French Open: Order of Play and Ticket Availability for Wednesday June 1, 2011

Wednesday’s order of play at the French Open can be found at the link below. Wednesday’s order of play will feature Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Maria Sharapova. For tickets to Wednesday’s action, click the travel link on the top menu bar, or the direct link below to Grand Slam Tennis Tour’s official website.

Link: OOP

Link: French Open Tickets

Federer Reaches Roland Garros Semifinal; Stands Between Djokovic and No. 1 Ranking

Roland Garros—Paris, France

Former champ Roger Federer made quick work of Gael Monfils during the quarterfinals of the French Open on Tuesday, defeating the Frenchman 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(3).

Improving to 3-0 against Monfils at the year’s second Major, Federer began his straight set victory by overcoming a 3-1 first set deficit. Using his pin-point serve and rocket forehand to keep Monfils deep behind the baseline, Federer encountered some stiff resistance from his opponent during the middle of the third set, but rebounded nicely to reach the final four.

Advancing to his sixth semifinal in Paris in the last seven years, Federer struck 45 winners and won 77 percent of his first serve points. Dealing with the blustery conditions about as well as anyone could, Federer broker Monfils on five of 16 occasions during the two hour and 36 minute contest.

Up next for Federer will be No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic. Not losing a set throughout his first five matches, Federer will have the daunting task of upending Djokovic in his pursuit of claiming the world No. 1 ranking. Djokovic will claim the No. 1 position if he defeats Federer on Friday, regardless of how Rafael Nadal ends his tournament.

Djokovic has defeated Federer on three occasions this year—including a straight set victory at the semifinals in Australia—but Federer remains the last man to defeat the Serb on Tour. The Swiss upended Djokovic during the World Tour Finale in November. Federer owns a 13-9 head-to-head series lead over Djokovic, while defeating the Serb on two of three occasions on clay.

Elsewhere, Andy Murray wrapped up his come-from-behind victory over Viktor Troicki, dismissing the Serb 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.

Falling behind 5-2 in the fifth set, Murray broke Troicki when he was serving for the match at 5-3, and then later picked up his second break of the set at 6-5 to close out the match with his serve.

Reaching his second quarterfinal in Paris since 2009, Murray will next face Juan Ignacio Chela for a place in the semifinals.

Murray owns a 6-1 head-to-head series lead over Chela, which includes three straight wins on clay.

Wheel Of Fortune To Air Maiden ‘Tennis Week’

Press Release

Wheel of Fortune has teamed up with Tennis Channel to present viewers with the show’s first-ever “Tennis Week,” airing 30 May-3 June 2011.

Tennis Channel worked with the WTA, ATP and USTA to provide the featured prizes on the Wheel which include luxury vacation packages surrounding upcoming major tennis tournaments around the world: the French Open in Paris, the Australian Open in Melbourne, the US Open in New York, the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London, and the Sony Ericsson Championships in Istanbul.

Former World No. 1 female professional tennis player and Tennis Channel commentator Tracy Austin came to visit Pat Sajak and Vanna White on set to kick off “Tennis Week” on Wheel of Fortune. Throughout the week, some of the world’s top tennis players past and present, including Billie Jean King, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova, Caroline Wozniacki, Lindsay Davenport and Martina Navratilova will make appearances in show opening segments, bumper segments, closing packages and prize packages.

Also, as part of “Tennis Week,” Vanna White was invited to the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif., to tape some segments for the five shows, including a tennis lesson from the top-ranked men’s doubles team, the Bryan Brothers.

Tennis Channel cameras were on location and in the studio to capture behind-the-scenes footage for a special “Tennis Week” News & Notes that is currently airing on Tennis Channel and is also posted on www.tennischannel.com. The cable network will also promote the themed week with a robust schedule of promotional advertising.

French Open: Order of Play and Ticket Availability for Tuesday May 31, 2011

Tuesday’s order of play at the French Open will feature Roger Federer vs. Gael Monfils. For tickets to Tuesday’s action at the French Open, click the travel link on the top menu bar for a selection of great tickets to purchase. The link below will also take you to Grand Slam Tennis Tour’s official website.

Link: Order of Play

Link: Tickets

Nadal, Soderling and Monfils reach Quarterfinals at French Open; Djokovic walks into Semifinals

Roland Garros—Paris, France

Defending champ Rafael Nadal captured his third consecutive straight set match at the French Open on Monday, ousting former top 3 player Ivan Ljubicic, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3.

Overcoming nine aces by the Croatian, Nadal won 82 percent of his first serve points during the two hour and 26 minute contest. Striking 23 winners in total, Nadal broke Ljubicic on six occasions, and improved to 7-2 against his tall opponent in lifetime meetings.

Recording his 42nd victory in 43 matches at the event, Nadal will next face No. 5 seed Robin Soderling for a place in the final four. Soderling eased past crowd favorite Gilles Simon, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6(5).

Setting up a rematch of last year’s final, Soderling remains the only man to ever defeat Nadal at the French Open. The Spaniard owns a 5-2 career head-to-head record over Soderling, which includes two victories at the French Open over the Swede.

Elsewhere, Gael Monfils sent David Ferrer out of the tournament after the pair completed their two day affair on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Ousting the Spaniard 6-4, 2-6, 7-5, 1-6, 8-6, Monfils reached the quarters or better at the tournament for the third time in the past four years, and will next face 2009 winner Roger Federer for a place in the semifinals.

Awaiting Federer or Monfils in the semifinals will be the hottest player on the planet, Novak Djokovic.

Advancing to his third career semifinal in Paris after Fabio Fognini withdrew with a left thigh injury, Djokovic will gain the No. 1 ranking in the world if he reaches the final. Djokovic will surely be fit and healthy for his final four affair, gaining four days off with the Italian’s withdrawal. Fognini injured his thigh during his four hour plus marathon victory against Albert Montanes on Sunday. Fognini won the match 11-9 in the fifth set.

Elsewhere, 31-year-old Juan Ignacio Chela continued his improbable run after he defeated Alejandro Falla, 4-6, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-2.

Reaching his second quarterfinal at Roland Garros, Chela outlasted his Colombian opponent courtesy of 38 winners.

Chela last reached the final eight in Paris during the 2004 event. The Argentine will next face either Andy Murray or Viktor Troicki.

Podcast: Recapping week one at the French Open

In this week’s Podcast, Nima and Parsa are back in action with a mid-tournament review of the men’s and women’s draw at the 2011 French Open Championships from Paris.

Will Rafael Nadal rebound from his scratchy start to the tournament? Can Caroline Wozniacki regroup from yet another earlier slam defeat? Will Roger Federer derail Novak Djokovic during his quest to reach the No. 1 ranking in the world?

Nima and Parsa combat these questions and many more in this week’s show.

As always, you can alternatively listen to the #1 tennis PodCast via  iTunes and never miss another episode. It is very easy and completely  free.

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Movers and Shakers: Grading the first week at Roland Garros

In this week’s edition of Movers and Shakers, Nima takes a look at the top stories that went down during the first week of the French Open. Did Caroline Wozniacki’s third-round loss top the list of upsets at the event, or did Rafael Nadal’s uncomfortable form catch most of the attention?

Landing smack dab in the middle of the year’s second Major, the clay-courts of Roland Garros have once again stirred the pot on the tennis landscape.

Rafael Nadal has been anything but his menacing self during the first three rounds, but he certainly showed some improvement against Antonio Veic on Saturday.

Nadal has openly stated that he’s not as confident as he once was, while going into detail about his tiring 10-year-career, highlighted by no offseason.

Following his seventh-straight victory in Monte Carlo, I wrote a piece called The Decline of the Clay King. Even though most of the readers on this site thought was I was crazy to point out Nadal’s mental and physical fatigue, it appears now more than ever that even the Mallorcan agrees with my sentiments.

I still fully believe that Nadal will find a way to hit as many helicopter forehands as needed to fly into his sixth career final, but there’s no question that the electric form of Novak Djokovic has shaken his confidence.

Rolling past Richard Gasquet in straight sets on Sunday, Djokovic notched his 43rd straight victory on Tour, while showing no ill effects from his two day slug fest with Juan Martin del Potro.

Djokovic has continued to treat the court in Paris similarly to the seven venues that he’s won in this year: He hasn’t cared about what’s under his feet, which balls are in play, or what’s happening above—he’s simply going after each shot like it’s his last. Throwing his arms at every groundstrokes with eye-blinding racket-speed, Djokovic has given his opponents very little to exploit.

I think at this stage we can assume that Djokovic is not going to get tired during his streak. In fact, playing with his streak has allowed him to compete with even more pride and focus as the number mounts. He’ll almost surely stream roll over Fabio Fognini in the quarterfinals, which would land him one win away from capturing the No. 1 ranking.

His likely opponent for a crack at the top spot should be Roger Federer. In many ways it’s fitting that Federer be the man that Djokovic would have to defeat to gain the top seed. Federer has been the best player on the planet over the past eight years, and although his force-field of invincibility has decreased significantly over the last 18 years, he’ll surely relish the opportunity to halt Djokovic’s momentum.

Although Djokovic has clipped Federer on three straight occasions in 2011, the Swiss star has put together a firm campaign at the tournament; not losing a set through four matches, while only dropping his serve on twice.

I’d still favor Djokovic to get by Federer in that semifinal affair, but I don’t think it will be as easy as some may suggest.

***

The women’s draw has given us very little to embrace. While Maria Sharapova vies for a career completing Grand Slam title, the top three seeds—led by Caroline Wozinacki—have already been sent home.

Wozniacki’s third-round loss to Daniela Hantuchova became a further indicator that she could be headed for a Slam-less career. I fully believe that Caro has the grit and fight to win a Major, but I will also stand behind my view that any player in today’s game—whether it be the men’s or women’s—needs one or two viable weapons to capture a Major. Andy Murray and David Ferrer have come up short throughout the years because of their lack of firepower, and Wozniacki could be headed down the same road. She definitely has the luxury of youth on her side, but in order to get more pop on the forehand, or greater velocity on her serve, much needs to change.

Finally, with the exodus of many of the top women, defending champ Francesca Schiavone appears to have a great chance at adding more hardware to her mantle piece.

Continuing with her slash and crash style of play, Schiavone has earned a quarterfinal spot with the loss of only one set. With talented 19-year-old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova standing in her way of making the semifinals, Schiavone would then face either Svetlana Kuznetsova or Marion Bartoli for a spot in the finals.

However, with the crapshoot that is the current women’s game, no-one is safe, and nothing is guaranteed.

With that being said, for the betterment of the WTA and women’s tennis in general, I believe a victory by Sharapova would be the most beneficial scenario for everyone involved.

That’s it for me this week, folks. Check back next week for a wrap up of this year’s tournament.

—Nima

French Open Order of Play for Monday May 30, 2011

Monday’s order of play at the French Open can be found at the link below. Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Maria Sharapova will be in action.

Link: OOP

Djokovic Reaches Quarters at French Open; Records 43rd Straight Victory

Roland Garros—Paris, France

No. 2 seed Novak Djokovic recorded his 43rd straight victory on Tour after dismissing local favorite Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 during the fourth-round of the French Open on Sunday.

Winning 90 percent of his first serve points, Djokovic smashed 34 winners, while breaking his talented opponent on four of eight occasions. Saving all three of the break points against his delivery, Djokovic improved to 5-1 against Gasquet in lifetime meetings.

Continuing his remarkable start to the season, Djokovic is currently in third place behind Ivan Lendl (44) and Guillermo Vilas (46) for most consecutive matches won in a row.

The Serb will next face Fabio Fognini, who won a war of attrition against Albert Montanes 10-8 in the fifth set.

Former winner Roger Federer will have to wait until Monday to find out his quarterfinal opponent. Gael Monfils was leading David Ferrer by two-sets-to-one when their fourth-round match was called due to darkness.

Monday’s order of play will feature Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.

Federer Reaches 28th Straight Grand Slam Quarterfinal at Roland Garros; Fognini Wins Marathon

Roland Garros—Paris, France

No. 3 seed and former winner Roger Federer breezed into his 28th straight Grand Slam quarterfinal by dismissing Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 at the French Open on Sunday.

In a match that was dominated by the all-time Slam winner from start to finish, Federer struck 28 winners and broke serve on five of six occasions to improve to 9-1 against Wawrinka in lifetime meetings.

Losing his serve for only the second time in the event to trail 4-1 in the third-set, Federer quickly recovered to dust his Olympic Gold medal partner.

Not dropping a set en-route to the quarterfinals, Federer will next face either David Ferrer or Gael Monfils for a spot in the semifinals.

Federer owns a 16-1 overall record against Ferrer and Monfils. His lone loss against either player came during the semifinals of the Paris Indoors to Monfils last fall.

In perhaps the most entertaining match of the event thus far, Italian Fabio Fognini reached his first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal after he fought past Albert Montanes, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 11-9.

Needing four hours and 13 minutes to prevail, Fognini overcame cramps and five match points by his opponent late in the fifth set. Committing 103 unforced errors in total, Fognini began to hit out on his groundstrokes when his movement became compromised.

Using his flat-hit groundstrokes to move on, Fognini took advantage of his tight opponent late in the fifth set, irrespective of his nine senseless foot faults toward the end of the match.

Barely able to walk after his victory, Fognini will have to summon all of his recovery tactics in time for his quarterfinal affair against either Novak Djokovic or Richard Gasquet.

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