French Open

The French and the famed Terre Battue of Roland Garros have something going on in Paris. Especially the French men! Seven, count that, seven Frenchmen have moved to Round Three. To the delight of the excited home crowds and tournament organizers, French superstars Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the ninth seed, and Gael Monfils, the 11 seed, led a pack of seven Frenchmen past round two into muddier waters. Five of the clay experts are in the lower portion of the draw while Josselin Ouanna, a five set (7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 3-6, 10-8) upset winner over 20th seeded Marat Safin and 7th seeded Gilles Simon, a straight set (7-5, 6-0, 6-1) winner over American Robert Kendrick battle up top. In fact, the upper bracket foes may end up playing each other in Round four. The ninth seeded Tsonga committed 46 unforced errors but belted out an emotional win (7-5, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (8)) over Argentina’s Juan Monaco to move out in the tough upper bracket of the lower draw. There is nothing subtle about Tsonga’s game. It is all or nothing with the husky Frenchmen. Jo-Wilfried takes it all onto the court and plays well to the excitable French fans. Tsonga is not known as the typical, patient clay-court specialist. His all-or-nothing style was out in force on Day Five. Tsonga finds himself in the most difficult quarter bracket with other hard-hitting heavyweights, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic (4) and Argentina’s Juan-Martin Del Porto (5). The three heavyweights comprise an imposing draw with Del Porto and Tsonga likely 4th round opponents with the winner meeting Djokovic in the quarters. A year ago, the testy Del Porto was the 67th ranked player in the world. His meteoric rise is well justified. The bookmakers continue to like his chances. The 11th seeded Gael Monfils prevailed over a lackluster performance by Romania’s Victor Crivoi (6-4, 6-3, 6-3). Monfils appears on track for a 4th round match up with American Andy Roddick who is through the second round for the first time since 2001. Roddick will first have to get past French clay court expert Marc Gicquel. The sixth seeded American will have to be at his best against Gicquel and his throng of supporters. Roger Federer found himself at 7-6 (8), 5-7, 1-5 in the third set against lightly regarded Jose Acasuso before the Argentinean rolled his ankle. Unable to put the set away, Acasuso became tentative as Roger seized the momentum. Federer closed out the third set 7-6 (2) and then 6-2 in the fourth. On Day Six, the top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal will be on court along with Scotsman and newly focused Andy Murray. Nadal will be battling it out with former world number one and a spirited competitor himself, Lleyton Hewitt. Murray should have an easier time with Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic. Things are heating up in Paris as the weather prediction calls for a clear and warmer front.