French Open (Roland Garros, 2014) Day 4 - Second Round

Serena Williams suffers shock second round exit

The biggest story of the day and of the tournament so far was that Serena Williams crashed out of the French Open in the second round. Muguruza played the match of her life as the relatively unknown star pulled off quite an incredible result. Serena made continuous mistakes throughout both sets and looked completely out of form. Nonetheless, it still took a whole lot of guts to defeat Serena Williams and Muguruza certainly was a credible winner. I guess if Serena is going to beaten early in a major it is most likely to occur at Roland Garros but it still comes as a massive shock to the tennis world when it happens. That result will give everyone else in the draw a humongous boost as the favourite bows out so early.

Meanwhile, in the men’s draw it was business as usual as the top guns cruised into the third round. Novak Djokovic made light work of Jeremy Chardy with a straight sets win whilst Roger Federer battled past Schwartzman after three well fought sets.

My opinion:

The men’s draw saw a couple of seed crash out, most notably 15^th seed Mikhail Youzhny who lost in four sets to Radek Stepanek. Not too surprised as Youzhny is either brilliant on the day or just not with it. The other upset saw Granollers defeat 20^th seed Dolgopolov after coming from two sets down to win in the fifth. That was pretty impressive considering the situation but Granollers is decent on the clay. Tsonga managed to defeat Melzer pretty comfortably, Berdych lost the first set to his opponent but came through in the fourth whilst Raonic overcame the promising youngster Jiri Vesely in three sets. Isner lost the first in his match but managed to progress whilst both Robredo and Gulbis moved into the third round.

Third seed Radwanska defeated Pliskova in straight sets and will fancy her chances of going deep into the tournament whilst Maria Sharapova was made to work hard for her third round place after overcoming a battling Pironkova. Despite winning the first set, Venus Williams was knocked out as Schmeidlova fought back to win the second and third sets. Thus, both Williams’ sisters were knocked out on the same day in the second round; something few would have predicted at the start of the day. Kerber, Cilbulkova and Stosur all progressed without any hiccups whilst both Suarez Navarro and Eugenie Bouchard had to comeback from a set down to win their respective matches. Taylor Townsend sent out a few shockwaves after defeating Alize Cornet in a three set thriller whilst Flavia Pennetta was defeated by Larsson in the third set. It was a real shame to see Sabine Lisicki have to retire from her match in the second set but she was losing and would have probably lost anyway. Hopefully, she will be okay for Wimbledon where she made the Final last year.

Men’s Singles Second Round Selected Results

Djokovic (2) beat Chardy 6-1, 6-4, 6-2

Tsonga (13) beat Melzer 6-2, 6-3, 6-4

Federer (4) beat Schwartzman 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

Berdych (6) beat Nedovyesov 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3

Gulbis (18) beat Bagnis 6-2, 7-5, 6-0

Robredo (17) beat De Schepper 6-2, 6-3, 6-3

Stepanek beat Youzhny (15) 6-0, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4

Raonic (8) beat Vesely 7-6, 6-4, 6-1

Isner (10) beat Kukushkin 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 7-6

Granollers beat Dolgopolov (20) 1-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-2

Women’s Singles Second Round Selected Results

Schmeidlova beat V.Williams (29) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4

Sharapova (7) beat Pironkova 7-5, 6-2

Muguruza beat S.Williams (1) 6-2, 6-2

Townsend beat Cornet (20) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4

A. Radwanska (3) beat Pliskova 6-3, 6-4

Kerber (8) beat Lepchenko 6-2, 7-5

Stosur (19) beat Meusburger 6-1, 6-3

Cibulkova (9) beat Paszek 6-3, 6-4

Barthel beat Lisicki (16) 6-1, 3-0 Retired

Suarez Navarro (14) beat Bacsinszky 7-5, 1-6, 6-4

Tomljanovic beat Vesnina (32) 7-6, 6-2

Larsson beat Pennetta (12) 5-7, 6-, 6-2

Bouchard (18) beat Georges 2-6, 6-2, 6-1

Men’s Doubles First Round Selected Results

Peya/Soares (2 )beat Istomin/Rosol 7-5, 6-4

Marrero/Verdasco (4) beat Lamasine/Lokoli 6-4, 6-2

Nestor/Zimonjic (3) beat Ebden/Tursunov 6-2, 3-6, 6-3

Bryan/Bryan (1) beat Emmrich/Kas 6-2, 6-1

Women’s Doubles First Round Selected Results

Peschke/Srebotnik (4) beat Davis/Moulton-Levy 6-1, 6-2

Mixed Doubles First Round Selected Results

Jans-Ignacik/Inglot beat Rosolska/Brunstrom 6-4, 6-4

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French Open (Roland Garros, 2014) Day 1 - First Round

S. Williams and Federer both progress into Second Round

Roger Federer started his French Open campaign with a straight sets victory over Lacko in comfortable fashion. The French crowd were treated to some delightful tennis from Federer, who came out on top with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 win over his first round opponent. It was just the way the popular Swiss player would have wanted the first round to go as he seeks a second French Open title. There were wins for Berdych, Raonic, Isner and Tsonga who all progressed seamlessly into the second round without dropping a set. However, 15^th seed Youzhny avoided a first round shock after coming back from two sets down to defeat Carrano Busta in the fifth set.

Serena Williams eased into the second round with a very dominant straight sets victory over Lim. The defending champion only dropped three games after starting her campaign very strongly and in devastating style. Third seed Radwanska progressed into the second round with a dominant victory over Zhang whilst Angelique Kerber cruised past Piter. There was a casualty amongst the seeds as 25^th seed Kanepi crashed out after being beaten 6-1 in the third set to Niculescu.

My Opinion:

No real surprises on the opening day of the 2014 French Open at Roland Garros. Roger Federer eased through whilst the top seeds in the men’s draw all progressed into the second round. However, Youzhny looked to be heading out after losing the first two sets but a great comeback saw the Russian through in the fifth set.

Serena Williams was in good form as she crushed her way past Lim in pretty easy fashion whilst Radwanska cruised her way past Zhang. Kerber and Suarez Navarro both progressed as expected but Kanepi was the first seed of the tournament to be knocked out. After winning the first set, all looked well for Kanepi but Niculescu hit back and claimed the second and third set to cause the first upset.

Men's Singles First Round Selected Results

Federer (4) beat Lacko 6-2, 6-4, 6-2

Tsonga (13) beat Roger-Vasselin 7-6, 7-5, 6-2

Raonic (8) beat Kyrgios 6-3, 7-6, 6-3

Isner (10) beat Herbert 7-6, 7-6, 7-5

Berdych (6) beat Polansky 6-3, 6-4, 6-4

Youzhny (15) beat Carrano Busta 3-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-0

Dolgopolov (20) beat Ramos 7-6, 6-4, 6-1

Women's Singles First Round

 A. Radwanska (3) beat Zhang 6-3, 6-0

S. Williams (1) beat Lim 6-2, 6-1

Kerber (8) beat Piter 6-3, 6-1

Niculescu beat Kanepi (25) 5-7, 6-3, 6-1

Suarez Navarro (14) beat Beygelzimer 7-5, 7-5

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