Fognini must have channeled the spirit of Andy Murray.  Perhaps it was a cramp, but it seems like it was a muscle pull.  Whatever it was, late in the third set, Fognini was struck with something that impaired his movement.  He went to the only strategy that’s available if you want to keep playing.  Go for your shots.  Fognini sought medical attention between breaks.  He eventually played well enough to win the match, but doubted whether he would be able to play the next round, much like Andy Murray.

And Fognini decided he couldn’t play.  Mary Carillo said that she recalled an incident when she was young where Tom Gorman was struggling with injury against Stan Smith.  He was about to win, then retired, knowing he would not be able to play the next round, and allowing his more able-bodied opponent to continue.

She wondered if such chivalry was no longer part of the men’s game.  I think the answer is, no, it’s no longer a part of the game.  Your goal is to win the match, regardless of whether you are able to play the next round or not.  There are a few reasons.  First, there’s the record of reaching a certain round.  It means more money, and more importantly, it means points.  The further you go, the higher your seed is.  Just ask Jurgen Melzer who used a semifinal French Open in 2010 to stay up near the top ten.

Speaking of long matches, last night, David Ferrer was up 2-0 in the fourth, but was down 2 sets to 1.  He proceeded to win the fourth set when play resumed, but the wily Frenchman, Gael Monfils had chances to serve the match out several times, and finally broke through with a 8-6 fifth set.  Monfils had a break, but Ferrer came back.  Monfils plays just steady enough to keep up with Ferrer, but has enough power to hit winners from nowhere.

There was another marathon match in the weakest section of the draw with the veteran, Juan Ignacio Chela, playing Alejandro Falla who was hoping to be the first Colombian player to reach the quarters of the French.  Falla took sets 1 and 3, while Chela took sets 2 and 4.  However, Chela had a very easy fifth set, 6-2 to take the match.  Chela takes on the winner of Murray and Troicki.

Robin Soderling was applying his power game to the relatively slight Gilles Simon and won the first two sets easily.  However, despite a break in the third set, Simon came back when Soderling made errors that allowed Simon to keep even.  The two players kept even until the tiebreak.  Soderling steadied his game and Simon gave him a few errors.  Then, Simon managed to save a few break points before Soderling hit a hard shot up-the-line to take the tiebreak and to meet Rafael Nadal for the third consecutive year at Roland Garros.

Finally, Nadal won his match over Ljubicic.  This was not an unexpected result.  Ljubicic has good power and a good serve, but speed is his problem,  This is a good showing for Ljubicic who once faced Nadal in the semifinals, but is probably better on hard courts than clay.

Nadal will play Soderling in the quarterfinals, Djokovic is already in the semis, Federer will play Monfils, and the winner of Murray-Troicki takes on Chela.