Roger Federer (SUI) vs. Peter Luczak (AUS) Roger Federer opens his defense of Roland Garros by playing Australian, Peter Luczak. He is the second match on court at Court Philippe Chatrier. These two have never played each other. Quick. If you had to guess, is Luczak a young guy or an old guy (for a tennis player). If you’ve never heard of a player, just guess old (25 and over) and you’ll be in good shape. In this case, Luczak is 30 and is actually older than Roger Federer. Although Luczak has not been faring well lately, he did have some results earlier in the year that were reasonably good.
In Santiago, Chile, Luczak beat Potito Starace and David Marrero before losing to Juan Monaco in three sets. In Sydney, before that, Luczak beat Jose Acasuso (recall he gave Fed a tough time in last year’s US Open) and Tomas Berdych before losing to Mardy Fish. He pushed Rafa to a tiebreak back in the first round of the Australian Open.
He’s not likely to give Federer problems, but at least he has quality victories over top-ranked players, so he has some potential to give Fed problems.
Andy Murray (GBR) vs. Richard Gasquet (FRA) Perhaps the toughest of the first round matches. Gulbis-Benneteau was pretty tough too given Benneteau was on the verge of being seeded. However, Gasquet was once ranked as high as 7 (in 2007) and has a winning record over Murray. The two haven’t met since their epic 5-setter in Wimbledon 2008. Gasquet is also fresh off a win in Nice, on Saturday.
On the plus side for Gasquet: he grew up playing on clay and will have the local fans supporting him. He’s also fresh off a win, so he should be in good form. Furthermore, clay is Murray’s least favorite surface. Murray has never reached the finals of a clay event. However, Murray did reach the Monte Carlo semifinals in 2009 and reached the quarterfinals of the French in 2009. This year, Murray’s results have been worse, losing early to Kohlschreiber in Monte Carlo then losing twice to Ferrer in Rome and in Madrid.
Gasquet showed great defense playing Verdasco and was able to play clutch tennis to break back twice in the third set and force a tiebreak which he narrowly won. On the other hand, Gasquet’s leg seemed to be bothering him. It’s not clear whether this was a true injury or a tactic to disrupt Verdasco’s timing. If his leg is bothering him, then Murray will have a mild advantage.
Murray’s game was in bad shape in Monte Carlo, but with hard work, it’s looking respectable. Can Murray’s game, which is not that suited to clay be enough to beat Gasquet who seems to be peaking at about the right time? A first-round upset wouldn’t be all that surprising.
Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. Evgeny Korolev (KAZ) Korolev, unlike Luczak, is young. Indeed, at 22, he is younger than Djokovic who is 23. Korolev used to play for Russia but now plays for Kazakhstan, one of the former Soviet republics. Korolev looks a bit like young Marat Safin. He has a big game, but is inconsistent. The two have only met once, back in 2007 in Indian Wells. Djokovic won easily back then. This match should be a good bellwether of Djokovic’s game. Last we heard, he lost to fellow Serb, Filip Krajinovic, in Belgrade. Krajinovic is training at Nick Bollettieri’s, but there’s no way Djokovic should have lost to him. Djokovic blamed allergies for his woes and dropped out of Madrid the following week and took the week between Madrid and the French Open off.
Djokovic might be challenged somewhat. Korolev’s best result this year was at the Australian Open where he beat Daniel Brands (the guy who pushed Tsonga to 5 sets in the first round) in straight sets, then beat Tomas Berdych also in straight sets (Berdych seems to have a habit of losing to lower ranked players) before losing to Fernando Gonzalez in five sets. Clay doesn’t seem to be Korolev’s best surface. Korolev has only won one match on clay this year, against American Michael Russell in Belgrade.
Should be an easy Djokovic win assuming Novak has managed to recover from what ailed him.
Some of the other interesting matches of the day. John Isner will play Andrey Golubev. Can Isner make it a few rounds? He’s had decent success on clay which is a bit surprising. He made it a few rounds in Madrid and was in the finals of Belgrade. Victor Troicki plays Tommy Robredo. Robredo is seeded, but Troicki can be a tough customer. Robredo hasn’t had such good results on clay this year.
Remember Jesse Witten? He went through qualifying in the US Open and then won two rounds and gave Novak Djokovic a tough time before losing. Alas, he’s not very good on clay and has primarily played challengers. He’ll meet Marcos Baghdatis in the first round. Probably not going to be pretty.
Kei Nishikori returns for the first time since forever. Although he gets an unseeded player, Santiago Giraldo is not the guy he wanted to meet. He would be happier with Jesse Witten. Giraldo beat Juan Carlos Ferrero in Rome. Clay is Giraldo’s best surface. But good to see Nishikori back. Were it not for his injury, he might have been on his way to being Japan’s best player.
Another tough opener pits Thomaz Bellucci against Michael Llodra. Both are lefties. Bellucci is 22 years old while Llodra is 30. They’ve never met.
So no Rafa on Day 2. Gotta wait til Day 3, I guess!
