Across The Net: Middle Sunday at the 2007 French Open
Posted by ikabod Crane on 06.04.2007
What stories dominated the first week? What stories were overlooked? All of that and Karaoke (no kidding) inside this week’s Across the Net. The Karaoke you have to see to believe so read this column!
Players of the Week:
Jonas Bjorkman: At 35, the Swede has been one of the dominant doubles player on the ATP tour for quite sometime. However, last year he reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, and this year stands one match removed from the quarterfinals at the French Open. Bjorkman's singles and doubles game is built around his strong return of serve, solid instincts on when a net approach is advisable and his great hands. Bjorkman won both his first and second round matches after falling behind 2 sets to none. At 35, to dig in for the long road back on tennis' most grueling surface is commendable.
Carlos Moya: At 30, Moya faces Bjorkman in the round of 16. Moya played outstanding tennis in Hamburg two weeks ago, but found himself in a dogfight in the first round. The 1998 French Open champion won a 5 set encounter in his opening match by taking the final set 6-0. Moya's recent semifinal run at Masters series Hamburg along with his previous French Open success make him my pick to reach the quarterfinals. However, Moya or Bjorkman will be worth pulling for as a serious underdog vs. either Rafael Nadal or Lleyton Hewitt in the quarterfinals.
Women's Draw – Holding Form More or Less
Maria Sharapova has surprised me in reaching the quarterfinals. Her poor serve during 2007 has been explained to an extent as a result of a shoulder injury. If she was in the top quarter, I would favor Justine Henin, Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic or Nicole Vaidisova to beat Sharapova on clay. Fortunately for Maria, she does not face any of those player in her half of the draw. The surface makes a Sharapova loss before the championship round a distinct possibility, but even on clay she looks like a good bet to reach the championship. There I believe Sharapova to be the underdog, but she will be facing an opponent who has had to win two difficult matches. Sometimes the draw smiles on a player. Sharapova could win in Paris by simply beating one elite player to take the title. I still am sticking with Jankovic to take the title, but all four players in the top half of the draw would trade places with Sharapova's path to the championship match.
U.S. Men 0-9
This story received a lot of the internet media attention this week. I agree that it is a story worth noting, but Andy Roddick and James Blake received tough first round opposition on their worst surface. The other 7 defeated U.S. players range from young guys cutting their teeth such as Robert Kendrick and Sam Querrey to veterans such as Justin Gimelstob and Vince Spadea. Age worked against those four players. That left Robby Ginepri and Amer Delic to win matches. Ginepri actually went five sets with a good clay court player in Diego Hartfield. James Blake's loss is the most disappointing of the bunch. He lost his second consecutive encounter with "Dr." Ivo Karlovic of Croatia. Oddly, if one does a google search on Ivo Karlovic one will find that my column is the column of record for Karlovic's career at this point. At any rate, Karlovic is an oddity on tour. Standing 6'10", he is an ace machine who comes to the net. This produces something other than typical clay court rallies for his opponents. Karlovic did win the U.S. Clay Court Championships* in Houston this past April. Still, if a 35 year old Jonas Bjorkman figured out how to beat Karlovic, James Blake, the 8th ranked player in the world, ought to have found a way.
Matches to Look Forward To
Lleyton Hewitt vs. Rafael Nadal – The two went four sets last year in Paris. At Hamburg this year, these two warriors split sets before Nadal won the match 7-5 in the third. In Paris, that would have just meant the start of a contested fourth set. Hewitt, to be sure the underdog, has a real chance to beat Nadal. First, he tries to catch the ball on the rise and this prevents Nadal from bullying him to 15" behind the baseline. Second, Hewitt and Nadal are both fierce competitors. Nadal lacks some of Hewitt's negativity, but if Nadal is ever to meet his equal when it comes to hustle Hewitt is it. Finally, Hewitt is playing the best clay court ball of his career. Still, on paper Nadal is a solid favorite to win in four sets. Bjorkman or Moya will be hoping this goes 5 sets and leaves the winner worn out for the quarterfinals.
Jelena Jankovic vs. Nicole Vaidisova – These are two of the best hopes for the WTA tour. Both possess solid but different games. Vaidisova is 6'1" and uses a power game. Jankovic is more of an all around baseliner who somewhat like Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario can think, compete and hustle her way to victory. My pick is Jankovic, but my guess is the WTA would sure like the winner of this match to take the title.
(Potential big match) Roger Federer vs. Guillermo Canas – Each has one more win before this semifinal encounter would become a reality. Canas made Federer's North American swing of 2007 forgettable. Canas would likely prefer facing Federer on clay. Still, Roger has not dropped a set since beating Nadal in Hamburg and may be a different animal than he was in March. Robredo and Davydenko have a hand in whether this match becomes a reality. Federer is a solid, but not safe, pick to beat Robredo. On paper, Davydenko is favored vs. Canas. Davydenko is one of the smartest players on tour and my guess is if Canas beats Davydenko it will go five sets. Still, Canas may be destined to face Federer one more time. Can he pull the hat trick?
Craziest Tennis Related Item
I picked up the links to these from Jon Wertheim's excellent tennis mailbag at CNNSI.COM. Here they are:
I am not sure what to say about this other than all three need to avoid the temptation to pursue a singing career. Still, it is nice to see tennis players do not take themselves too seriously and can have fun by laughing at themselves. I am not sure Ivan Lendl was ever able to cut loose like this.
Next Week: French Open Analysis
* - Ivo Karlovic's title of U.S. Clay Court Champion may be losing value given how poorly U.S. men have played on clay as of late.
