. The Scot/Brit (depends what's going on) will play Tatsuma Ito in the first round. Ferrer plays Lukas Lacko in his opener. I would say Ferrer will come through this quarter and face Nadal in SF...but who knows!

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is in the top half of the draw. Possible QF opponent for him is Tsonga; would like to see this match! He plays Potito Starace in his opening match. Interestingly, he could face Lleyton Hewitt in the 2nd round; they had a great match at AO earlier this year. Other players in that part of the draw include Davydenko, Melzer, Verdasco, Simon and Wawarinka. A possible SF opponent for Djokovic is - wait for it - Federer! Hmm, yeah, didn't see that one coming!

Speaking of the Swiss, he'll kick off his FO campaign against Tobias Kamke. This quarter of the draw is probably the stuff of some players' nightmares - Berdych, del Potro, Ferrero, Lopez - all very good on the dirt! Roddick is in this part as well but his form on clay isn't the best. Federer could face Nalbandian in the 2nd round. If Federer manages to made the SF, it's possible that previous matches will take a lot outta him.

BTW, completely agree with the del Potro assumption. He has a horrible draw!!! If he wants to win the FO, he's gotta be at 110% and then some!!

Women's defending champion Na Li is probably not people's favourite for the title. She's been very up-and-down since winning last year. Can't close out matches to save her life sometimes. Fairly tough draw too - Schaivone, Jankovic, Kvitova, Vinci & Zvonareva. If any of these players are in good form and Li is a little off, they will make her pay. Li faces Sorana Cirstea in her opening match. I predict that Kvitova will come through this part of the draw - provided she's over her virus and healthy.

World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka will start her FO against Alberta Brianti of Italy. I don't see any problems for her in this match or others; she might face problems against Cibulkova in the 4th round. I'm looking forward to the other (possible) 4th round match here- Stosur vs. Lisicki. I'm not sure if Vika will come through here. I always find the women's draw at French Open so unpredictable; I never pick the winner!

As for the Williams Sisters, Venus has a big task ahead of her. If she defeats Paula Ormaechea in the first round, she will face World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round. Draw doesn't let up after that - Kerber, Ivanovic, Bartoli & Kuznetsova.

Serena doesn't have it any easier. She faces Virginie Razzano in the first round. Sharapova will probably be her QF opponent (thanks a lot Rafa!!). Could be a good match but I would have preferred to see a Serena-Masha final. Other players lurking in the draw include Wozniacki, Goerges, Kanepi, Kirilenko & Pavlyuchenkova.

Gonna be an interesting fortnight!

Managable may be the biggest understatement ever, its an absolute bye to the semi.I'd expect him to batter everyone until then and even in the semi, he will cruise it. Other side is much more tricky to predict.


Serena's half is very tough,so the likes of Kerber, Stosur, Bartoli, Azerenka and Aggie will be pleased to be in the other side.


Also Zvonareva and Lisicki have been dreadful all year, would be astounded if either did anything.

[KINGVictor]

Very interesting draws today. I would have prefered a Novak/ Nadal- Murray/Federrer semi-final line up but hey it will still be intriguing nonetheless.

However,I find Fed's analysis very funny:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ten...r-Federer.html


He is usually very tight lipped and diplomatic, while I agree with his summation in the article- I think he is playing mind games with both Nadal and Novak- Genius that he is.

[RosyLily]

Originally Posted by Rjd2

Managable may be the biggest understatement ever, its an absolute bye to the semi.I'd expect him to batter everyone until then and even in the semi, he will cruise it. Other side is much more tricky to predict.


Serena's half is very tough,so the likes of Kerber, Stosur, Bartoli, Azerenka and Aggie will be pleased to be in the other side.


Also Zvonareva and Lisicki have been dreadful all year, would be astounded if either did anything.

Or as the French would say, "le cake walk"

/gets coat

Originally Posted by KINGVictor

Very interesting draws today. I would have prefered a Novak/ Nadal- Murray/Federrer semi-final line up but hey it will still be intriguing nonetheless.

However,I find Fed's analysis very funny:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ten...r-Federer.html


He is usually very tight lipped and diplomatic, while I agree with his summation in the article- I think he is playing mind games with both Nadal and Novak- Genius that he is.

Nadal is adept at these type of mind games pre-Grand Slam; talks down his chances and takes up Federer and/or Djokovic (but it was usually Fed). Interesting that Roger is taking a leaf outta the Spaniard's book now. Many people would agree with his musing. Nadal is favourite followed by Djokovic & himself.

Strangely enough, I would rather see Nadal win than Djokovic??? This never happens!!

[mike65]

Its on ITV3 from 5.30 today and switches to ITV4 tomorrow morning - they seem to have wal lto wall coverage - 11 hours.

[jupiterjack]

jurgen melzer and andy roddick out on day 1.

[RosyLily]

Vera Zvonareva has been a late withdrawal from Roland Garros, citing a shoulder injury. She is replaced by Sesil Karatantcheva, who is playing Timea Babos right now on Court 2. Sesil is 5-1 up in the first set.

No.15 seed Feliciano Lopez retired at 0-5 in the first set in his match against Florent Serra.

Very poor performance from Victoria Azarenka earlier today. She was god awful in some parts of the match; an error-strewn contest! 60 unforced errors to 32 winners from the Belarussian. If she plays like that against the likes of Stosur, Serena, Maria etc in the later rounds, she'll lose. But, I'm sure she'll learn from this and improve in the next rounds.

Roger Federer has won his opening match against Tobias Kamke on Suzanne Lenglen Court, 6-2, 7-5, 6-3. Up and down match from the Swiss, kind of rusty in spots. Took him a while to finish the match though. He'll play either Adrian Ungur or David Nalbandian in the second round.

Defending Women's Champion Na Li is on Phillipe Chatrier atm. She is playing Sorana Cirstea of Romania. Li won the first set 6-2 and is 3-0 up in the second.

[Rjd2]

Originally Posted by Rjd2

Barthel is the wildcard, some terrible losses but also some great performances most notably against Azarenka who she has dragged to 3 sets in their last 2 encounters. Could implode at any stage but none of the favorites will want to meet her early, she has the ability to be quite destructive if she can survive the first couple off rounds.

Lost to to Lauren Davis 6-1, 6-1 and from all accounts was unbelievably bad, type of performance that was so dismal it couldn't have been fixed because nobody would ever be that obvious.

Azarenka willl get better, its still a reasonable quarter, Sharapova in her first match last year was a set and 4-0 down against some French local and still came back and reached the final.

[Warper]

Anywhere to watch this online now its gone from TG4?

[jupiterjack]

Originally Posted by Warper

Anywhere to watch this online now its gone from TG4?

http://www.vipbox.tv/ i watch most sports on this link.

[jupiterjack]

Nadal beats Bolelli Rd1 6/2 6/2 6/1

[steelcityblues]

Seriously thought she would do a Novotna in 93 for a second, but fair play to her!

Wonder if Serena is half-thinking of retirement, she's set for life and celebrity.

[Rjd2]

Originally Posted by steelcityblues

Seriously thought she would do a Novotna in 93 for a second, but fair play to her!

Wonder if Serena is half-thinking of retirement, she's set for life and celebrity.

Always going to be her trickiest Slam to win, I wouldn't write her off at Wimbledon to quickly. Lets not forget she has been battering everyone since she returned.

[KINGVictor]

Originally Posted by Rjd2

Always going to be her trickiest Slam to win, I wouldn't write her off at Wimbledon to quickly. Lets not forget she has been battering everyone since she returned.

+1......

And it is not easy to play against the crowd's favourite especially in the first round. But she only has her self to blame really, she was 5-1 up in the tiebreak but squandered her chances by a momentary loss in concentration.

I'd say well done to Razzano. Despite the fact that she was in pain, she kept her cool and closed the match, although I don't see her passing the third round at most which is quite unfortunate.

I agree that it is not yet time to dismiss Serena, she is a determined player and has shown her ability to bounce back on several occasions. If any player should hang up the boots, it should be her older sister.

Anyways the FO is living up to expectations! exciting and quite unpredictable. Hope we don't get more shocking surprises not that it will be a bad thing............Well except for any of the top 3 +1 men players getting knocked out early.


In other news, exceptional display by Nadal and Sharopova today. Masha literally walked over her Romanian opponent, winning 6-0 6-0. Nadal also produced some wonderful tennis by beating Bolleli 6-2 6-2 6-1.
However, the highlight of the day for me was the victory of T. Hass, very determined and exemplary player, at 34 still going on- fairplay to him.

[_Bella_]

That last game between Razzano and Serena was crazy. I think whoever won that game would have won the match, the momentum just kept shifting. The hindrance call in that game was ridiculous and ironically it was the exact same umpire who did it to Williams in the Australian Open. In that match I thought the umpire was right but in the match today it was unfair, it was unnecessary and could have decided the outcome of the match. I also have to say the French tennis head dancing was hilarious.