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ROLAND GARROS 2015 - DAY 4 IP: 46.255.183.159 Posted on May 27, 2015 at 11:23:29 PM by David Barnes
ROLAND GARROS 2015
WEDNESDAY 27 MAY - DAY 4
Serena Williams has 19 Grand Slam titles and admitted, after the Australian Open this year, that reaching or surpassing Steffi Graf's Open Era record of 22 titles is an important aim; late yesterday on Centre Court, against the qualifier Andrea Hlavackova from the Czech Republic, she was in suitably record-breaking form, winning 6-2, 6-3 in just under an hour; her opponent, who had come through the qualifying tournament and looked all the more jaded for the experience, was decisively and uncharitably blown off the court. Maria Sharapova, the defending champion, whom Williams will most likely meet in the final here in ten days' time, had a similarly easy passage in her second round match against Vitalia Diatchenko, ranked just inside the top 100. The Queen of Shrieks swatted aside her compatriot, only recently competing again after injury, 6-3, 6-1, with all the practised, clinical ruthlessness of Vladimir Putin dealing with an investigative journalist or a pesky Chechnyan dissident, albeit less tragically.
Another champion, Roger Federer, was playing Marcel Granollers over on Suzanne Lenglen court, while his place as a potential selfie target on Philippe Chatrier was taken by Kei Nishikori, the 5th seed, up against Thomaz Bellucci from Brazil. Federer took just under two hours to win 6-2, 7-6, 6-3 in an uneventful match - and post-match - exhibition of graceful power and elegance; the closest the Swiss got to discomfort or irritation today was with himself, after letting slip his opening service game in the third set, having been pushed to a tie-break in the second. He briefly cradled his head in his left hand, repeatedly shouted at himself when he allowed a 30-0 lead to disappear on Granollers' serve in the following game, before pulling himself together to break the Spaniard, equalling things up at 2-2, from which point he was completely dominant. "I played a horrible game. It was just very disappointing and frustrating", he explained afterwards. Even the Godlike have their moments of impatience with their own fleeting imperfections, it would seem - although in Federer's case, with no Grand Slam title since Wimbledon in 2012, imperfections are now more in evidence than in many previous years.
Federer's verdict on the match as a whole was as follows; "I think I was actually playing very well. I think I was in control. Even though I was down a break in the second set, I still felt the match was in my racquet. I was able to play with variation today. I was offensive. I was successful at net. So overall, I was very, very pleased". He went on to discuss his choice of racket, string tension, watching other matches while waiting for his to go on court, and the situation where players can request not to be umpired by a particular individual, as was the case with Rafa after his dispute with Carlos Bernardes in Rio earlier in the year.
Like the great Swiss legend, Rafa can extemporise in press conferences, especially when he feels more at ease linguistically, speaking in Spanish among journalists with whom he is more familiar, after the torrent of English questions has finished. He was on especially good form yesterday, revisiting the Bernardes incident (the umpire told Rafa that if he went off court to deal with his shorts, inadvertently arranged the wrong way round in the locker room, he would get another time warning), moving on to his uncle's and his comments on the new Spanish Davis Cup captain, Gala Leon Garcia, the current refusal of the ATP formally to admit that Guillermo Vilas reached the no. 1 spot in 1975, and the current problems with his forehand. As far as the latter is concerned, he admitted; "I try to practice more with my forehand. With my forehand I'm not as steady and consistent as in the past. Of course I can still impart some spin, but I'm not smooth enough with my forehand. I'm suffering from a lack of stability with my shots. I don't think my forehand is bad. It's still good . . . but I need to reach better targets".
Nishikori gave the crowd a full run-through of his rapidly maturing talents, in his 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 victory over the Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, the backhand being his chief weapon of choice yet again today, although having Cedric Pioline interview him afterwards was as egregious a case of 'the blind leading the blind' - in terms of linguistic intelligibility - as you are likely to find this fortnight at Roland Garros, given the state of both their English accents. One understood little of what was said and the handheld microphone seemed to make matters worse. What one can't help but admire, in contrast, is Nishikori's politeness when it comes to signing tennis balls and the like as he heads towards the locker room - no outstretched arm is too far away from him, no scrappy piece of paper too insignificant, no bright-eyed kid too distant or undeserving of his brief attention.
Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga were the two 'star draws' here today, at least for French patrons, on Philippe Chatrier and Suzanne Lenglen respectively, and those with tickets for the latter, where Tsonga put out the Israeli Duda Sela in three short sets lasting only ninety minutes, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1, will have felt short-changed. As they watched this one-sided affair, which never sparkled, they must have heard the roars of excitement and approval from the partisan crowd on Chatrier, as Monfils brought his match, and the tournament, to life, playing the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman, a man ranked outside the top 50, who is in only his fourth Grand Slam. Two sets to one adrift after nearly an hour and three quarters, 'la Monf' powered back in the fourth, with two breaks of serve, taking the set 6-2. Games went initially with serve in the fifth, the Argentinian saving two break points in his second service game, and another two in his third, before pushing a forehand just wide to give the Frenchman a 4-2 lead. Monfils finally won this titanic battle 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in almost three hours of pulsating, enervating tennis of the highest quality. Schwartzman, a wiry 22-year old, nine inches shorter than Monfils, six years younger, but matching the Frenchman shot for shot, was equally the hero of the afternoon; he showed tenacity, flair, and bravery, forcing the Frenchman to produce one of his trademark performances of mercurial, extrovert - and ultimately winning - brilliance. "Actually today I won because I had the crowd behind me", Monfils said afterwards. It was ever thus . . .
The British were also celebrating this afternoon, as Jamie Murray and John Peers came from a set down to beat Thomaz Bellucci and Joao Sousa 6-7, 6-4, 6-2. Andy Murray plays Sousa tomorrow in the 2nd round of the singles, so we hope the Portuguese man, who turned 27 today, does not seek excessive revenge for this afternoon's 'unsporting' doubles defeat.
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David Barnes/Topspin, 2015
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