Roland Garros – Men’s Friday Preview

David Ferrer vs. Sergey Stakhovsky

David Ferrer has defeated Julien Benneteau in the second round of the 2011 French Open. The Spaniard has shown an incredible performance to win the match in straight sets. He won 90% points behind first serve and landed only 60% of first serve in, controlled the match from the back of the court keeping his errors low.

They met in Madrid in some faster conditions and the Spaniard won easily in straight sets. The Ukrainian won against Nishikori, the Japanese didn’t managed to keep the pace making more errors on court and being a little bit off on serve.

Ferrer is in good form and handled well Benneteau who was pushed by the crowd and we see another solid performance for the Spaniard, tomorrow scattered showers are expected in the morning and things could be slower which will help Ferrer.

Janko Tipsarevic vs. Roger Federer

Roger Federer had little to work out against local player Teixeira wining in just 84 minutes. He won a lot of points behind the serve but also the Frenchman was poor on retrieving and overall was a good training match for the Swiss as he will meet always dangerous Tipsarevic.

"I think he's a dangerous player on the big courts against the big players. He played really well against these players, so let's be careful. Let's be ready in advance, because he can vary his game on hard courts, on clay as well. He can do all sorts of things", said Federer about the Serb.

Indeed, the Serb cruised against Riba displaying a powerful ground game and wining 83% points behind the serve, and in early rounds against top players is very dangerous. He has a lot of upsets in his career and was close back in 2008 in AO against the Swiss to eliminate him.

 

Tomorrow scattered showers are expected in the morning and things could be slower which will help a little bit the Serb who has more fire power from the back of the court and resist well in long rallies. Not an easy match for Federer and an upset isn’t out of cards.

Fabio Fognini vs. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez

Fabio Fognini rose above the opportunity against Stephane and with a solid match in both serve and retrieving he easily won the match. The Frenchman after he beat Berdych he looked without ideas on court against a tough baseline display of the Italian.

He will meet now Garcia-Lopez who had a tough match against Ilhan and won in decider with 13-11 in almost four hours of play. A lot of ups and downs for the Spaniard who fired 13 aces but also made 17 double faults and only the low consistency of the Turkish player made that this match not have a different outcome.

The Spaniard has the edge on serve and power from the back of the court but the Italian has a good opportunity to advance further, he looks in good physical form and showed solid defense and will be hard for the Spaniard to hit through his defense.

Stanislas Wawrinka vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

French Jo-Wilfried Tsonga prevailed over Igor Andreev of Russia in straight sets in the second round of French Open at Roland Garros. Wasn’t an easy match and Andreev was a little bit lucky not to won the second set, things could be trickier as still the Frenchman doesn’t look in his best form. He was solid on serve wining 85% of points behind the serve, he made 33 unforced winners with 41 winners.

Which is interesting is that they met prior to Roland Garros in Masters Guinot Mary Cohr and the Frenchman imposed in 2 sets while they have only one meeting back in 2007 indoors.

The Swiss made a better second round match against Schoorel, he didn’t lost his serve and his ground strokes found their target slowly giving some rhythm from the back of the court. The Swiss only once managed to get past the third round in French Open, losing to top players like Davydenko and Verdasco, while Tsonga has two fourth rounds here.

The Frenchman has the edge on serve and power but also the Swiss can keep close with his serve and variety from the back of the court and also the Swiss looks better fitted in a five sets match.

Steve Darcis vs. Gael Monfils

In his second round match at Roland Garros, Monfils was cheered on by the French fans as he defeated his countryman Guillaume Rufin in four sets. Rufin didn't have any weapons that could trouble Monfils but on the background of a setback by Monfils he easily imposed. If we take apart of the second set Monfils looked good reaching a lot of balls and looking in good form.

He will meet qualifier Steve Darcis who beat Petzschner in 3 sets. The Belgian struggled a little bit in the first set but since then he controlled the match. They have only one meeting, back in 2010 indoors taken by the Frenchman, Monfils still is yet to show his best and the blackout in the second set against Rufin worries us a little.

Albert Montanes vs. Mikhail Youzhny

One of the trickiest matches today. The Russian headed to French Open with only one win on the surface but he managed to beat Soeda and Kukushkin to advance to the third round, but he failed to impress as his serve still doesn’t clinched. He has a quarter-final to defend but he is yet to smooth his game making a lot of errors on court, he made 80 unforced errors and only 76 winners in those matches so far, landing an average of 59% on first serve in.

Montanes never passed the third round in French Open losing five times and this poor record worries us a little bit, he had some luck to met Ancic, Nadal or Soderling while this match looks affordable. Overall the Spaniard played a little bit better and made less errors on court, he made 62 unforced errors but produced 91 winners being the player who went for his shots, also looks that the Spaniard has more sting on serve firing 23 aces and only 10 double faults.

Youzhny is the player who can mix up on court more but he has downs on serve and consistency from the back of the court making errors in long rallies while the Spaniard has the game and experience to keep the ball in play, he hit with a lot of power from the back of the court and also plays near the lines creating good angles and looks more consistency. Youzhny’s on his third win on clay this year while even that the Spaniard didn’t impress he won 11 matches on the surface this year and his loses came to tough players like Gasquet, Melzer, Andujar, Giraldo and Chela.    

Richard Gasquet vs. Thomaz Belluci

Playing at home, Frenchman Richard Gasquet managed only to equalize his best performance in French Open from 2005, third round where he lost to Nadal.

"Now I'm playing well. I have not committed many unforced errors, pulled tightly and I have been feeling well physically, too, which is very important", said the Frenchman after he won against Granollers.

He played some aggressive tennis and showed a lot of determination and concentration on court but he will have a tough task against Bellucci.

"I trained with him this week. He is a lefty and I expect a tough game. He almost beat Djokovic in Madrid after beating Murray and Berdych. It will be very difficult because I think he's a top 10 on clay", said about the Brazilian.

But also the Frenchman won against Berdych and beat Federer in Rome and is also in good form. The lefty heavy top spin has the edge against a one handed backhand but Gasquet has a lot of varieties on this wing creating good angles on short cross court on long line, while on forehand side we give a plus for the Brazilian who has more sting on this win, in fact Bellucci should play Gasquet more on forehand wing then backhand wing.

The match is played under a noisy crowd and Gasquet said prior to French Open that this year he wants to go deep.

Juan Martin Del Potro vs. Novak Djokovic    

The stunning Serb, who has won all seven previous events he has played this season, moved into the third round as Romanian Victor Hanescu quit with a left thigh injury, in a little under 90 minutes.

Djokovic said that it was tough to go through in only partial fashion, but added: “Bad luck for him, I played well throughout most of match. It’s important to spend the least time possible on court…I hope to play even better in the next round.”

But after his matches against Federer, Nadal which were close to beat him, meets the most dangerous player especially on this early stage.

The Argentine haven’t an easy draw but handled well Karlovic and Kavcic, his serve hasn’t same sting as on a fast surface but still can give him a lot of free points, also has a wide reach and good retrieving skills and can have an upper hand here while from the back of the court can resist well. Also, Del Potro is a stubborn player who if is pushed response with aggressiveness.

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