Roland Garros – Men’s Saturday Preview

Alexandr Dolgopolov vs. Viktor Troicki

The match between 2 Eastern European players brings on paper little differences between them. Both Troicki and Dolgopolov have matched their best French Open results, with both reaching the third round last year as well. They have little trouble advancing to the third round, controlling their games but also they didn’t have real challenges.

They have almost same stats on serve but overall the Ukrainian is the player who assumes more chances, he has 60 unforced errors and 78 winners while the Serb has 52 unforced errors and 73 winners. Both have a powerful serve and can win a lot of free points behind the serve, the weather looks sunny and conditions are on fast side, and the difference will be made on the ground.

Dolgopolov has more variety in his game, he can changed the pace better and breaks opponents rhythm with good drop shots, a good backhand slice and played better on the surface reaching one final this year.

H2h is 2-0 for the Serb with both meetings on fast side, the Serb will rely on power to blast his opponent from the court but he has to do that for 5 sets, the Ukrainian resist better from the back of the court and is a good counter punching.

Rafael Nadal vs. Antonio Veic    

Rafael Nadal once again struggled with uneven form at the French Open, to defeat his countryman Pablo Andujar. Losing twice to Djokovic and being close to lose his first position in the rankings seems that affected a little bit his mental aspect, he lost long rallies against Andujar but he bounced back from 5-1 in third set saving a lot of set points.

Despite the win, Nadal recognized that he will not be able to remain in the tournament much longer if his form does not improve quickly.

"What I'm lacking the most, no doubt about it, is my legs but that's because ... I have a little more nerves than usual ... and I've got to overcome that or go home and improve for the next tournament", said Nadal. He will meet Veic who won against a player who struggled on court and the Croat made the step on court and won. He will not have same comfort but if Nadal will play the same then will be another hard match but he needs a short win to boost his confidence.

Andy Murray vs. Michael Berrer    

After seeing off the flashy but inconsistent Frenchman Eric Prodon in the first round, Murray was given a tough battle by the talented Italian Simone Bolelli in very windy conditions. Berrer is through to the third round of a grand slam for the first time in his career having beaten the Frenchman Arnaud Clement.

Despite admitting clay is his least favourite surface, Berrer is happy to face Murray on the red stuff, saying: "If I could choose a surface, I think it's the best one to choose. It's my weakest surface and his weakest surface, so it's OK. I'll be motivated. He's serving well, he's playing pretty flat, not too much spin. But I think on these courts it's fast. It suits his game", said Berrer.

The German still doesn’t possess a real weapon on clay against the Britt, has no power in his shots to push the Britt too much and he needs to serve big and advance a lot to the net but Murray has good retrieving skills and if the point will last longer he will have the upper hand.

Juan Ignacio Chela vs. Lukas Rosol    

Trickier match then odds indicates. Both came after 5 sets match and both came after a good period, Chela in Dusseldorf while Rosol from qualifications and the level of fitness is a question mark.

Rosol is coming after a boosting win over Melzer, was a tough match which lasted almost four hours, he played some aggressive tennis making more errors on court, 100, but he came with the right shot when it mattered against a struggling Austrian.

Chela stayed less on court, only three hours and a half, making only 15 unforced errors in five sets but he struggled to read opponents serve and after he lost his own serve he didn’t bounced back. The Argentine has a good chance to advance deep in this tournament, he has the experience on his side and he feels physically well.

“I was hard at first but then I calmed down and ended up playing very well and physically whole", said the Argentine.

The odds are low but even that Rosol won against Melzer, the Argentine looks more consistent and plays better then the struggling Austrian.

Ivan Ljubicic vs. Fernando Verdasco

Fernando Verdasco of Spain came back strong after losing the first set to battle past Xavier Malisse of Belgium in 4 sets in the second round of French Open at Roland Garros in Paris.

He made some errors on court, even that his serve worked well, reminding a little bit of the player that was this year but he found the way to bounce back and the win will give him another boost of morale.

The Croat won against Querrey much easily then expected, his serve worked well firing 11 aces and wining 90% points behind first serve and this will be the main assets of his game. They have three meetings over the years and the Croat leads with 2/1 but Verdasco won the only meeting between them on clay.

Ljubicic needs to take this one in 3 sets as in a long and deep match Verdasco has the upper hand looking better fitted. Tricky match as the match looks that can go either way.

Mardy Fish vs. Gilles Simon

Mardy Fish has reached the third round for the first time, after beating Robin Haase in the second round much easier then anyone expected. He won 81% points behind the serve but also benefit by the amount of the unforced errors made by Haase who struggled to be decisive on serve.

The match is played in the night session when things are a little bit slower and also a lot of crowd will be on Simon’s side.

The Frenchman already won against another powerful hitter, Chardy, bouncing back after he lost the opening set. Simon relies on his solid defense and also has the chance to go further after back in 2009 he lost in the same stage to Hanescu. He played against Ljubicic in Masters Guinot Mary Cohr and Simon played well handling well opponents serve even that he lost, Fish needs to play aggressive tennis to step up on court and blast winners but Simon will catch a lot of balls and will force him to play long rallies and with the crowd factor.

Leonardo Mayer vs. Robin Soderling

Fifth seed Robin Soderling made smooth progress through to the third round of the French Open with a three sets victory over Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos.

"I feel good, my body is fine, I feel pretty confident. I think it's really important to take it one step at a time, one match at a time, and not think too far ahead. I will just try to play my best", said the Swede who still isn’t on his best conditions.

His serve started to click off against Ramos and once more will be the main asset against a tough opponent like Mayer. They have one meeting as the Swede beat him in a Davis Cup tie last year indoors.

The Argentine is also a powerful server wining 80% points behind first serve but he landed a poorly 49% of first serve in. Both can hit hard from the back of the court but the Swede has more power and he needs to keep his errors low, the match will stay on the player who’s serve will be more determinate and even that the Argentine won 5 matches here and will enter with a high morale.