The History of Men's Tennis (Open Era)

Just like during an adequate stage of the Australian Open ’11, the third round at Roland Garros disappointed. There weren’t any upsets, only one 5-set match was played, in which the final outcome was predictable in the last two sets…
Rafael Nadal [1] after awkward first two matches, came back on the right track trashing Antonio Veic [227] 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 in 101 minutes to improve his sensational Roland Garros record to 41-1! Similarly easy passage had Roger Federer, Robin Soderling and Andy Murray (twisted his right ankle in the 2nd set) – all guys dropped just 7-8 games during their straight set victories.
Novak Djokovic [2] made a new record # of the most successive wins in a season – 40 – overcoming Juan Martin del Potro [26] in the first match of this year’s Roland Garros which lasted two days – the match was suspended due to darkness at one set apiece. Djokovic drew conclusions after the first two sets and changed his tactics on Day two, playing consequently on Del Potro’s weaker backhand. The Serb won in four sets (6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2) and said: “I knew before the match he was going to be a difficult opponent to beat. I went into the match a bit more nervous than usual and we both made a lot of unforced errors at the start. I think I was managing to control my game a little bit better today and I think that resulted in the win.”
In the most interesting third round battle between two 26-year-old players, Stanislas Wawrinka [14] came back from the brink against 20 days younger Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [17]. Wawrinka trailed 0-2 in sets and *1:4 in the 3rd set. Tsonga leading 6:5 was only two points away from victory, also at 5:4* in the tie-break. The high quality tennis disappeared after the tie-break in a consequence of Tsonga’s physical problems. Admittedly he began the 4th set with a break, but since then, Wawrinka took control on the occurrences and converted his third match point in a shaky last game to win the second time in his career escaping from a tie-break at a 0-2 deficit in sets ##.
Alejandro Falla with Juan Ignacio Chela and Fabio Fognini with Albert Montanes found themselves in the same section of the draw in the last 16, and it means that at least two unseeded players (Ivan Ljubicic may be the third one) will appear in the quarter-finals. One first-time quarter-finalist in majors is guaranteed from a Fognini-Montanes pair. The only qualifier in the last 16, Falla says: “I was having a lot of trouble; I was almost beaten by a German in the second round of the qualifiers. I managed to get through it, and that was the turning point.” The Colombian was a break down in the 2nd set and a point from a *1:5 deficit in the 3rd set of his match against Sebastian Rieschick (Falla won 1-6, 6-4, 7-5).

Longest match:
4 hours, 3 minutes: Stanislas Wawrinka d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6, 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-3

Most aces:
12 – Alexandr Dolgopolov and Viktor Troicki in a 4-setter against each other

5-set barometer:

15-9 Stanislas Wawrinka
5-2 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

# The five longest streaks to open a season (season! not year):

40 – Novak Djokovic (2011)
39 – John McEnroe (1984)
25 – Ivan Lendl (1986)
19 – John McEnroe (1985)
18 – Bjorn Borg (1980)

## Wawrinka’s two similar 5-set wins (won tie-break at 0-2):

US Open 2006, 2R: Robin Soderling 6-7(4), 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-0, 6-1
Roland Garros 2011, 3R: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6, 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-3

On Court No. 17, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez [33] and Marsel Ilhan [123] played one of the longest Parisian 5-setters in terms of games in the decider #. The Spaniard, who seeks his first fourth round in majors (26 appearances), saved a triple mini-match point at 5:5 and won 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, 4-6, 13-11 in 3 hours 58 minutes, obtaining the only break of the 5th set in the final game.
All Top 5 players moved safely through into the third round, however in different styles. Roger Federer [3] had a training session against Maxime Teixeira [181], for whom the second round at the Roland Garros was the best result in career. During his 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 win, Federer notched a 13-game winning streak. The match lasted 84 minutes, 8 minutes less than a third set of Rafael Nadal’s [1] encounter against Pablo Andujar [48]. The defending champion saved a personal record of eight set points in a 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(4) victory in 3:18 hrs on the Suzanne Lenglen court. Andujar led *5:1 (40-0) in the 3rd set, had an adv-SP and another 4 set points in the following game. He led also 30-0 at 5:4! After a similar scoreline (7-6, 6-4, 7-5) to the third round advanced Andy Murray [4], he rallied from a 3:5 deficit in two sets. “It was so difficult because the wind wasn’t consistent; it was swirling the whole time,” explained Murray his troubles against Simone Bolelli [126]. “There was no real rhythm and your legs get kind of tired too because you’re doing so many small adjustment steps. It was really tricky today“.
Novak Djokovic [2] wasn’t even forced to play full three sets because his opponent Victor Hanescu [60] retired (left thigh strain) in the middle of the 3rd set; it’s interesting that he did it against Djokovic for the third time in six meetings! I’m looking forward to D’Joke’s next match against Del Potro. The Serb has won 41 straight matches, the Argentinian 9 (21 out of last 23). “It’s going to be a great match, a battle, and he has always had a quality to be at the top of the men’s game“, Djokovic said. “He is playing equally well on any surface. Big serve, great groundstrokes. For his height he’s moving really well. He’s just overall a top player for me. It’s going to be a big challenge for both of us, obviously a great match for people to see.”
Six qualifiers are still in the tournament after first two rounds. Lukas Rosol [111] becomes the biggest revelation among them. Tall (196 cm) and skinny Czech has won two consecutive 5-setters. Today against last year’s semifinalist Jurgen Melzer [8], came back from the brink – *1:4 (15-30) in the 4th set (Melzer missed an easy overhead), then saved two match points at 5:6 – the first one with an ace, the second one with risky backhand cross-court immediately after Melzer’s return. In the 5th set Melzer leveled from 1:4 to “4 all”, but Rosol prevailed with his offensive, uncompromising ground-strokes. Rosol won just two ATP matches before the Roland Garros ’11. Melzer will drop out of the Top 10 and probably will never come back…
The organizers can’t complain so far, their four best players (Simon, Tsonga, Monfils and Gasquet) didn’t waste too much energy, each of them won his match in a more than 2-hour battle. Gilles Simon [18] managed to do this just before the darkness. His match (4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-4) with fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy [61] was finished at 9:37 p.m. – the latest finished men’s match in the Roland Garros history. Chardy had a break point in the last game – if had converted it, the match most likely would have been suspended to Friday.

In the first round in doubles, Daniel Nestor claimed his 800th doubles match win as the first man in history ##, partnering Max Mirnyi to a 7-6(6), 6-3 victory over Frenchmen Gael Monfils and Josselin Ouanna. “To be honest, I wasn’t thinking about it,” said Nestor. “I was reminded back in the locker room but it’s not something I was thinking about during the match.”

Longest match:
3 hours, 59 minutes: Lukas Rosol d. Jurgen Melzer 6-7(4), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4

Most aces:
24 – Marsel Ilhan, five sets, lost to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez

5-set barometer:

13-11 Jurgen Melzer
12-8 Nikolay Davydenko
6-8 Juan Ignacio Chela
3-3 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez
2-4 Kevin Anderson
2-1 Marsel Ilhan
2-0 Antonio Veic
2-0 Lukas Rosol

# The six longest Roland Garros matches in terms of games in the 5th set (the Open era):

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
1992: 2R – Emilio Sanchez d. Wally Masur 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 13-11
2011: 2R – Guillermo Garcia-Lopez d. Marsel Ilhan 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, 4-6, 13-11

## Five players with the most wins in doubles (the Open era):

1). 800 – Daniel Nestor
2). 782 – Todd Woobdridge
3). 729 – Mark Knowles
4). 723 – Sherwood Stewart
5). 709 – Jonas Bjorkman

The five-time Roland Garros champion – Rafael Nadal [1] – changed colour of his shirt (from yellow to blue) and stepped onto the court in new shoes with a revealing number “5” which has to indicate the number of his triumphs in Paris, however, today only reminded that Nadal is a 5-set master #. Today’s opponent John Isner [39] is tough, but rather out of form lately and we could expect Nadal’s straight set victory. Perhaps the Spaniard has lost a bit of his confidence after two defeats to Djokovic on clay within seven days and played below his normal level – lost the 2nd set despite ‘4:2’ up and the third one despite a set point at 6:5*. Isner couldn’t stand the pace though, and lost the next two sets explicitly. In the crucial 3rd game of the final set, Nadal passed him three times in a row with returns. Credit to Isner for his fighting spirit, he saved a match point at 3:5, and played a great rally from the baseline at 30-30 in the following game. The champion converted his first match point with powerful forehand and prevailed after 4-hour battle – his first 5-setter in Paris! “Always it’s very, very close match against John because with his serve he arrives to the tiebreak and you play under pressure all the time,” Nadal said. “For moments in the tiebreak, I didn’t play very well. I was probably too nervous.”
Theoretically the fourth best clay-court player at the moment (24-6 record in ’11) beside Djokovic, Nadal and Ferrer, Nicolas Almagro [12] was stunned by a qualifier Lukasz Kubot [122], whom had beaten in three previous meetings. The Spaniard, who notched his 10th career title three days ago in Nice, after winning easily the first two sets, led 5:4* (30-15) in the 3rd set – Q-bot won the point with a combination of smash and volley. Almagro led 4:2 and had a double mini-match point in the 7th game of the 4th set, but Kubot escaped again. ‘Cabeza’ was serving at 6:5 and again was two points away from victory at 30-15, although Kubot leveled at two sets apiece. In the decisive set Almagro led 3:0*, but couldn’t maintain his lead also this time and after 3 hours and 50 minutes the Pole celebrated one of the most amazing wins of the season. Only a few players lose a match in career being close to win all losing sets leading 2-0, Almagro has suffered this type of loss for the second time! ##
Two veterans, former Australian Open finalists, and the oldest players of this year’s Roland Garros, Rainer Schuettler (35 years) and Arnaud Clement (33.5 years), maybe this year for the last time appeared in the main draw. Today, Clement [158] won a tight 4-set battle against Filippo Volandri [73] 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(9), 6-4 (the Italian led 4:0 in the 3rd set and had 3 set points in the tie-break) whilst Schuettler [98] was outplayed by Alexandr Dolgopolov [22] in straight sets. The second section of the draw is wide open, I suppose only Dolgopolov can inhibit Andy Murray in the 4th round from advancing for the first time in career to the Parisian semi-finals.

Longest match:
4 hours, 1 minute: Rafael Nadal d. John Isner 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-4

Most aces:
22 – Kevin Anderson, four sets, defeated Nicolas Mahut

5-set barometer:

15-3 Rafael Nadal
12-12 Xavier Malisse
11-6  Dmitry Tursunov
8-8 Nicolas Almagro
7-4  Lukasz Kubot
3-5 John Isner
2-2 Edouard Roger-Vasselin
1-0 Lukas Rosol

# Top 5 in 5-setters in the Open era by percentage (at least 15 matches)

1. (.833) 15-3 Rafael Nadal
2. (.818) 18-4 Johan Kriek
3. (.813) 13-3 Ross Case
4. (.812) 26-6 Bjorn Borg
5. (.762) 16-5 Harold Solomon

## Almagro’s two defeats being close to win all losing sets at 2-0 ahead:

US Open ’08, 3R: G.Muller  7-6(3), 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-7(6), 5-7
Roland Garros ’11, 1R:  L.Kubot  6-3, 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-7(5), 4-6

Novak Djokovic [2], the main contender to the title (along with the defending champion Rafael Nadal), has successfully begun his Roland Garros campaign. The Serb outplayed in the first round Thiemo de Bakker [71] 6-2, 6-1, 6-3, notching the # 40th consecutive win and improving his record in 2011 to 38-0! He displayed his amazing form especially in the 3rd game of the 2nd set when hit two winners from the baseline, drive-volley and finished the game with a combination of overhead and dropshot. Djokovic: “It was a great first match for me in Roland Garros. I was serving really, really well and being very aggressive, using every opportunity to step into the court. I was quite in control of the match.”
Very likely in the eagerly anticipated third round encounter, Djokovic will meet Juan Martin del Potro. The Argentinian [26] needed four sets (6-7, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4) to dispatch Ivo Karlovic [148]. ‘DelPo’ saved three break points in the vital 6th game of the 3rd set… On the opposite pole to Djokovic is Andrey Golubev [44]. The Kazakh lost today his 12th straight match (in four tight sets to Thomaz Bellucci) – it’s 10 matches away to overcome Vincent Spadea‘s shameful record of 21 consecutive defeats (1999-2000).
The biggest upset of the day came from Court No. 2 where last year’s semi-finalist Thomas Berdych [6] won easily first two sets against qualifier Stephane Robert [140]. 31-year-old Frenchman delighted his supporters winning convincingly another two sets. In the topsy-turvy 5th set, Berdych led 4:2 and had a match point at 5:4 – Robert saved it with a service winner, and got the next point with a forehand winner breaking string in his racquet. Five games later, Robert broke his opponent with six winners in just one game (!) and made his first win (3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 9-7) being one point away from defeat, simultaneously getting the first 5-set triumph and beating for the first time in career a Top 10 player. “I gave it all today,” said Robert, who hit 62 winners. “I fought for my life.” Berdych concluded “That’s tennis. That’s what can happen in the long matches. Sadly it happened to me today.” Berdych last year lost in Paris also in a 5-set match, but then it was a semi-final clash.

Longest match:
4 hours, 27 minutes: Albert Ramos d. Javier Marti 6-3, 6-7(5), 4-6, 6-1, 6-3

Most aces:
22 – Ivo Karlovic, lost in four sets to Juan Martin del Potro

5-set barometer:

13-7 Thomas Berdych
1-2 Stephane Robert
1-0 Albert Ramos
0-1 Javier Marti

# 40th consecutive win:

Guillermo Vilas d. H.Gildemeister 6-1, 6-2 (Paris 1977, QF)
Bjorn Borg d. B.Carmichael 6-0, 6-0 (Bastad 1978, 2R)
Ivan Lendl d. S.Davis 6-1, 6-3 (La Quinta 1982, 1R)
John McEnroe d. J.Higueras 6-4, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 (Roland Garros 1984, QF)
Roger Federer d. T.Haas 6-4, 7-5 (Dubai 2007, SF)
Novak Djokovic d. T.De Bakker 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 (Roland Garros 2011, 1R)

Roland Garros is the only major which starts on Sunday, it’s a relatively fresh tradition (since 2006). Among most notable players we can’t see in Paris Andy Roddick [11] and David Nalbandian [22]. Also former champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, his compatriot Tommy Robredo and Fernando Gonzalez withdrew – all guys injured.

The biggest upset of the first day made 33-year-old Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo [99]. The Spaniard lost nine consecutive first round matches in major, not having won a match at this level since Roland Garros 2006! Today he ousted 19th seeded player Marin Cilic 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-4. The Croat served twice to win the 1st set, was two points away in three different games. In the 3rd set he cut the deficit from *1:5 (30-30) to 4:5* (30-0), but experienced Spaniard kept his nerves and won the last four points of the match. “It’s my greatest victory this season, that’s for sure,” Ramirez-Hidalgo said. “I would not say this is the beginning of a new career, because I’m too old for this, but it’s a kind of relief.”
Cilic’s peer, Ernests Gulbis [85], who had aspirations once to win a major, has suffered sixth straight Grand Slam defeat, without even winning a set (0-20 in sets in Grand Slams since Wimbledon ’09!!). Today he was beaten by Blazs Kavcic [79] collecting just seven games. The best players which appeared on day one, David Ferrer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga notched comfortably wins on Court Philippe Chatrier. Lleyton Hewitt (hasn’t played a match in the last two months) pulled out with a foot injury just hours before he was supposed to play against Albert Montanes… 16 matches were played on the first day.

Longest match:
3 hours, 52 minutes: Maxime Teixeira d. Vincent Millot 6-2, 5-7, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-1

Most aces:
13 – Sergiy Stakhovsky, defeated David Guez in four sets

5-set barometer:

1-0 Maxime Teixeira
0-1 Vincent Millot