Jun. 6-12 - The Queen's Club - 1st and 2nd rounds

Earlier this week the Aegon Championship, also known as The Queen's Club began.  It is the first warm up for Wimbledon and it starts the grass season.

Just three days after his victory in Paris, Nadal started his campaign toward winning Wimbledon.  On Wednesday he beat Aussie qualifier Matthew Ebden 6-4, 6-4 in the second round.  Nadal received a bye in the first round as well as the top eight players in this tournament.

Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer both withdrew from their first warm up for Wimbledon, but Rafa decided to participate even after just winning the French 3 days ago.  “To celebrate the victory, I’m going to have time later,” Nadal said. “I have to be focused on the grass-court season.”

Nadal struggled a little bit in his opening match but that is usual when switching from clay to grass that quickly.  It’s impossible to be playing well the first day,” said Nadal, the 2008 Wimbledon champion. “The energy is not in the perfect condition right now but I’m here to try my best as usual."

“I’m here because I love this tournament … but at the same time, it works for me to try to start to have the feelings on grass. Sure, my conditions are not perfect because I feel everything (his muscles) a little more tighter than usual.”

Nadal on the grass at The Queen's Club.

In his first match there were constant rain delays and Andy Murray's extended match which both kept Nadal in the locker room much longer then he wanted. 


Andy Murray defeated Xavier Malisse in the second round 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 to set up a third round match against Janko Tipsarevic.  The 2009 Queen's champ said his ankle is still bothering him as he starts his journey to gain his first Grand Slam title.


“I want to play as many matches as possible, but I also want to go into Wimbledon pain free,” Murray said. “Obviously playing on it and doing what I did at the French Open is not exactly the best course of action to get the ankle better.

In other matches eighth-seeded Marian Cilic of Croatia advanced to the third round, beating French qualifier Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-4.

Twelfth-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro won his match first round match beating Denis Istomin  6-4, 6-2 and his second round match against Igor Kunitsyn winning 6-4, 6-4. 

Third-seeded Andy Roddick won his second round match against Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (5-7), 6-4.

Seventh-seed Verdasco beat Nicolas Mahut 6-2, 6-3 and Fifth-seeded Frenchmen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is into the third round after a defeat of Michael Berrer 6-0, 6-1. 

Fernando Verdasco

In the second round fourth-seeded Stan Wawrinka was upset by James Ward of Great Britain.  Sam Querrey of the U.S. won his 1st and 2nd round match.

Sixth-seeded Gilles Simon of France withdrew due to injury from his second round  match after winning the second set and being up 3-0 in the third.  This led to Adrian Mannarino also of France going to the third round.


Come back tomorrow for 3rd round updates.

Roland Garros 2011 - Men's Final

Rafa is once again crowned the king of the clay.  Today he beat Roger Federer in the finals of the French Open in Paris 7-5, 7-6 (3), 5-7, 6-1.  Roger Federer, the player with the most Grand Slam titles, was defeated for the fourth time in the French final by Nadal.

With this victory Nadal tied Bjorn Borg at six for the most titles at Roland Garros. This was Rafa's 10th career Grand Slam victory.  Fed hit the final shot long and instantly Rafa dropped to his knees and covered his face.

"To win this final against one of the best players in the world and in history is something which is really fantastic for me," said Nadal, who will keep his No. 1 ranking. "It's one of my most beautiful dreams."

Rafael Nadal's record at Roland Garros is now 45-1 with a 17-8 record against Federer.  Rafa is 6-2 against Roger in Grand Slam finals.

Rafa and Fed battle for a point in the French final on Court Philippe Chatrier.

"As it often happens, he is the best on clay," Federer said. "He proved it once again."

Behind Borg, Rafa is the second youngest man to reach 10 major titles.  Also, Rafa is about six months younger than Roger was when he won his 10th major.

Against opponents other than Rafa, Fed is 14-1 in Grand Slam finals.  Roger has four loses against Nadal at RG, one at Wimbledon and one at the Aussie Open.  Federer has beat Rafa twice at Wimbledon.

Roland Garros 2011 - Men's Semifinal

The streak is over.  Novak Djokovic lost to Roger Federer in the semis yesterday, ending his perfect season and his 43 game winning streak.  Federer who has won 16 Grand Slams won 7-6 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) on Friday and will now face 5-time French Open Champ Rafa Nadal in the final.  This is the fourth time in six years they have met in the final.

"I've trained a lot during my whole life for these kinds of matches," Federer said. "There was an enormous amount of pressure on Novak and he really played well."

Earlier Nadal breezed though his semifinal match on Court Philippe Chatrier, defeating Andy Murray in straight sets 6-4,7-5, 6-4.  Nadal is just one victory away from matching Bjorn Borg in number of French titles.  Nadal's record is no 44-1 at Roland Garros.  On Sunday, Nadal is going for his sixth win in eight attempts against Federer in Grand Slam finals.

"Beating Novak today was maybe a good birthday gift for him because he lost his four previous matches against Novak," Federer said of Nadal, who turned 25 on Friday. "I'm going to play against Nadal, my main rival, in another Grand Slam final. We live for these moments."

Also, Li Na just won the women's title today, beating Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-6 (0).  She is the first person from China to win a Grand Slam.

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."