Tennis News

An all-Spanish match-up is scheduled to take place Thursday afternoon, as nine-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal and Nicolas Almagro meet for a spot in the third round at Roland Garros. This is a particularly intriguing match-up, as Nadal lost to Almagro for the first time in his career last season on clay. Nadal leads Almagro in the head to head series 12-1.

In typical fashion at his favourite event, Rafael Nadal began his Roland Garros campaign on Monday afternoon with a straight sets win against wildcard Quentin Halys 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 50 minutes.

“When I had the chance to play normal points, I think I changed [rallies with] good directions with my forehand [and] very good forehands down the line,” said Nadal. “After the first three games, when I started a little bit slow, then I start moving the ball better. I am happy with the way that I played. It is the first match and I played well enough. I think my forehand worked well for a lot of moments.”

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Nadal will next come up against Nicolas Almagro, who needed four sets to defeat Alexandr Dolgopolov. The Spaniard won the match 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(6). He will now attempt to deny Nadal a tenth title at the French Open when they meet in the second round.

This marks the 14th time these two competitors will clash on the ATP World Tour, with Nadal holding a solid 12-1 record against Almagro. The record includes an 8-1 clay court record, including ones in Barcelona and Acapulco in 2013. However, Almagro shocked the tennis community last season when he rallied from a set down to beat Nadal in the decider of the Barcelona quarter-final. Even though Nadal avenged that loss this season in Barcelona, he will have to repeat that feat again on Thursday.
 

For the first time in six years, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Dudi Sela will cross paths on the professional tour. The last time they met was back in 2009 at the Australian Open and they will now go out and rekindle their rivalry at yet another Grand Slam tournament. Overall, Tsonga leads the head-to-head series 2-0 and will look to remain undefeated against Sela en route to the third round in Paris.

In his opening match at Roland Garros, Tsonga faced little difficulty and managed to advance to the second round of the tournament relatively unscathed. He defeated Swedish qualifier Christian Lindell in straight sets 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. He struck 35 winners, fired four aces and won 91% of his first service points as well.

“Today I played a good match,” said Tsonga. “I was really in the match. I was solid from the very first minute, and therefore I was more relaxed afterwards. Then things went on well after that. I was aggressive the way I had to be. I played well. I played a good match, and therefore, I didn’t have to stay too long on the court.

“The conditions are good for me here in Paris at Roland Garros. I will continue. Next round I will try and be serious from the very beginning, and I will play my best tennis, I will try, and at the end, we will see. We will see if this match will give me more confidence or not.”

The former semi-finalist at the French Open will next encounter Dudi Sela in the second round of the tournament, who reached that stage of the event following a straight sets win against Mikhail Kukushkin. The Israeli won the match 7-6(5), 6-3, 7-6(4).

This marks the third time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Tsonga leading the head-to-head series 2-0. The first win took place back in 2008, while the second came during the 2009 Australian Open. Both wins were on hard courts.

An all-Czech second round match is scheduled to take place on Wednesday afternoon in Paris, as Davis Cup teammates Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek cross paths once again on the professional circuit. Of their three previous meetings on the tour, Berdych leads the head-to-head series 2-1. However, this marks their first meeting on the tour in four years, as well as their first on clay.

Seeded fourth at this year’s event, Tomas Berdych advanced to the second round of the French Open with next-to-no trouble at all. He defeated qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka in straight sets 6-0, 7-5, 6-3 to secure his spot in the following round of the tournament. It was a solid win for the Czech, as he has lost his Roland Garros openers on five previous occasions.

“I came into the tournament after a very, very good weeks on the clay, especially, which is very important to me,” said Berdych. “[I’ve] been playing a lot of matches, winning a lot of them, and also in between those weeks I have had very good preparation. So everything has been aimed for this tournament… I definitely want to go and do well.

“I’m feeling well. I’m feeling physically, mentally strong, and that’s the best possible start that I can have. [I] just have to be patient now, keep working for the two weeks and [I will] try to go as far as I can.”

Berdych will next encounter Radek Stepanek in the second round. His fellow countryman earned his slot in Round 2 with a four set victory against Ivan Dodig where he was forced to rally from a set down. He eventually won the match 5-7, 7-3, 6-4, 6-1.

This marks the fourth time that Berdych and Stepanek will cross paths on the professional tour, with the Czech No. 1 leading the head-to-head series 2-1. However, this marks their first meeting on the tour in four years, as well as their firs on clay.

17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer breezed into the second round of the French Open on Sunday afternoon and will now attempt to further his 2015 campaign in Paris when he meets Spain’s Marcel Granollers. This will mark the fourth time these two competitors cross paths on the professional tour, with Federer leading the head-to-head series with an unblemished 3-0 record.

In an impressive showing on court, Federer defeated Alejandro Falla in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the following round at Roland Garros. The Swiss star struck 42 winners and eight aces to lose out the match in straightforward fashion. He also advanced his overall record to 26-5 this season.

“I’m not sure that the first round is any different,” Federer said. “I think that as we go through the tournament, then we probably feel that we are more and more satisfied. But the first round is a bit like I want to win the first round, to be in the tournament and not to go back home immediately, to be one of the first ten players to go back home. So that’s the whole idea about it. That is, you want to play a good match and then focus on the future. That’s when I will start enjoying this moment.”

Federer’s second round opponent, Marcel Granollers, reached that stage of the tournament with a straight sets win against qualifier Matthias Bachinger. He won the match 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(7) to set up the encounter against Federer.

This marks the fourth time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour and the first time so far this season. Federer holds a 3-0 lead in the series, two of which took place in Dubai and the most recent at the US Open. Granollers has only ever taken one set off Federer and this is set to be their first ever meeting on clay.

After compiling an atrocious record by any standard in 2015, Ernests Gulbis found himself in the second round of the French Open. There, he will contest a match-up against local favourite Nicolas Mahut, whom he has faced once previously on the ATP World Tour. Gulbis leads the head-to-head series 1-0, with a recent win last season in Marseille.

A semi-finalist at last year’s French Open, Gubis needed to find his form quickly if he was to have any hope of salvaging some of those ranking points during the coming fortnight in Paris. In his opening round match, he was able to regain some of that lost form to secure a straight sets win against Igor Sijsling. He closed out the match 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(3) to earn just his third tour victory of the season.

“The last couple of matches on clay, it has been getting better and better,” Gulbis said about his current form. “I had some close losses against Goffin and Vesely in Rome and Madrid. As well as against Paire in Barcelona. But in Barcelona I didn’t play well yet. In Rome and Madrid I played decent and these are guys ranked in the Top 30 in the world. I lost to Goffin 7-5 in the third, and next week he played the quarter-finals. So it seems like I’ve been losing a lot of matches, but I lost to decent people… It’s now or never for the clay season.”

Awaiting the Latvian in the second round is French wildcard Nicolas Mahut, who defeated qualifier Kimmer Coppejans 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) to earn his spot.

While Gulbis and Mahut have only met once previously on the professional tour, Gulbis actually holds two wins against Mahut on French soil, as he also beat him at the 2012 Orleans Challenger tournament. Unless he starts showing shades of his earlier inconsistency, Gulbis should find his way into the third round in Paris.

Following a tough opening round match at Roland Garros, defending champion Maria Sharapova will continue her quest to defend her crown with a second round match on Thursday afternoon. The Russian superstar will face fellow countrywoman Vitalia Diatchenko in the second round of the tournament, a player whom she has never faced previously on the professional tour.

In one of the tougher opening round matches in the draw, Sharapova was faced with the task of ousting Kaia Kanepi and it certainly wasn’t a straightforward affair. While Sharapova won the match in straight sets, she faced resistance from her Estonian foe in the second set. Ultimately, she came out of it unscathed with a 6-2, 6-4 scoreline.

“I’m getting over it, and hopefully it will pass by soon,” Sharapova said. “But obviously it was such a big occasion for me to be back out on center court, and I had a tough opponent ahead of me. And the conditions were pretty difficult as well. So I knew it wasn’t just going to depend on the tennis today.

“Overall I’m just happy I got through it and have a day off tomorrow – I should be better by then.”

Sharapova will come up against Vitalia Diatchenko, who rallied from a set down to beat Stefanie Voegele 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

“I got to know her during Fed Cup this year,” Sharapova said. “That was really the first time we spent together. I didn’t get a chance to practice with her, though. I saw her play doubles a little bit – maybe it was good because it was the first time I had really seen her strike the ball. She’s a big hitter.”

This marks the first time that these two will meet on the professional tour. There is little to say about this match other than that Sharapova should have little trouble working her way past her inexperienced Russian foe.

It was a rocky start to the French Open for Ana Ivanovic. The 2008 champion dropped her opening set at the 2015 edition of the Grand Slam event but managed to regroup to secure her spot in the following round. She will next encounter Misaki Doi to determine who will advance to the third round at Roland Garros. This will mark the first time that the two competitors will cross paths on the professional circuit.

Faced with the task of ousting Yaroslava Shvedova in her first match at the prestigious Grand Slam event, Ivanovic needed more than a set to find her footing. After dropping the opener, Ivanovic woke up, regrouped and began hitting winners with her forehand across the court for the following two sets to secure the 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 win.

“It was a little bit of a tough start,” Ivanovic said. “I didn’t have that many matches coming into this tournament, so I was really happy that in the second set I managed to sort of play a little bit deeper and put a little bit more pressure on her. In the third set I felt like, ‘Okay, I’m playing my game now.’ “I worked really hard last week. I was really trying to rely on that. I knew I’d put the work I had to put in, so that gave me confidence. Even after the first set I really tried to look for my game.

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“I was really happy I was able to turn it around today.”

In a far more straightforward affair on Sunday afternoon, Misaki Doi reached the second round of the tournament on cruise control, as she defeated Cetkovska in straight sets to advance to the following stage of the event. She struck 2 aces, 17 winners and converted four break points on serve to close out the match 6-3, 6-2.

This marks the first time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional circuit. Ivanovic is the more experienced competitor, while Doi is ranked outside of the Top 100. Now that the Serb has gotten over her first stumble in Paris, she should have little trouble advancing to the third round.

In a match that could be considered the antithesis of his opening match at the French Open last season, Kei Nishikori avoided a second consecutive first round exit at Roland Garros with a solid victory on Sunday afternoon. The Japanese No. 1 will next come up against Thomaz Bellucci. This is set to be the first time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour and could make for an intriguing contest on Wednesday.

In a relatively straightforward affair, Kei Nishikori advanced to the second round of the French Open with a straight sets win against Paul-Henri Mathieu. The Japanese star struck seven aces, 34 winners and converted seven break point opportunities to close out the match 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 in two hours and 10 minutes.

“I think it was solid match,” said Nishikori. “In the second set he started playing much better. He was hitting the ball pretty well, especially his backhand. But after that I was playing some good tennis on the court and I think it’s not easy to win in straight sets. So there are some ups and downs and I think I fought through pretty well.”

Nishikori will next come up against Thomaz Bellucci, who reached the second round of the tournament with a straight sets victory against Marinko Matosevic. The Brazilian, who won the Geneva Open just a few days ago, struck five aces, 29 winners and converted seven break points to close out the match 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

This marks the first time that Bellucci and Nishikori will come across each other on the professional tour. However, they did meet once previously on the Challenger circuit several years ago, where Bellucci defeated the Japanese No. 1 in three sets back in 2007. However, much has changed and unless Bellucci produces one of the best matches of his career, he is unlikely to topple NIshikori this time around.

After working her way into the second round of the French Open this season, Simona Halep will be put to the test when she encounter the player who ousted her from the US Open tournament last season. It was one of the bigger upsets at the US Open in 2014 and will be interesting to see if Halep will be able to avenge that loss this year in Paris. This is the second time these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Lucic-Baroni leading the head-to-head series 1-0 due to that fateful encounter.

Seeded third at this year’s tournament, Simona Halep secured her spot in the second round of the tournament with a straight sets win against Evgeniya Rodina. She won the match 7-5, 6-4 to secure her 30th match win of the season.

“It wasn’t easy walking on Chatrier again, but I enjoyed it a lot,” Halep said. “I just tried to be focused for what I had to do on the court today, and just played my game. Many people came to watch, and that made a really nice atmosphere. It was just a great day for me and I really want to enjoy it.”

Halep will next face Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who beat Lauren Davis in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Court 17 on Sunday.

This marks the second time these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour and is a contest that should favour the No. 3 seed. However, given that Lucic-Baroni leads the head-o-head series 1-0 with a win against Halep at the US Open, it could prove to be a more interesting match. Yet considering her strong performance in the opening round, Halep should manage her way through this encounter on clay.

Following an impressive start to his 2015 French Open campaign, Stan Wawrinka will move on to the second round of the prestigious Grand Slam event on Wednesday afternoon. The Swiss No. 2 will come up against Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic, whom he has only faced once previously on the professional tour. Wawrinka leads the head-to-head series 1-0 with a victory last season at the Davis Cup.

In his opening match on court on Sunday, Stan Wawrinka opened up his campaign for a second Grand Slam title with a straight sets win against Marsel Ilhan. Seeeded eighth at this year’s event, Wawrinka struck 42 winners and saved all six of the break points he faced during the match to close out the contest 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 in 96 minutes.

“It was a great start, a good match, [I’m] feeling the ball well,” said Wawrinka. “I had only one hour of practice here in Paris, so I’m really happy to play that way already. My game is there. I’m feeling great on the clay since few weeks now. ‘[I] got the confidence back and [I’m] playing well. So I’m happy to get through in three sets.”

Wawrinka will come up against Dusan Lajovic in the second round of the tournament. The Serb defeated Maximo Gonzalez in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 and is well on his way to reaching the fourth round of the French Open like he did last season for the first time in his career.

This marks the second time that these two competitors will cross paths on the professional tour, with Wawrinka leading the head-to-head series 1-0. That sole victory took place during the Davis Cup last season, which Switzerland won en route to claiming the title later on that year. While Lajovic is comfortable on this surface and has a good track record here, Wawrinka should have little trouble getting himself into the third round of the tournament.