Early in the French Open, where daylight often lasts close to 10 PM, there was a significant controversy in the match between Gael Monfils and Fabio Fognini (that’s Fognini in the photo).  Originally, the referee had left it up to the players to play, and both seemed to agree.  Then, Fognini’s coach instructed him not to play anymore, so Fognini began to stall.  With a rowdy Parisian crowd chanting for more, and Monfils more than happy to accommodate, perhaps recalling a lengthy match he had with Roddick the year before, one that he won, the situation was tense.  The chair umpire penalized Fognini a point, and he barely scraped out his own serve game, then with Monfils cramping, Monfils barely saved his serve.

With barely a glimmer of light, the match was suspended, they came out the next day, and Fognini won a match that Monfils had been up 2 sets to love.

Perhaps this controversy with the French gave the British some pause and they decided they didn’t want to put it in the player’s hands to decide.

So they suspended play, even though there might have been 20-30 minutes of additional light.

This affected the John Isner-Nicolas Mahut match.  Isner did not have the kind of pleasant match that Querrey had.  Isner took the first set 6-4.  Mahut took the second set 6-3.  Mahut also took the third set in a tiebreak, 9-7 in the tiebreak.  Isner took the fourth set, also in a tiebreak, 7 points to 3.  It was at that point that they called the match and decided it should be completed tomorrow.

The other match that was similarly affected was between Thiemo de Bakker and Santiago Giraldo.  Giraldo won the first set in a tiebreak, 7 points to 4.  Then, de Bakker took sets 2 and 3, 6-4, 6-3.  Finally, Giraldo took the fourth set, 7-5.  Their match was also suspended a 2 sets apiece.

Speaking of Fabio Fognini who upset Gael Monfils at the French, few expected that Fognini would challenge the big hitting lefty Spaniard.  The other one.  Fernando Verdasco.  Verdasco had done well at Wimbledon before, so it came as a surprise that Fognini won this match in four sets: 7-6(9), 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-4.  Thomaz Bellucci won in straight sets over Richard Mello, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

Philipp Petzschner, who was awarded a 33rd seed when Ernests Gulbis dropped out, and moved into Nadal’s section of the draw, had to work hard to beat Stephane Robert of France in 5 sets: 6-4, 7-6(6), 4-6, 2-6, 6-4.  Petzschner reached the semifinals of Halle where he pushed Federer to two tight sets (but lost).

Michael Russell had another win for an American, winning over Pere Riba-Madrid of Spain in four sets: 6-3, 7-6(1), 2-6, 7-6(1).

Earlier in the day, two other Americans lost.  Robby Ginepri didn’t have much to faze the Swedish hammer, Robin Soderling, and lost 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.  Another “Rob”, Robert Kendrick gave Jo-Wilfried Tsonga a tough time, but lost in four sets: 7-6(2), 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-4.

Xavier Malisse who lost in the semis of the UNICEF Open last week and upset Novak Djokovic at Queen’s, needed five sets to upset last year’s quarterfinalist, Juan Carlos Ferrero: 6-2 6-7(6) 7-6(5) 4-6 6-1.

When you look at the overall results of the first two days of Wimbledon and look at which seeds have been upset, it has a distinctly Spanish flair, almost as if the entire group took a pact and said “If we all lose, we can join Gonzo in South Africa and watch World Cup football live”.

Here are a list of seeds that have lost so far:

  • Fernando Verdasco (seeded 8)  to Fabio Fognini (today)
  • Marin Cilic (seeded 11) to Florian Mayer (Monday)
  • Juan Carlos Ferrero (seeded 14) to Xavier Malisse (today)
  • Ivan Ljubicic (seeded 17) to Michal Przysiezny (Monday)
  • Nicolas Almagro (seeded 19) to Andreas Seppi (today)
  • Stanislas Wawrinka (seeded 20) to Denis Istomin (Monday)
  • Marcos Baghdatis (seeded 24) to Lukas Lacko (today)
  • Tommy Robredo (seeded 30) to Peter Luczak (Monday)

Of 8 seeds that have falled, four of them have been Spaniards.  To be fair, Spaniards make up more player in the men’s draw than any other nation.  Several of these players have done well historically at Wimbledon including Baghdatis, Wawrinka, and Verdasco.  Cilic was something of a surprise because of his rank.

Roddick and Djokovic play on Centre Court tomorrow and Roger Federer (shock!) plays on Court 1.  Hewitt, Monfils, and Berdych also play tomorrow on Day 3.