French Open

Day 13 at the French: del Potro vs. Federer

When Federer sealed a win over Nadal in Madrid, 6-4, 6-4, a week before the start of the French, there were those that believed this was the year Federer would win the French. He had finally devised a strategy that would negate Nadal's advantage over him. He would win the elusive title. Of those who

Day 13 at the French, Soderling vs Gonzalez

Head-to-head results usually predict winners reasonably well in tennis. Federer against Roddick or Blake? Federer wins 9 times out of 10. He knows he has more weapons.But when you look at a match like Soderling vs. Gonzalez, what does it mean? Gonzalez has more experience. He's been to an Australian Open final. He's been in

Day 12 at the French

On Day 12, the women take over Roland Garros playing both their semifinals. Essential Tennis Tour News has been focusing on the men's draw, but since the men are taking a day off, let's take a peek on the women's tour.Dinara Safina played diminuitive Dominika Cibulkova, the 20th seed, in the semifinals. Cibulkova demolished Maria

Day 11 at the French Open

38-1.That's the record Federer had at the beginning of today against all potential opponents left in the French Open men's draw. It included Juan Martin del Potro, Tommy Robredo, Robin Soderling, Fernando Gonzalez, and today's opponent, Gael Monfils.His lone loss comes against Fernando Gonzalez, and that's compared to 12 wins against him.If anyone looks like

Day 10 at the French, Addendum

Despite his number 3 ranking, few expected Andy Murray to make a huge impact at the French Open. Murray himself said getting to the second week of Roland Garros would be good enough for him. Obviously, he wanted to do as well as possible, but it wasn't realistic to expect a title given his poor

Day 10 at the French, Early Edition

No, no, it's not that I forgot to post an entry on Soderling's win over Nadal. But how many people were predicting that Davydenko, off the strength of his beatdown of Fernando Verdasco, was on a crash course to meet Roger Federer in the finals? (Will H., I'm talking to you! :)). Former number 4

Day 9 at the French Open, Addendum

The last Frenchman standing beat the last American standing. Gael Monfils had a surprisingly easy match against American, Andy Roddick. They played the late match as light was fading and Roddick was hoping that they would call play due to darkness. It didn't happen. Instead, Monfils, surrounded by the cheers of jubilant Parisians hoping for

Day 9 at the French, Early Edition

Almost a day earlier, Rafael Nadal gave a gift to the rest of the field, in particular, to Roger Federer. He lost, shockingly, to Robin Soderling, the 24th seed, who had never beaten Nadal. Soderling complained, during the interview, that his 6-1, 6-0 loss to Nadal in Rome was actually much closer than the scores

Day 8 at the French Open–Shocker

When Roger Federer made the finals of the 2008 Wimbledon finals, he was going for a record sixth straight Wimbledon title, breaking Borg's five consecutive Wimbledons in the Open era. Could he surpass the amazing Swede? In the dusk of London, Rafael Nadal finally broke through, breaking Roger and holding to win his first Wimbledon.

Day 8 at the French Open

Victor Hanescu had yet to drop a set at Roland Garros, but his opponent, Fernando Gonzalez had yet to drop a set either. Someone had to give, and that someone was Hanescu. Here's a telling stat. Hanescu had 16 winners to 8 unforced errors. A pretty tidy match for Hanescu. In a straight set blowout,

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