Latest likely scenarios for the top three clowns at Roland Garros.

Rd	Federer	Nadal	Djokovic
1st	Querrey	Bellucci	Gremelmayr
2nd	Montanes	Devilder	Lopez
3rd	Ancic	Nieminen	Odesnik
4th	Soderling	Youzhny	Mathieu
Q	Wawrinka	Nalbandian	Blake
S	Ferrer	Djokovic	Nadal
F	Nadal	Federer	Federer

Here’s how the ATP Players Council works. From TennisFan. Thanks.

TennisFan

Just for your information guys. Federer, Nadal and Djokovic all applied to be on ATP Players Council and I think it’s cool to have top 3 players there. Here is the link. World’s top men’s players aiming for more say

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/tennis/2008-05-26-players-council_N.htm

Matches to watch tomorrow.

-Federer vs Montanes.

-Santoro vs Ferrer.

-Nadal vs Devilder.

-Davydenko vs Safin.

-Hewitt vs Fish.

-Wawrinka vs Cilic.

-Chela vs Verdasco.

-Nalbandian vs Chardy.

Federer vs Albert Montanes. Another routine match or….?

They have played each other just once in 2005. It was on clay at Monte Carlo with Federer winning in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.

Guy is 27 years old standing at a mere 5’9″. In his nine years on the tour, he has not won a single freaking title, but has still earned almost two million dollars. Being from Spain he is comfortable on clay. He reached the quarterfinals at Hamburg this year defeating Fish, Acasuso and Tipsarevic back to back in straight sets, before losing to Djokovic.

He reached the quarterfinals this year at Barcelona also and took out Karlovic among others before losing to Wawrinka in three sets. Other than that, he has been out in the first or the second round at all other events this year. Best showing at Roland Garros? 3rd round – four times. And this is the second round???

Some of the players he has lost to at Roland Garros: Nadal, Nalbandian, Canas and Ancic. His last match yesterday against another tomato can went to three tie breaks lasting two hours and 27 minutes.

Everything points to an entry into a slaughter house, doesn’t it? But that’s exactly where Tipsarevic was at this year’s AO. In his first two matches before playing Tipsy, Federer had demolished his opponents in straight sets and three bagels – one of them ranked No. 36 named Santoro. Tipsy was ranked 49 at the time.

Can Federer keep it together for six more matches this time? It cannot get any more routine than this. Montanes should be sent to the mountain with couple of bagels for nourishment – within an hour.

It may have been easier from the other side, moron!!!

 

It appears I can now play on the WTA tour. What a revelation!!! The perks seem endless. Can I skip the waxing please?

 

Serena look-alike on the ATP tour!!! Brother or somewhere in between?

Djokovic running for a place on ATP Players Council. From Sarah. Thanks.

 

Sarah

I found this on Tennis Week. Seems novak has political aspirations. Who knew? Since I think of novak as menace, I thought it was appropriate to post it here.

Novak Djokovic, the man chasing Nadal for that No 2 spot on the ATP computer, made short work of a Spanish qualifier Miguel Angel Lopes Jaen 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 and then admitted that he is running for a place on the ATP Players Council. The 21-year-old Serb is an extremely bright and assured young man but whether this move might be a little premature remains to be seen. However, one thing is certain. Djokovic will not be short of opinions if he does get elected.

“Well, I want to be focused on the tournament but the truth is that I am interested in getting onto the Players Council,” he said. “There are a lot of things you want to change and a lot of things on my mind but if we start talking now we’ll finish tomorrow. But the most important thing is that finally I’m feeling that all the players are getting together, getting united, and really having the interest of changing some things for our better tomorrow.”

He’s right about the players wanting change. Some of it is going to happen. Just how and when remains to be seen but, off court as well as on, this promises to be a fascinating summer.

Federer’s Best (and Last?) Chance To Win the French Open. From Sarah. Thanks.

 

Sarah

Federer’s Best (and Last?) Chance To Win the French Open

By TOM PERROTTA
May 28, 2008

Roger Federer fans, this is the year.

I’m not predicting that in two weeks Federer will win his first French Open title; I’m simply pointing out that the world no. 1 doesn’t have much time left to complete his grand slam collection. In August, Federer will celebrate his 27th birthday. Since the Open Era began in 1968, six French Open champions have been 27 or older. One of them, 34-year-old Andres Gimeno, won the title in 1972, when contract professionals were not allowed to play. Two others, Rod Laver (30 when he won in 1969) and Ken Rosewall (33 in 1968), are all-time greats, but they played in the early days of the Open Era when heavy topspin, the great modern weapon that forever changed clay-court tennis, wasn’t fashionable (and much more difficult to produce with the rackets and strings of that era). The other three — Thomas Muster (27 in 1995), Andre Agassi (29 in 1999), and Andres Gomez (30 in 1990) — won the title in a time more similar to the present day, but they did so only once.

Age isn’t the only reason to suggest that Federer ought to approach this year’s French Open with urgency. Luck is another. Unlike earlier in the year, when a sluggish Federer, suffering from mononucleosis, failed to defend his Australian Open title, Federer is now healthy and fit. He played plenty of clay-court matches (1 leading up to the tournament. He has a new coach, Jose Higueras, whose clay-court expertise is unrivaled. Most important, he’s been handed a dream draw. Rafael Nadal, the three-time defending champion, and Novak Djokovic, the Australian Open champion, are on the opposite side. Federer will have to play one of them at most. (If he’s extremely lucky, he won’t have to play either of them — seemingly impossible, but one never knows these things.)

Federer won’t face anyone else of note until the semifinals, in fact. The highest seed in his quarter of the draw is countryman Stanislas Wawrinka (no. 9). Wawrinka is enjoying his best season on the tour and his first move into the top 10. Still, it’s hard to imagine him causing Federer any trouble. The same can be said of Mario Ancic, the talented Croat whose comeback from mono continues apace. Though Ancic once reached the quarterfinals of this tournament, his attacking game (and slow feet) are not well-suited to clay. In the semifinals, Federer could face fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko, a fine clay-court player, but also a man not known for impressive victories at major tournaments (he’s never reached a major final) or for beating Federer (he’s 0–12 in his career, including a straight set defeat in last year’s French Open semifinals).

The rest of the men in Federer’s half of the draw are a collection of struggling former top players (Fernando Gonzalez, Ivan Ljubicic, Lleyton Hewitt), a dangerous clay-courter who has played tired tennis of late (Juan Carlos Ferrero), a struggling no. 5 seed (David Ferrer), and journeymen. The biggest worries might be three men who traditionally have not performed well at major events: Igor Andreev, the talented Russian whose forehand might be second to Nadal’s in terms of effectiveness on clay; Radek Stepanek, who defeated Federer in Rome, and Robin Soderling, the hard-serving, forehand-slugging Swede whose awkward style won him eight matches (four in singles and four in doubles) at last week’s World Team Championship in Germany. Federer could play Soderling in the fourth round; he’s never lost to Soderling, either (6–0).

Compare this to the path in front of Nadal, who as of yesterday had yet to finish his first match of the tournament because of rain delays. At the tail end of this event, Nadal might need to play Mikhail Youzhny (who has beaten Nadal four times), either David Nalbandian or Nicolas Almagro (both exceptional on clay), and then Djokovic in three consecutive rounds. If the rain continues, Nadal might find himself playing two of those matches on consecutive days. By the time the final Sunday arrives, he might be vulnerable, or as close to vulnerable he has ever been on clay.

That Federer and Nadal have such different paths in front of them says less about the randomness of draws than the peculiar state of the men’s game at this tournament. The field is not depleted, but it’s certainly lacking in talent, especially among the younger generation. Richard Gasquet, ever disappointing, has pulled out with a knee injury. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the Australian Open finalist, needs surgery on his knee and has withdrawn. Marcos Baghdatis lost in the first round and seems like a different player entirely than the one who reached the Australian Open final in 2005. Gael Monfils, who has more natural power and speed than anyone on tour, refuses to change his defensive style to a more offensive one that suits his talents. Andy Murray struggled to win his opening match against Jonathan Eysseric, an 18-year-old former junior no. 1 playing his second match at a major. Usually one expects the French Open to present many grinding, difficult matches, even for the top seeds. This year, Federer easily could reach the final without losing a set.

Federer often has said age won’t prevent him from winning in Paris in the near future. He believes he can play at his best into his early 30s, and considering what he has accomplished so far, it’s not wise to disagree with him. After this year, though, history will not be in his favor, and it’s not likely that the draw, or circumstances like weather and the health of his opponents, could be arranged any better than now.

Mr. Perrotta is a senior editor at Tennis Magazine. He can be reached at tperrotta@ tennismagazine.com.

Source: http://www.nysun.com/sports/federers…-french/78768/

Who is benefiting the most from the seed casualty count at Roland Garros?

Here are the seeds who have fallen so far.

With even Berdych out now, Djokovic is clearly enjoying the harvest more than anyone else.

His line-up to the semifinal now includes Odesnik, Mathieu (18 and Blake (7).

Federer is looking at Montanes, Ancic, Soderling, Wawrinka (9) and Ferrer (5).

Nadal has Devilder, Nieminen (26), Youzhny (15) and Nalbandian (6).

Is Federer again in that ‘lack of matches against quality opponents’ boat?

 

Federer	Nadal	Djokovic	Ferrer
Monaco 13		Berdych 11	Ferrero 23
Karlovic 20		Moya 16
Seppi 31		Baghdatis 17
		Canas 29
		Tipsarevic 32