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Herbert/Mahut Carry Home Hopes At Roland Garros

  • Posted: May 26, 2016

Herbert/Mahut Carry Home Hopes At Roland Garros

Top seeds into second round

Top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut topped Aussies Sam Groth and Bernard Tomic 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the Roland Garros doubles tournament on Wednesday. The Frenchmen did not face a break point in the 54-minute win.

Herbert/Mahut, the reigning US Open doubles champions, are attempting to become the second French team in three years to lift the doubles trophy at Roland Garros. In 2014, Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin topped Spaniards Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez to break a 20-year title drought for the home nation (Leconte/Noah in 1984). Mahut was a finalist in 2013, partnering Michael Llodra (l. to Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan). Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin reprised their partnership at this year’s tournament, beating Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Jiri Vesely 6-0, 4-6, 7-6(2) in their opening match.

Four-time champion Daniel Nestor is still in contention after teaming up with Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi to beat Inigo Cervantes and Paolo Lorenzi 7-6(5), 6-2. The Canadian last tasted victory in Paris alongside Max Mirnyi in 2012. Mirnyi and Treat Huey moved into the second round thanks to a 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-1 win over Italians Fabio Fognini and Andreas Seppi.

Marcin Matkowski and Leander Paes, seeded No. 16, edged Aliaksandr Bury and Denis Istomin 7-6(3), 7-6(6). Paes won three Roland Garros doubles titles alongside Mahesh Bhupathi (1999 & 2001) and Lukas Dlouhy (2009).

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Murray: ‘You Have To Back Yourself’

  • Posted: May 26, 2016

Murray: ‘You Have To Back Yourself’

Second seed fights into third round

“You have to back yourself,” Andy Murray said after overcoming Frenchman Mathias Bourgue in five sets at Roland Garros on Wednesday. “For me today it wasn’t easy, because I wasn’t hitting the ball well for a long period of the match.”

Murray came into the second-round encounter as the prohibitive favourite. Bourgue, No. 164 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, had never played in the main draw of a tour-level event and was facing a Top 50 player for the first time, but the Frenchman found his best level to take a two-set-to-one lead against Murray. To the Brit’s credit, he remained calm and let his talent do the talking.

“Over the course of five sets, the higher-ranked player can be a little bit more solid, a bit more consistent in the important moments,” Murray, who now has 576 wins under his belt, noted. “In the end, in the fifth set, that was the difference. I came up with some good shots and some lucky shots as well.”

Despite being the highest seed in his half of the draw, the World No. 2 has not had it easy in Paris so far. It was his second straight five-set escape after he saw off Radek Stepanek over two days in the first round. “I managed to win the match. That’s what I’m here to do, but I don’t want to play five sets every round and don’t want to have big drop-offs in matches.

“It’s been a pretty stressful couple of days.”

With 10 hard-fought sets under his belt already, Murray may look forward to a respite from the typical clay-court grind when he faces big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic on Friday.

“Tomorrow I will be tired, but at least I get a day’s rest now. But you can’t continue playing matches like that and then expect to win the tournament,” Murray, who leads 6-0 in the FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry against Karlovic, said. “I think maybe once I have started a Grand Slam playing two five-set matches in the first couple of rounds.

“The positive is that I’ll play Karlovic in the next round. The average rally length will only be a few shots. Maybe three, four shots max. So if I can get through the next one, it will be nice to win it a bit quicker.”

As he prepares for a seventh meeting with the towering Croat, Murray might be happy to know that Karlovic himself is coming off an epic five-setter. On Thursday, the World No. 28 needed to hit 41 aces to edge Jordan Thompson 12-10 in the decider.

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Novak Uses 'Third Serve' To Full Advantage

  • Posted: May 25, 2016

Novak Uses 'Third Serve' To Full Advantage

Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers shows how the best players switch from defense to offense when returning

Imagine playing a match where you get three serves and your opponent gets only one.

Sounds very unfair, but that’s the dynamic the world’s elite players artificially create to gain their competitive edge. There are four separate serves hit in a match – a first and second serve for each player – and the best of the best manage to consistently create a winning percentage with three of them.

The hidden key is to own your opponent’s second serve, and to at least break even on your own. An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis uncovered just 21 players on tour last year managed to maintain a winning percentage against their opponents’ second serve and also be above 50 per cent on their own second serve.

The first thing to understand is that nobody will consistently average a winning percentage against an opponent’s first serve. In the 2015 season, David Ferrer ranked No. 1 in this category, winning 35 per cent of his opponents’ first serves. In the past 52 weeks, Bernard Tomic has maintained a ranking of around No. 20 in the world, and has won just 25 per cent of his opponents’ first-serve points. The career best, since 1991, is Argentine Guillermo Coria, who won 36 per cent against his opponents’ first serves.

Once the first serve misses its mark, the world’s best returners flick the switch from defense to offense to take advantage of the second serve’s slower delivery with a faster return. Simply, the faster serve dictates a slower, more defensive return, while a slower serve invites a lot more offense from the returner.

Below is the list of the 21 players in the 2015 season who averaged a winning percentage on their opponents’ second-serve points and on their own second serve.

Ranking  Player Returning 2nd Serve Win % 2nd Serve Win %
1 Novak Djokovic  57 60.2
Andy Murray  55.5 52.2
3 Gilles Simon 55.4 54.5
David Ferrer 55.2 53.7
Tomas Berdych 54.4 54.5
Kei Nishikori 53.6 54.7
Rafael Nadal 53.4 55.4
8 David Goffin 53.6 51.2
Pablo Andujar 52.6 51.6
10  Juan Monaco 52.4 52.6
11  Marcos Baghdatis 52 51.1
12  Diego Schwartzman 51.6 50.2
13  Mikhail Kukushkin 50.9 53
14 Donald Young 50.9 50.5
15  Thomaz Bellucci 50.9 52
16 Roberto Bautista Agut 50.8 55.7
17  Philipp Kohlschreiber 50.7 56.6
18  Alexandr Dolgopolov 50.6 51.8
19  Richard Gasquet 50.4 55.3
20  Roger Federer 50.3 57.2
21  Adrian Mannarino 50.1 52.1

In the 2015 season, there were 24 players who had a winning percentage on their opponents’ second serves, but three of them failed to generate a winning percentage on their own second serves. They were Andreas Seppi (49.9 per cent), Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (49.7 per cent) and Fabio Fognini (49.3 per cent).

Some players, such as World No. 2 Andy Murray, actually win more second-serve points from their opponenst than on their own second delivery. In the 2015 season, Murray won 56 per cent returning second serves, and 52 per cent of his own second-serve points. In the table above, there were seven players with a similar performance, and another three who were within half a percentage point of doing better on their opponents’ second serve than on their own second serve.

As you would expect, this is an area of extreme focus for World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. In the past 52 weeks, the Super Serbian is ranked No. 1 in second-serve points won (59.3 per cent) and second-serve return points won (56.8 per cent). More than any other player, Djokovic maximises the battle surrounding second serves. He also happens to be the world leader in first-serve return points won in the past 52 weeks at 34.6 per cent.

Having a winning percentage on three of the four serves hit is one of the most important tactical concepts that directly translates to a W at the end of a match at all levels of the game.

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Djokovic, Nadal Headline Thursday Play At Roland Garros

  • Posted: May 25, 2016

Djokovic, Nadal Headline Thursday Play At Roland Garros

The pair are still on course for their blockbuster semi-final

The top half of the men’s singles draw will take to the court on Thursday for their second-round singles matches at Roland Garros, with No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic and No. 4 seed Rafael Nadal highlighting the day’s action.

Djokovic continues his quest for the career Grand Slam as he takes on qualifier Steve Darcis of Belgium. The Serbian is in top form, having dropped just five games in his opening-round match. Nadal also continues his quest for a 10th Roland Garros title when he plays Facundo Bagnis of Argentina. Nadal was even more ruthless in his first-round match, dropping just three games.

No. 6 seed and local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will face Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus. The Frenchman leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 6-1. No. 7 seed Tomas Berdych also continues his quest for another deep run at Roland Garros when he plays Malek Jaziri of Tunisia. 

No. 11 seed David Ferrer aims to reach the third round at Roland Garros for the 12th straight year when he plays Juan Monaco of Argentina. Their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry is currently split at 4-4. No. 12 seed David Goffin will have his first meeting against Carlos Berlocq of Argentina when they take to the court.

Two other top players will look to reach the second week at Roland Garros for the first time in their careers. No. 13 seed Dominic Thiem takes on veteran Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain, while No. 14 seed Roberto Bautista Agut plays wild card Paul-Henri Mathieu of France.

A pair of #NextGen players are also hoping to keep their breakthrough runs going. Wild card Quentin Halys of France faces off against No. 25 seed Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay, while Alexander Zverev of Germany takes to the court in a battle of experience versus youth against 36-year-old Frenchman Stephane Robert.

Another intriguing matchup on Thursday will see former French Open semi-finalist Ernests Gulbis of Latvia take on No. 26 seed Joao Sousa of Portugal.

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Isner Records 300th Career Win

  • Posted: May 25, 2016

Isner Records 300th Career Win

The American achieved the feat with his second-round win on Wednesday over Kyle Edmund

No. 15 seed John Isner recorded his 300th career tour-level win on Wednesday with his second-round victory at Roland Garros. The American defeated #NextGen star Kyle Edmund of Great Britain, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

In customary Isner fashion, he hit 18 aces throughout the contest and only four double faults, in addition to saving three break points, all in the second set. He was equally impressive from the baseline, finishing the day with 36 winners to 22 unforced errors. The No. 15 seed fittingly closed out the match with an ace to move into the third round. 

“I’m feeling better and better,” said Isner. “I lost a lot of tough matches and was sidelined a bit with injuries. Now that I’ve won two matches here, I feel I can keep going.”

Isner will now play Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia. Gabashvili leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry by 2-1, but Isner’s lone win over the Russian came on clay at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Madrid in 2014. 

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Kyrgios Cruises Through Second Round

  • Posted: May 25, 2016

Kyrgios Cruises Through Second Round

Aussie now looks to reach the second week at Roland Garros for the first time

No. 17 seed Nick Kyrgios rolled into the third round at Roland Garros with a convincing win over qualifier Igor Sijsling of The Netherlands 6-3, 6-2, 6-1. 

The Australian was nearly perfect on serve throughout the match, firing 11 aces without hitting a single double fault and not facing a break point. He was almost as dominant on return games, accumulating 13 break points and converting six of them. Kyrgios wrapped up the match with a backhand winner after one hour and 10 minutes, finishing with 35 winners and just 13 unforced errors.

“I knew it was going to be tough. He’s obviously played a lot of matches here already. I knew what my game plan was going to be,” said Kyrgios. “I’m really happy with the way I performed today. I thought I found my form from the back of the court and returned a lot better than I did in the first round.”

Kyrgios will now play No. 9 seed Richard Gasquet in an intriguing third-round match. Gasquet leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry by 4-2, but Kyrgios won their most recent meeting in February at the ATP World Tour 250 event in Marseille.

“Me and Richard have played some really memorable matches. Some of my favourite matches that I’ve played have been against him,” said Kyrgios. “We’ve played a lot of times and he’s a great guy. He’s a guy I feel comfortable around and that has always been nice to me. I’m looking forward to it.”

Eighth seed Milos Raonic had similar luck against Adrian Mannarino, sweeping the Frenchman 6-1, 7-6(0), 6-1. The Canadian broke Mannarino four times and never faced a break point. “I tried to do my best during the whole match, but he returned very well in the first and third sets,” Mannarino said. “When you server at 200 kilometers, whether on clay or hard court, it makes a difference. Raonic is a great server and he returns even better.”

The right-hander will face lucky loser Andrej Martin of Slovakia, who beat Lucas Pouille of France 6-3, 7-5, 6-3. Before Roland Garros, the 26-year-old Bratislava native had been 0-1 in Grand Slam matches (2013 US Open).

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Murray Locked In Another Fight At Roland Garros

  • Posted: May 25, 2016

Murray Locked In Another Fight At Roland Garros

Brit even with World No. 164 after two sets

Andy Murray might be in for another dogfight on Wednesday at Roland Garros. The second seed, who’s taking to the court for the third time in three days, is tied at one-set all with French wild card Mathias Bourgue 6-2, 2-6.

The Scot had avoided the slow start that plagued him against Czech qualifier Radek Stepanek, which forced Murray to come back from two sets down for the ninth time in his career. The World No. 2 broke Bourgue at 2-1 and again at 5-2 to win the first set in 40 minutes.

Murray’s level of play dipped, though, early in the second. He was up 2-0 but then let Bourgue reel off the next six games, including three service breaks, to take the second set. The 22 year old won 16 points in a row from 30-all, 3-2 in the second set to 30-0 in the first game of the third set.

Murray has reached the semi-finals in Paris three times, falling to Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal each time. The 29 year old enters the season’s clay-court Grand Slam on the heels of a title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome two weeks ago and a runner-up finish at the Mutua Madrid Open earlier this month.

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Wawrinka Rolls Into Third Round

  • Posted: May 25, 2016

Wawrinka Rolls Into Third Round

No. 30 seed Jeremy Chardy also advanced on Wednesday

No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka had a far more comfortable victory in his second-round match on Wednesday at Roland Garros. After surviving a five-set encounter against Lukas Rosol on Monday, Wawrinka improved his form as he defeated Taro Daniel of Japan in straight sets, 7-6(7), 6-3, 6-4. 

The Swiss star nearly found himself in another lengthy battle as Daniel held two set points in the opening set tie-break, but Wawrinka fought back from 4/6 to take the first set. He started the second set strongly by breaking Daniel and put consistent pressure on the Japanese player’s serve, earning break point chances in four out of Daniel’s five service games that set. Wawrinka broke his opponent once again at 5-3 to take a commanding two-set lead.

Daniel is known for his competitiveness and wouldn’t go away quietly, breaking Wawrinka in the first game of the third set.  Wawrinka had more firepower from the baseline, though, eventually earning the break back on a lengthy game on Daniel’s serve at 4-3. With Daniel serving at 4-5, Wawrinka sealed the contest on his first match point with a backhand winner. Next up for Wawrinka in the third round is No. 30 seed Jeremy Chardy. 

“He plays a different style, more from the baseline, a lot of long rallies, topspin, forehand. It was a good match. I’m happy to get through in three sets,” said Wawrinka. “Chardy is a dangerous player. He’s playing really fast and heavy, big serve and always trying to use his forehand. He loves to play here, so I will have to play better.”

The Frenchman delighted the local crowd on Court 6 with a straight-sets win over qualifier Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. With the crowd chanting his name in the last game of the match, Chardy hit an ace on his first match point. He is looking to reach the second week at Roland Garros for the second consecutive year.

“I started very well, and I was able to stay focused and aggressive throughout. I think I played a solid match. My energy never went down. That’s really what I wanted,” said Chardy. “Playing Stan will be a rough one. He’s a great player and plays well on all surfaces. I’m going to go on the court hopefully very confident and prepare for the match the same way I prepare for my other matches.”

Meanwhile, Teymuraz Gabashvili continues to find his best form at Roland Garros. The Russian caused the first upset of the day on Court 2 by defeating No. 19 seed and local favourite Benoit Paire, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2. Gabashvili reached the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time at last year’s Roland Garros. He’ll look to repeat that feat when he plays the winner of the match between No. 15 seed John Isner, who swept #NextGen star Kyle Edmund of Great Britain 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

Lucky loser Andrej Martin of Slovakia continued to take advantage of his good fortune at Roland Garros. Martin dismissed 29th seed Lucas Pouille of France 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 to move into the third round. Before Roland Garros, the 26-year-old Bratislava native had been 0-1 in Grand Slam matches (2013 US Open). He’ll face eighth seed Milos Raonic, who beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 7-6(0), 6-1.

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Murray survives epic five-set battle

  • Posted: May 25, 2016
French Open
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 22 May to 5 June
Coverage: Live radio and text commentary on selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, the BBC Sport website and app.

World number two Andy Murray had to fight back to beat wildcard Mathias Bourgue in five sets and secure his place in the French Open third round.

The British number one lost eight consecutive games to drop the second and then the third sets to the inspired 22-year-old Grand Slam debutant.

But Murray, 29, used all his experience to seal a 6-2 2-6 4-6 6-2 6-3 win over the world number 164 from France.

Fellow Briton Kyle Edmund lost 6-4 6-4 6-4 to American 15th seed John Isner.

Aljaz Bedene, who plays on Thursday, is the only other British player left in the singles tournaments in Paris.

Murray was also taken to five sets in the first round by veteran Czech Radek Stepanek.

The Scot’s inconsistent form has been perplexing considering he beat Novak Djokovic in the Italian Open final in his last match on clay.

He now goes on to face 27th seed Ivo Karlovic from Croatia in the third round on Friday.

  • Today’s matches: Scores, results and order of play
  • Report: Watson loses to 13th seed Kuznetsova

What Murray said

“Mathias was excellent and made me run a lot. He’s got a fantastic future for sure.

“I led 6-2 2-0 then he started playing unbelievably and I was finding it hard to win points, let alone games. I’ve played matches like this before and tried to fight through to the end because your opponent can hit a rough patch.

“You can’t play too many matches like this if you want to go far in this tournament. I hope to win the next one a little bit faster.”

Lacklustre Murray’s game falls apart

Murray looked in complete control at 2-0 up in the second set, but his game collapsed in spectacular fashion.

Bourgue broke Murray three times and won six games in a row, including 16 unanswered points as the Briton made numerous unforced errors, to take the set and level the match.

The pattern continued as Murray double-faulted twice in the opening game of the next set.

Murray finally broke Bourgue’s eight-game winning run by taking the third game of the set.

Bourgue was also dominant on his own serve, holding to love six times out of seven, as a subdued Murray, having now lost 28 out of the last 32 points, continued to make mistakes.

The Frenchman had three break points in the next game but Murray – yet to show any of the passion evident during his tussle with Stepanek – battled back to hold serve.

Bourgue continued to produce an array of winners, including the deftest of drop shots, to delight the home crowd in Philippe Chatrier court.

The Frenchman, showing few signs of nerves, secured the set with a stunning backhand down the line to leave Murray facing an almighty battle to stay in the tournament.

Murray battles back

The Frenchman had three chances to break Murray in the opening game of the fourth but crucially the Scot held on, and celebrated with his trademark roar and a fist-pump.

At last Murray broke Bourgue’s serve and followed that by holding his own to love, as confidence slowly returned to his game.

With Bourgue perhaps struggling with his fitness, Murray started to make his opponent work harder and clinched the set with a break to love to level the match.

Murray sensed his opportunity and took advantage of some rare errors to break the Frenchman in the fourth game of the decider.

The Briton served for the match at 5-1 but failed to close it out before finally sealing victory after three hours and 34 minutes on court.

Analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller

“What an extraordinary performance from Mathias Bourgue, who played an exceptional game of tennis in set number three after Murray’s game went spectacularly off the rails in the second.

“But Murray has done it again and come from behind to win in five sets. Who knows how much this has taken out of his tank and whether he can find the form to challenge the likes of Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, but he is the ultimate street fighter and has crawled over the line again.”

Statistics

  • Murray’s five-set win was his 10th out of his last 11 five-set matches. His only five-set defeat in that time came against Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at Roland Garros in 2015
  • The lowest ranked player Murray has lost to in a Grand Slam is Arnaud Clement, who was ranked 91 at the 2005 US Open
  • The second seed has not lost before the third round at Roland Garros since Andy Roddick fell to Jose Acasuso at this stage in 2005

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Watson outclassed by Kuznetsova in Paris

  • Posted: May 25, 2016
French Open
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 22 May to 5 June
Coverage: Live radio and text commentary on selected matches on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, the BBC Sport website and app.

Heather Watson lost 6-1 6-3 to 13th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova as Britain’s interest in the French Open women’s singles ended in the second round.

Watson’s serve was broken four times as the world number 56 lost the first set in 30 minutes to the 2009 champion.

Watson, 24, who has not made the third round in Paris in six attempts, tested the Russian in a closer second set.

“She was just better than me today. I tried to stick with her but a few points made the difference,” she said.

“I think she also tactically played me smart. I didn’t get chances to run around and hit my forehand.”

British number one Johanna Konta, Laura Robson and Naomi Broady all lost in the first round at Roland Garros.

Andy Murray progressed after a five-set epic against French wildcard Mathias Bourgue, winning 6-2 2-6 4-6 6-2 6-3, but fellow Brit Kyle Edmund went out in straight sets against American John Isna.

Aljaz Bedene is the only other Briton remaining and he plays his second-round match against Pablo Carreno Busta on Thursday.

Elsewhere in the women’s singles, second seed Agnieszka Radwanska won 6-2 6-4 in her second-round match against France’s Caroline Garcia.

Romania’s 2014 French Open finalist Simona Halep fought back from 4-1 down in the first set to beat Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.

Czech 10th seed Petra Kvitova, the two-time Wimbledon champion, progressed with a 6-4 6-1 victory over Hsieh Su-Wei of Chinese Taipei and Spanish fourth seed Garbine Muguruza defeated French wildcard Myrtille Georges 6-2 6-0.

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