The History of Men's Tennis (Open Era)

 4th quarterfinal:

(6)David Ferrer d. (4)Andy Murray            6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2                      [3:45 h]

It was a grueling battle (on Suzanne Lenglen) between two players with very similar clay-court skills. Ferrer after winning four consecutive matches without any problems, confirmed his great form jumping to a 5:2* (adv.) lead. Murray saved the set point and afterwards had two game points to level the score. In the 2nd set (almost entirely played in a drizzle) Ferrer came back twice from a break down but Murray prevailed in the tie-break thanks to very offensive attitude. The rain was heavier and officials decided to suspend the last quarterfinal as Murray led 1:0* in the 3rd set. It was a very good circumstance for the Spaniard because Murray is known for an ability to shift the momentum onto his side while winning a “contact set”, he had already shown it twice this year in Paris (against Nieminen & Gasquet) and many times in the past, also against Ferrer during their last year’s semifinal in Melbourne. The rain-break lasted between 6:45 p.m. and 7:12 p.m. local time. When players returned, Ferrer won the longest game of the match to take a 2:1 lead (five deuces, Murray squandered five game points). It was the turning point, Murray leveled in that set at 3-all but Ferrer’s ascendancy was visible more and more. The Scot began to signal back problems in the 4th set and made an unforced backhand error trying to save the second match point. He has been ousted before semifinals in Grand Slams for the first time since Australian Open 2011; Ferrer advances to his first Parisian semifinal in ten attempts (previously reached that stage in New York and Melbourne). “I thought I played some good tennis tonight,” said Murray. “I just didn’t convert. I mean, I had a lot of chances in the last couple of sets on his serve and I lost a lot of really long games on my serve, which didn’t help.”

3rd quarterfinal:

(2)Rafael Nadal d. (12)Nicolas Almagro    7-6(4), 6-2, 6-3                                [2:46 h]

Almagro entered this quarterfinal having won the last eight matches in straight sets, including victories over very good players (Simon, Baghdatis, Tipsarevic); he has strong serve and blistering forehand on the rise – all these things could indicate some problems for Rafa… if he had not won all seven meetings with Almagro… The older Spaniard showed his A-tennis in the first six service games, but since losing the opening point on serve in the tie-break his chances dropped drastically. Nadal is almost unbeatable in Paris, the only loss he has suffered occurred when he was outplayed in the 1st set (to Soderling three years ago). Everyone knows it, knows it Almagro as well. There’s nothing more to say about Almagro in sets Nos. 2 & 3 that he was on the court and won a few good points. Nadal records his 50th win in Paris, and his new shoes (with No. 6) won’t be probably up-to-date next Sunday when he will have won his 7th Roland Garros title overcoming Bjorn Borg, who celebrates today his 56th birthday. For Almagro it was third major quarterfinal, third in Paris against Nadal, each one in two-year intervals, below all these matches (played on Philippe Chartier):

2008: Nadal d. Almagro 6-1 6-1 6-1
2010: Nadal d. Almagro 7-6(2) 7-6(3) 6-4
2012: Nadal d. Almagro 7-6(4) 6-2 6-3

2nd quarterfinal:

(1)Novak Djokovic d. (5)Jo-Wilfried Tsonga     6-1, 5-7, 5-7, 7-6(6), 6-1                [4:09 h]

If Tsonga had won this match, it would have been one of the most remembering days in the modern French history of men’s tennis. If… Tsonga was atrocious through a set and a half. The serve didn’t work, the forehand was an error-machine. It allowed Djokovic to possess a pleasant, yet tricky 6-1 4:2 lead. Quite often comfortable leading against a dangerous opponent is delusive though – it was one of those cases, once Tsonga broke back, he was a different type of player. Especially that he knows how to deal with tight situations, and Djokovic almost lost three straight tight sets for the first time in his career… There was a drizzle in the 4th set, Tsonga held a double match point on return at 5:4 – it was the closest point out of four m.p. chances he squandered on that day: Djokovic played an overhead after a bounce, followed by a backhand volley, and Tsonga was in position he passes often well, but delivered too casual backhand and the No. 1 finished the point with a forehand volley. The second match point was saved with a cross-court forehand on the third stroke. Two games later Tsonga had two match points again, this time on advantages: first he made a forehand error, the fourth m.p. Djokovic fought off with a smash. In the tie-break Tsonga led 4:2* when a long rally occurred with a couple of slices from both sides, the Frenchman failed, and it was a turning point. This rally and that one which he won at 2-all (17 strokes – the longest rally of the match) cost him too much energy. Admittedly he saved a double set point, but at 6-all made a simple forehand error followed by a backhand error and enthusiastic Parisian crowd fell silent. The vast majority of supporters left the stadium, it’s tough to say unequivocally whether they felt correctly the final outcome or their lack of support made an impact on Tsonga’s powerless display in the decider. “As a tennis player, this is what you live for,” said Djokovic. “This is what you practise for all these years, to be part of an incredible performance, incredible match encounter here in Roland Garros with the home players. I’m really glad that I could win today.” Tsonga stated: “This is probably the most difficult defeat or loss in my career. It’s very rare for me to have match points and not win the match, so I [will] remember that because it was Roland Garros; it was a quarter-final.” Such a defeat occurred to him for the fourth time in 102 main level tournaments (Simon in Rome ’08; Clement in Lyon ’09, Nalbandian at Indian Wells ’12 & Djokovic in Paris).

1st quarterfinal:

(3)Roger Federer d. (9)Juan Martin del Potro    3-6, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-0, 6-3             [3:14 h]

It’s an unfortunate concept in my opinion that quarterfinals in Paris are played simultaneously on two biggest arenas.  On Tuesday, when Federer won his second match point against Del Potro, Tsonga held one of his match points against Djokovic on Philippe Chartier, fans on a stadium are excluded of following important events on a different court, fans in houses have to deal with switching between streams or TV channels… Anyway it was a high quality match through first two sets, especially in the 2nd set as Juan Martin broke back immediately in the middle of the set and saved three break points at 4-all. The Argentinan kept the strong ball consequently on Federer’s backhand not permitting the Swiss to mix the pace. Del Potro had never lost a two-sets-to-love lead prior to Roland Garros ’12, but… this tournament cost him physically too much. He was needlessly involved in 4-setters against inferior opponents (Montanes, Roger-Vasselin), losing sets in these matches despite being close to wrap them up. He also played about 30 minutes longer set against Cilic (than had been required, cause DelPo wasted six set points before took the set in a tie-break… saving a double set point). His bandaged left knee finally manifested itself with an increasing pain, and the US Open champion ’09 melted in the last three sets. Only in the 1st game of the final set appeared a ray of hope as he had two break points. “[The] second set was a tough set for me to lose, but he played a really good breaker and got the better of me. But I was happy that the first two sets took some time, because I did favour myself once the match got longer. I’m very happy with the way I fought and started in the third set, fourth set, and even in the fifth set, where, obviously, it was the toughest, because that was his last chance and his resistance maybe was the strongest there.” commented Federer, who since 2nd set of this match played much more convincing tennis than in his previous encounters against players of “lower leagues”. Federer has already beaten Del Potro on five occasions this year (four times in straight sets)!

5-set barometer:
19-16 Roger Federer, 17-5 Novak Djokovic, 8-4 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 4-5 Juan Martin del Potro

The 21-year-old David Goffin [109] of Belgium came to Paris with a humble 5-5 main-level record of 2012, yet became a tournament revelation. The young player was defeated in his last qualifying match by Joao Souza 3-6 6-7, but jumped into the main draw thanks to withdrawal of Gael Monfils. In the opening two rounds he won first career 5-set battles, ousting two veterans: Radek Stepanek and Arnaud Clement, from two-sets-to-one down on both occasions. In the third round he came back from a 2:5 in the 1st and 3:5 deficit in the 2nd set to beat Lukasz Kubot 7-6 7-5 6-1. The angry and frustrated Pole spat towards the Belgian in the 3rd set. Kubot was given a code violation by the chair umpire, he was probably upset by the partisan crowd with plenty of Belgian supporters… Goffin doesn’t look like a tennis player, his slender body building and lack of wristbands (wore a red one on right wrist in his fourth match) reminds more of a table tennis player. He is fast, takes the ball early and serves surprisingly well considering his posture. He has already inscribed himself to record books as the first player to reach last 16 in Paris being a “lucky loser” # “I had his photos and posters in my room,” said Goffin on Roger Federer. “Since I was very young, I watched him play on television. For me, for a long time, he plays near-perfect tennis, with perfect technique. And I also like him in human terms.” It was tough to expect that Goffin playing against his idol would be able to hold service games not facing a break point through almost entire two sets, but it happened on Suzanne Lenglen court! On third set point in the 1st set, Goffin played a stunning forehand DTL from the tram-lines and led 5:4* (30/15) in the 2nd set being two points away from a sensational two-sets-to-love lead – Federer responded with a bunch of good serves and the momentum shifted onto his side. The Swiss won by a 5-7 7-5 6-2 6-4 margin. He had an excellent draw to the quarterfinals (his highest ranked opponent is 78th in the world) and it’s really surprising that has lost three sets in the process.
In the same time on Philippe Chartier, an other 4th round novice – Andreas Seppi – was playing surprisingly good tennis against Novak Djokovic. The Serb started the match with a 3:0 lead, but Seppi better adjusted to difficult conditions (strong wind and penetrating chill – the temperature on Sunday dropped 10 degrees comparing to previous days). The Italian was spreading the ball with a terrific depth and accuracy, his best moment came as he broke Djokovic in the 5th game of the 2nd set with three consecutive winners, the last one after a rally in which No. 1 was invited to the net and immediately repelled. Seppi led 5:3* (30/15) in the 2nd set when Djokovic finally found his rhythm, broke back and was four times two points away from tying the match. The Italian survived an untypical tie-break, decided just by one mini-break on set point (Djokovic’s forehand error). Seppi, who played two consecutive five-setters, wore off, but cut a *0:3 (30/40) deficit in the 4th set and was two games away from producing an enormous upset – it’s a very long distance in tennis though, especially against such a clutch player like Djokovic, who stepped up and after 4 hours 18 minutes finished the contest with a drive-FH-volley directly after the return (4-6 6-7 6-3 7-5 6-3) improving his perfect record against Seppi to 8-0. “I didn’t have such a good start [to the third set],” reflected Seppi. “Maybe if I could stay in front or so in the third set, it could change a little bit. And that’s the only thing I could do better, I think, to just start a little bit better there, the third set.”
Stanislas Wawrinka was involved in two straight five-setters against local pupils. First, he ousted Gilles Simon 7-5 6-7 6-7 6-3 6-2 saving two break points at 1:3 in the 4th set, afterwards in a revenge of last year’s meeting on Philippe Chatrier he had to admit the Jo-Wilfried Tsonga‘s superiority. The Frenchman, saved a triple set point in the 2nd set (with three service winners, the last one second serve). Wawrinka despite a small injury won the next two sets easily. At *4:2 for Tsonga in the decider the match was suspended due to darkness. On the following day Wawrinka broke back, but Tsonga took the last two games and the match 6-4 7-6 3-6 3-6 6-4 – the advancement to the quarterfinals is his biggest result achieved on clay. “Today, I came on the court [in] good spirits,” said Tsonga. “I had a good night. I slept well. I was ready to play again.” The resumption was also required in the match between two tall hard-hitters, Juan Martin del Potro and Tomas Berdych. Del Potro avenged the semifinal defeat in Madrid, winning 7-6 1-6 6-3 7-5 (three sets on Sunday, the fourth one on Monday).
The strongest contender to the title, Rafael Nadal has been in a scary form. He was *1:2 (30-all) in the 1st set against very solid this year Juan Monaco when notched a 17-game winning streak! Poor Monaco had his chance to win just one game in both bagel-sets. “Very happy the way I played,” said Nadal. “I think he’s playing probably the best tennis of his career, but probably not today, especially the last set, when he started to miss. I saw him suffering a little bit on court at the end. He’s one of my best friends on tour. I feel very sorry for him.” Nadal’s semifinal rival of three Grand Slam tournaments last year – Andy Murray – survived second 4-setter this year concluded after an identical scoreline (!) 1-6 6-4 6-1 6-2, this time against Richard Gasquet who squandered a couple break points at 4-all in the 2nd set and fell apart. “The game was not in my favour,” said Gasquet on that game. “And then I lost my confidence, and then he was feeling good.”

Longest match: 4 hours, 33 minutes. Juan Monaco d. Milos Raonic 6-7, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4
Most aces: 26 – Milos Raonic, lost to Juan Monaco (third round)

5-set barometer:  18-12 Stanislas Wawrinka, 16-5 Novak Djokovic, 15-10 Fernando Verdasco, 14-7 Tomas Berdych, 10-10 Andreas Seppi, 8-10 Paul-Henri Mathieu, 8-6 Gilles Simon, 8-3 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-1 Marcel Granollers, 4-6 Juan Monaco, 4-5 Kevin Anderson, 1-1 Milos Raonic

# Farthest advancements of “lucky losers” in majors:

Australian Open: Glenn Layendecker (3rd round 1991)
Roland Garros: David Goffin (4th round 2012)
Wimbledon: Dick Norman (4th round 1995)
US Open: Fernando Verdasco (3rd round 2003)

I guess this match deserves a special entry because one record has been broken – the longest 5th set in terms of games in the Roland Garros history. Paul-Henri Mathieu [261], who didn’t play a pro-match in 2011, came back on Philippe Chartier court after three years (in 2009 he was beaten in the third round by Roger Federer), John Isner in his debut on this court took unexpectedly Rafael Nadal to a 5-setter last year. There wasn’t anything unusual on Thursday evening until the 5th set: one tie-break (two breaks of serve before), three sets decided by one break. Through a long sequence of the deciding set they both were serving perfectly and winning games on serve wasn’t any problem at all. When they reached 5-all after ten quick service holds, I thought that Isner would prevail considering his extraordinary experience obtained against Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon two years ago and Mathieu’s poor record in decisive tight sets. The Frenchman was displaying very positive attitude though, fist pumping many times, always after holding another service games. He was closer to make the final blow – 6:5 (30/15), 11:10 (40/0), 15:14 (40/15) whereas Isner had his chance only in one return game which occurred at 7-all, Mathieu saved two mini-match points, one with a service winner, the other one with a high forehand volley (Isner slipped trying to pass). Around 10-all Isner signalized fatigue, his 1st serve dropped around 30 km/h, but the high kick-serve and hard forehand kept him in the match…. until 34th game – on 7th match point he sent a forehand wide from relatively good position. Mathieu celebrated rather calmly, he was more emotional after shake-hands when saw the standing ovation. He had lost a few dramatic matches in Paris, so this victory is some form of consolation for him. “I remember Mahut’s match, so I just couldn’t believe it was over,” admitted Mathieu. “I had match point. It was tough. Every time I needed to concentrate and focus again on my serve, so when the match was over, I had trouble realizing it was really over. Before I used to become very tense at the end of a match like this. But in the fifth set I was always ahead. I was up in the scores and I was serving first so that it was an advantage.” Isner commented: “I escaped a lot today; it could have been worse. But I just didn’t get it done. I felt like I got caught in patterns that weren’t ideal for me. I was hitting every return to his backhand and he was stepping up and running me around. I’m not gonna win the point when I’m running side to side.” The American saved 20 of 24 break points faced on serve, all in vain in the end.
Mathieu’s next opponent was revealed in dramatic fashion as well: 28-year-old Malek Jaziri had a huge opportunity in the last second round match to beat Marcel Granollers (suspended on Thursday at two sets apiece due to darkness) producing the biggest success of Tunisian tennis in history. Malek had played one Grand Slam tournament before – US Open 2011 where he lost as a qualifier to Mardy Fish in the second round. Against Granollers, served at 5:4 (40/15) in the 5th set, but squandered those match points, another one, and lost three games in a row. The match lasted 4 hours 27 minutes (78 minutes on Friday). The Spanish player  returned on court some time later and spent on it additional two hours losing a doubles match along with Albert Montanes 6-4 6-7(5) 3-6 to Eric Butorac & Bruno Soares (the Spaniards led 5:3 in the tie-break).
Granollers and Mathieu met on Saturday on court No. 1, and the Spaniard survived the second straight 5-setter (6-4 6-4 1-6 4-6 6-1) in 3 hours 56 minutes (the latest concluded third round match) overcoming a beat-down in the second phase of the match (Mathieu had a break point for a 5:0 lead in the 4th set). Granollers has advanced to the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in 19 attempts. He has won his last six 5-setters.

ROLAND GARROS records:

Longest 5th sets in terms of games:
2012: 2R – Paul-Henri Mathieu d. John Isner 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16 *
2007: 1R – Philipp Kohlschreiber d. Lukas Dlouhy 6-2, 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 17-15
2004: 1R – Fabrice Santoro d. Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 16-14
1985: 1R – Darren Cahill d. Mark Dickson 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 2-6, 14-12
1994: 2R – Ronald Agenor d. David Prinosil 6-7, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 14-12

Longest matches: **
6 hours, 35 min. Fabrice Santoro d. Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-3, 6-7(5), 3-6, 16-14… 2004, 1R
5 hours, 41 min. Paul-Henri Mathieu d. John Isner 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16… 2012, 2R
5 hours, 30 min. Alex Corretja d. Hernan Gumy 6-1, 5-7, 6-7(4), 7-5, 9-7… 1998, 3R
5 hours, 4 min. Guillermo Canas d. Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-7(5), 8-6… 2005, 3R
5 hours, 0 min. Ronald Agenor d. David Prinosil 6-7(4), 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3, 14-12… 1994, 2R

Most aces:
55 – Ivo Karlovic (2009) 5 sets, lost to Lleyton Hewitt
41 – John Isner (2012) 5 sets, lost to Paul-Henri Mathieu
39 – Ivo Karlovic (2008) 5 sets, lost to Alejandro Falla
38 – John Isner (2010) 4 sets, defeated Marco Chiudinelli
37 – Andy Roddick (2001) 5 sets, defeated Michael Chang

* It’s the  fifth longest 5th set  (in terms of games) and 4th longest match in Grand Sam history
** Mathieu and Isner played the longest match in Paris within a day; all other four matches lasted two days, suspended due to darkness

The tournament kicked off without three Top 20 players: Mardy Fish, Gael Monfils and Kei Nishikori, but it’s tough to expect they could play important roles during the fortnight, especially the American, who has been out of form since last Autumn. Fish was diagnosed with fatigue, he had a procedure called “cardiac catheter ablation” on Wednesday to deal with misfiring electrical pulses in his heart. “It felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest,” he said. He has a lot of points to defend in the next few months so very likely will drop after the US Open outside the Top 20. Admittedly Monfils reached quarterfinal in Paris last year, but in his three clay-court tournaments this year obtained a mediocre 3-3 record.
In the first two days French 30-year-old-plus veterans delivered positive emotions for their Parisian supporters: “the marathon man” Nicolas Mahut [89] ousted in four sets Andy Roddick [30], who probably played next to last time in majors as a seeded player. The American in his last five matches managed to win just one set… against Mahut; Mickael Llodra snapped a 5-match losing streak ousting also in 4 sets, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez; Paul-Henri Mathieu was badly beating by Bjorn Phau but since 0-2 & 4-all (30-all) in the 3rd set, he completely dominated his German opponent winning 14 out of 17 games; finally Arnaud Clement [139], who had announced 2012 would be his last season in career, prevailed a 5-setter against Alex Bogomolov [46] in uncommon circumstances. The short Frenchman saved a match point with a serve-and-volley in the 4th set and torturing “new Russian” in the decider with drop-shots forced him to exceptional effort. After one of them Bogomolov suffered cramps, in the following points he was supposed to face first match point, but decided to avoid serving and retired at unusual scoreline being match point down (!), however, he had done the same thing last season at Queens Club (against Igor Kunitsyn) # Clement just after this 4-hour-17-minute battle was kissed in his right hand by Jean Gachassin – the president of Fédération Française de Tennis 🙂
The comeback man – Brian Baker [141] – proved that magical run in Nice wasn’t accidental. Just two days after losing the final at Côte d’Azur, the American playing in Paris thanks to “wild card” (clinched it triumphing at Savannah challenger in April as a qualifier) in his first major match since 2005, met a guy who had beaten him in the previous Grand Slam match at the US Open seven years ago – Xavier Malisse. This time Baker avenged that defeat eliminating the Belgian in three sets. “I kinda had a little bit of confidence, too, going out there,” Baker said after first Grand Slam match in seven years. “I wasn’t as nervous as maybe I was in the U.S. Opens in the past. Last week [in Nice] helped me a ton, just beating some of those good players. You’re gonna have more nerves in a Grand Slam match. It’s just part of the game.” Baker’s quick and acute backhand motion wasn’t formidable enough to jump over another obstacle – Gilles Simon, but the American experienced his first 5-setter, and it happened on one of the most famous tennis courts – Philippe Chartier. Baker was two points away from losing the match in straight sets when he played one of the best forehands that day, eventually lost 4-6 1-6 7-6 6-1 0-6 under three hours. It was second round match, in the first round, Simon’s compatriot Jeremy Chardy [55] experienced the same scoreline progress through three sets, but had to wait until the latter stages of the 5th set against Yen-Hsun Lu to finally make a celebration. Chardy led two-sets-to-love and 5:2* (30/15), he had a match point on serve in the following game, a triple match point at 9:8* in the 5th set to ultimately win 6-4 6-1 6-7 3-6 11-9 in 4 hours 10 minutes on Court No. 3. Third match of this type occurred on Court No. 14 – Ernests Gulbis, who defeated Andy Murray a couple days ago in two tie-breeaks in an exhibition meeting, still struggles with finding a form which moved him to French Open quarterfinals in 2008. In the first round against Mikhail Kukushkin, the flamboyant Latvian [93] had a decent prospect to get one of the most amazing comebacks in the Grand Slam history: he won the 3rd set despite facing a triple match point at 1:5* (0/40) and had a break point for a double break in the decider – Kukushkin [53] prevailed 6-4 7-6 5-7 2-6 6-4, he had beaten in similar circumstances Monfils during the last Australian Open.
Three best players in the world compete not only with each other in this tournament, but with the tennis history as well… Novak Djokovic is bidding to become the first player since 1969 to win four consecutive Grand Slams. Facing similar task, previously in Paris stumbled Pete Sampras (1994 – quarterfinal) & Roger Federer (2006, 2007 – finals), Rafael Nadal could win four majors in a row last year in Melbourne but was outplayed at the Australian Open quarterfinal by David Ferrer. Djokovic signed a new contract for his clothes just before the tournament, replacing Sergio Tacchini by a Japanese brand – Uniqlo. The Serb didn’t delight his supporters in opening matches with a new logo on his chest – admittedly he didn’t lose a set but had surprising problems in one set in each of his first two matches, against Potito Starace and Blaz Kavcic (the Slovenian ousted Lleyton Hewitt in R1 – first tournament for him since Australian Open) “I didn’t expect an easy match, that’s for sure. He is a specialist on clay,” said Djokovic on Starace “I have seen him in the past couple of years. He gave a lot of trouble to the top players on this surface. I tried to be aggressive on the court and take my chances. When I look at it now, after the match is over, maybe it was good for me to have the tough first set and try to find the good control and rhythm and movement on the court.” His statement about * Baker: “You know, he always had a very smart game, a variety of shots. I haven’t seen him play, though, this year, but, you know, it’s great to see him back.” Nadal still sticks to Nike but in a new color – orange has been replaced by the red, the Spaniard may tie Sampras’ record of number of triumphs in one major – seven. Federer has already broken a record of the most Grand Slam wins ##. The Swiss unexpectedly had to wait for it one set longer than everyone would have expected, because all of a sudden he lost a tie-break to Adrian Ungur (GS novice) from a double match point. The fourth biggest gun in men’s tennis – Murray suffered a back pain while serving at 0:3 in the 1st set against Jarkko Nieminen. The Brit needed a 3-minute medical time-out and 6-7 games to  return to his normal physical shape. The Finn led 4:2* (deuce) in the 2nd set when totally fell apart and lost 6-1 4-6 1-6 2-6 the match which at some rallies looked like a promise of a 3-set upset.  For these best players winning opening two rounds in a major is a walk in the park, for others sometimes it’s a career-best achievement, for example for a 32-year-old Nicolas Devilder [286] who threw his racquet into stands after winning match point against Michael Berrer. Devilder until 2007 never even played in Grand Slam qualifying rounds, this week as a qualifier he has reached last 32 of a major for the first time in life. The joy was tremendous, it’s tough to expect that probable bitter Devilder’s loss of Djokovic’s hands would overshadow triumph achieved over Berrer. Devilder’s compatriot Mahut also has been unexpected in the third round. In his second match, Mahut dismissed in four sets Martin Klizan of Slovakia, taking a game at 5:5 in the 3rd set after 12 deuces on serve (4-6 6-4 7-6 6-3). Mahut fired 20 aces in that match on Court No. 2. Fabio Fognini [45] becomes the Roland Garros legend. Every year he wins dramatic fifth sets on different courts ###. Two years ago he saved a mini-match point against Monfils (it could be the latest finished match in Paris but suspended), last year despite cramps survived five match points against Albert Montanes, this year withstood two match points against a specialist of losing match point-up encounters – Viktor Troicki. The Serb blew first m.p. leading 6:5* (40/30) when he tried to finish the point with a backhand DTL – netted, on second m.p. Fognini approached the net, played a decent volley and Troicki netted again, this time with a shaky forehand.

Longest match: 4 hours, 50 minutes. Kevin Anderson d. Rui Machado 7-6, 6-7, 4-6, 6-1, 11-9
Most aces: 26 – Kevin Anderson, defeated Rui Machado (first round)… [excluding the Isner-Mathieu thriller]

5-set barometer:

17-11 Stanislas Wawrinka, 14-13 Jurgen Melzer, 13-21 Radek Stepanek, 13-20 Arnaud Clement, 9-9 Andreas Seppi, 8-9 Victor Hanescu & Paul-Henri Mathieu, 8-5 Yen-Hsun Lu & Gilles Simon, 7-8 Viktor Troicki, 7-2 Gilles Muller, 6-5 Fabio Fognini, 6-3 Alexandr Dolgopolov, 5-2 Mikhail Kukushkin, 5-1 Marcel Granollers, 4-7 Thomaz Bellucci & John Isner, 4-4 Kevin Anderson, 2-6 Alex Bogomolov, 2-4 Ernests Gulbis & Rui Machado, 2-3 Flavio Cipolla,  2-0 David Goffin, 1-3 Michael Berrer, Malek Jaziri & Pablo Andujar, 0-3 Bjorn Phau, 0-1 Igor Sijsling & Brian Baker

# Alex Bogomolov’s retirements facing match point:

Queens Club 2011: Igor Kunitsyn 4-6, 6-6(3:6)
Roland Garros 2012: Arnaud Clement 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(4), 4-5 (adv. Clement)

## The most wins in Grand Slam tournaments:

234 – Roger Federer (1999-2012)
233 – Jimmy Connors (1970-1992)
224 – Andre Agassi (1986-2006)
222 – Ivan Lendl (1978-1994)
203 – Pete Sampras (1988-2002)

### Fabio Fognini’s dramatic wins at Roland Garros:

2010 – R2, Philippe Chartier: Gael Monfils 2-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 9-7 (4:16 h)
2011 – R4, Suzanne Lenglen: Albert Montanes 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 11-9 – 5 m.p. (4:21 h)
2012 – R2, Court No. 6: Viktor Troicki 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 8-6 – 2 m.p. (3:30 h)

* Djokovic lost to Baker (2-6 4-6) the only time they met – qualifications to Adelaide ’05. Baker as a junior beat the current best players of his age: Tsonga, Baghdatis, Isner (6-1 6-0!), Wawrinka & Stakhovsky.