Day 11 at Roland Garros

Rafa Nadal improved his French Open record to 43-1 by defeating the only man to beat him at Roland Garros, No. 5 seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden.  This victory, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6 (3), sent the five-time champ to the semis.  If Nadal wins one more French Open title, he will tie Bjorn Borg at six all time.  This was the third time in a row that Rafa played Robin at Roland Garros.  The first time was in 2009 when Nadal lost to him in the fourth round, leading to a runner-up finish for Soderling.  In 2010, Rafa won the final against Robin.

Murray vs. Nadal in Monaco

In the semis Nadal will play No.4 Andy Murray, who defeated Juan Ignacio Chela 7-6 (2), 7-5, 6-2.  Murray has reached the semifinals at Roland Garros for the first time.  In the other semifinal, No.2 Novak Djokovic will play No. 3 Roger Federer.

Day 10 at Roland Garros

Monfils and Federer

Roger is on to the semis where he will play Novak Djokovic after defeating Gael Monfils today 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (3).  Monfils played hard but just seemed to lack the confidence that he had when he played earlier matches.  I thought he would come out firing and win a set or two but that did not happen.  I was really hoping he'd win too because I feel Monfils has a better shot at beating Novak.  Djokovic has destroyed Federer lately and is unfamiliar with Monfils because they haven't played in over a years time. 

The only other men's match was Andy Murray and Viktor Troicki.  It was continued today after it was suspended last night at two sets a piece.  Murray finished Troicki off and is now in the quarters.  The score was 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.  Murray will face Juan Ignacio Chela tomorrow.

Day 9 at The French Open

Today Gael Monfils reached the quarterfinals and finished what he started yesterday.  The match, which lasted two days because of darkness, was continued today and ended in celebration for Monfils.  He defeated the higher ranked player David Ferrer from Spain 6-4, 2-6, 7-5, 1-6, 8-6.  Monfils will have to play Roger Federer in the quarterfinals.

"Now I need to recover and at some point I'll stop losing against this Swiss," said Monfils, who has lost five of his six matches against Federer.

Over on court Philippe Chatrier Rafa increased his record to 42-1 at Roland Garros, trumping Ivan Ljubicic 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarters.

"I have improved since the tournament started," said Nadal, who was pushed to five sets in the first round. "I'm able to play better and I'm going to continue on this path."

Even though Novak Djokovic did not play today, he still reached the semis because quarterfinal opponent Fabio Fognini withdraw from the tournament due to injury.

              Andy Murray                                Viktor Troicki

Andy Murray and Viktor Troicki were even at two sets a piece today when their match was stopped due to poor seeing conditions.  The score at the time of stopage was 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Nadal will face the Swede Robin Soderling in the quarters after Robin defeated Gilles Simon of France 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (5).

Soderling

"For me it will be a tough match," Nadal said minutes before Soderling completed his victory. "He's played two finals here at Roland Garros, so he knows what this means. He's got to play his best tennis."

Also, unseeded Juan Ignacio Chela defeated  Alejandro Falla of Colombia 4-6, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2.  He is from Argentina and is the only non-European left in the men's draw.

Day 8 at Roland Garros

On Sunday in Paris Roger Federer extended his quarterfinal streak at majors to 28.  He beat Stan Wawrinka who is a fellow Swiss countrymen and also his Olympic doubles partner that he won a gold with.  The score was 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.  Roger is actually surprising me at how easily he has been playing and I think because no one is counting on him to win he has a solid chance at going the distance.

Of course Novak Djokovic is in the way.  He won today as well defeating Richard Gasquet on Court Philippe Chatrier.  The score was 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 and Novak's overall streak is now at 43 which started in December 2010 with two Davis Cup victories..  His streak is now the third longest since the open era began and now 41-0 in 2011, he is only one win away from tying all time great John McEnroe's streak which he set back in '84.

"As soon as he hits a return, he grabs you by the throat," said France's Gasquet.  Gasquet is a former top-10 player and 2007 Wimbledon semifinalist .  "To beat him, you need to produce the perfect match and not make any mistakes."

"He plays fast. He hits the ball really early. His return is colossal," Gasquet said. "He's got no weakness."

Federer has to face either No.7 David Ferrer or No. 9 Gael Monfils in the next round.  Their match was suspended due to darkness with Monfils in the lead 6-4, 2-6, 7-5, 0-2.  They will finish their fourth round match Monday on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Gael Monfils

Novak on the other hand has to face the unseeded Italian Fabio Fognini.  Fabio beat Albert Montanes of Spain today 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 11-9.  The match lasted 4 hours and 22 minutes.

"I have to be honest. I didn't think I could win the match," Fognini said. "I couldn't move. I couldn't serve."

Day 7 at Roland Garros

Anyway back to tennis.  Sadly Juan Martin Del Potro lost in the continuation of the tied 1 set to 1 match that was postponed due to the Tsonga and Wawrinka match taking forever and because of darkness.  Novak won two straight sets to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.  Djokovic's streak is now at 42 and he shows no signs of stopping and I think he is going to win the French unless my man Nadal steps up and defends his title.  Since that match was continued today Djokovic will have to play three straight days.  Tommorow he plays No. 13 Richard Gasquet of France.  If Novak gets to the final of the French he will overtake Nadal as No. 1 in the world so I'm thinking its pretty much inevitable.
                                                                

Nadal hammered the Croatian qualifier Antonio Veic 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.  Nadal is 41-1 in his French Open career and is trying to go for title number six this year.  "Solutions don't come from heaven. I mean, you can't change everything in one day. And you know what? I had not forgotten how to play tennis for a week, but I played better today," said Nadal.  Rafa was pushed for the first time at Roland Garros to five sets in the first round.

Soderling also reached the fourth round today as did three time Grand Slam runner-up Andy Murray, No.15 Victor Troicki, No. 18 Gilles Simon and Ivan Ljubicic who is unseeded.  No. 4 Andy Murray won against Michael Berrer of Germany 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 even though he twisted his right ankle and later said he was not sure if he could play his next match.  France's Gilles Simon defeated No. 10 Mardy Fish who was the last American in the tournament 6-3. 6-4, 6-2 and Ljubicic defeated No. 16 Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 7-6 (6), 6-4.  Ivan will meet Nadal Monday.

UEFA Champions League Final - Manchester United vs FC Barcelona

Let me start out today's entries by talking about the Final of the UEFA Champions League.  I was out at a bar watching this with some people and I had a good time but mind that this was a GREAT performance by Barca.  They destroyed Man U and I thought it would be closer.  Specially when the game started out Man U had good tempo and was controlling the game.  Then the tide turns and Barca overcame the jitters when Pedro put one in for a 1-0 Barcelona lead in the 27th minute.  I thought then that once Barca gets one they could just keep going but Manchester quickly came back with a 34th minute goal by Wayne Rooney.  Great goal by Rooney, one of the best players in the game. The game was tied at the half and then the 2nd was all Barca.  They scored two goals, one in 54th minute by Lionel Messi the GREATEST PLAYER TODAY and one if not the most amazing goal in the Champions League this year.  He took three quick dribbles and launched a shot into the top right corner past Manchester keeper Edwin van der Sar.  Just 15 minutes later Messi set up David Villa with a 20 yard out shot that curled over van der Sar's outstretched arm for a goal in the top right corner.  The final was 3-1 Barca and I have to say it was one damn good match.  Congrats to Barcelona!!!

Day 6 - Roland Garros

Earlier today before the Del Potro and Djokovic match Roger Federer beat No. 29 Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia in straight sets.  I didn't catch any of this match but I heard Federer just dominated.  He won 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 and is now in the 4th round for the 7th consecutive year. 

Then there was the Tsonga and Wawrinka match which I talked about earlier.  Good match just irritating if you wanted to see the Novak and Juan Martin match.  Wawrinka No. 14 did have an awesome comeback and I feel for Tsonga.  Jo-Wilfried Tsonga No. 17 was up 2 sets and was close to finishing out Stan in the 3rd when Wawrinka won in a tie break and from then on the wheels fell of for Jo-Wilfried.  The final was 4-6, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 6-3. 

In a recap No. 7 David Ferrer won, beating No. 31 Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.  No. 9 Gael Monfils of France dominated as well and for once only took 3 sets in a victory.  Albert Montanes of Spain defeated No. 12 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-1, 7-6 (0), 6-1 and the man that faced Monfils in that thriller last year, Fabio Fognini of Italia defeated No. 30 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

And one quick note on the women's side No. 1 in the world Caroline Wozniacki lost to Daniela Hantuchova 6-1, 6-3.  Also, No. 8 seed Sam Stosur who was a finalist last year and favored by many to win this year, lost to Gisela Dulko.  There have been some crazy upsets on the woman's side this year.