ATP Season Review 2/4

So the official start to the clay court season was now upon us. The hallowed clay of Europe would be getting it's first workout for the year, but not before a couple of events that kicked off the season in Casablanca and Houston. These two events never attract the best field, primarily because the top guys are all taking a break from the wear and tear of the hardcourts, and basing yourself in Morocco or America one week before Monte Carlo is not ideal preparation for the big one. However it is an excellent opportunity for the lower ranked players to pick up some valuable ranking points and to perhaps pick up that elusive first career title. And that is exactly what happened for Spain's Pablo Andujar and American Ryan Sweeting, who picked up the Casablanca and Houston titles respectively. It's always nice to see first time winners on the tour but it is not a common occurrence, especially during the same week. Andujar isn't and never will be the most talented of players, but he is a guy who has made the most out of what was given to him. This week the hard yards paid off and he was even approaching the net with alarming regularity for a guy who usually only goes there to shake hands. He swept through the draw, dropping only one set in his opening match to take the the title with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-2 victory over Italian Potito Starace, who himself was also vying to become a first time winner.

Andujar celebrates with the Spanish flag after capturing his first tour title in Casablanca

Sweeting did things a little tougher in Houston, coming through two tough consecutive three set encounters, in the 2nd round against fellow countryman Sam Querrey and in the quarters against the Georgian Russian Gabashvilli. On both occasions he came from a set down to take the match. Sweeting, who was also given a wildcard just to participate in this event, proceeded to make his way onto the final where he took out returning Japanese youngster Kei Nishikori in straight sets. It was a successful tournament for Nishikori as well who has had a rough couple of years with injuries since bursting onto the scene in 2008. For Sweeting, it was a welcome reward for the hard work and consistent results he had put in throughout the American winter. The Bahamas native will always struggle on the tour with that serve of his so it's nice he's picked up a title - it might be the highlight of his career when all is said and done.

Sweeting picks up his first title in Houston

Onto the beautiful shores of Monaco now for the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters where most of the guys at the upper echelons of mens tennis returned to action. There were some notable absences however, with Djokovic, Soderling and Roddick all giving the event a pass for different reasons. Djokovic wanted a bit more time off after his remarkable start to the season and he wanted to keep his undefeated streak alive for as long as possible. Roddick just wanted to delay the pain that inevitably comes his way every year from April to June. The Duck knows he's not even top 30 on clay and dreads this part of the season almost as much as the thought of his hat falling off mid-point again. Monte-Carlo has wonderful facilities and I wouldn't be surprised if the half the audience on centre court spent their days staring off dreamingly into the Mediterranean. King of clay Nadal was going for a record at this event, attempting to become the first man to win a particular tournament seven times in succession. The Spaniard hadn't lost at this event since his debut and yes, this was half the reason Djokovic didn't show up here.

Not a bad place to play a bit of tennis

The headlines during the first round were the rumours circulating around the complex that Murray had won a tennis match for the first time since 2003. The Scot would triumph in straight sets against Czech and worm master Radek Stepanek. Thunder Lips is well past his best right now and was the perfect opponent for Murray to face given his current situation. His head looked switched on for the first time since January 30 and sometimes it's just one win like this that can get you back to somewhere near your best form. The other first round matchups were a mix of routine wins, gruelling three set encounters and the odd hilarious spectacle. Evidence of the latter can be illustrated through the highly comical stylings of  Canadian Milos Raonic and Frenchman Michael Llodra. Granted, the two big servers are anything but at home on the surface but that didn't make the wta-esque scoreline any less amusing. Raonic ended up winning it 6-3, 0-6, 6-0 and I can't comment on the standard because I didn't see the match, but that was probably for the best. Credit has to go to Raonic though, he works hard with Blanco to improve on the dirt and is actually making an effort. This was emphasised through his ability to overcome Ernests Gulbis in his next match to make the third round, where he succumbed to Ferrer for the second time this year.


The top four seeds all made it through to the quarter finals relatively unscathed, where a contrast of players awaited each of them. Top seed Nadal faced Croatian veteran Ivan Ljubicic who had wound back the clock in his three previous matches, easily accounting for Jeremy Chardy, Tsonga and 5th seed Berdych for without the loss of a set. Nadal on clay though is a near impossible task, especially for a man with a one handed backhand. It becomes a simple formula for the Spaniard - hit high looping topspin to the backhand side, wait for the weak reply and then finish off the point. Nadal way to good, 6-1, 6-3. The other quarter final of the top half produced a similar one sided affair. Murray, who looked to have finally put the burden of losing in Melbourne behind him, blasted Portuguese qualifier Frederico Gil off the court with a 6-2, 6-1 scoreline. It had been a formidable tournament for Gil, having breezed through the draw without dropping a set and defeating crowd favourite Monfils in the 3rd round. But it was like playing a better version of himself here, with Murray reproducing the form that has seen him make three grand slam finals. The third quarter final pitted clay court specialist Ferrer against Serbian Viktor Troicki. I have to point out here the ridiculous amount of luck that Troicki receives in some of his draws and it was no different here in Monte Carlo, with the Serb drawing veteran wildcard Jean-Rean Lisnard in the opening round before Robredo retired in the middle of their third round encounter. Troicki had accounted for the enigmatic Fognini in three sets in between. Clay however is not a bad surface for him, it gives him the time that is necessary for him to produce his big strokes, similar to that of Soderling.  But he was no match for the consistency and tenacity of Ferrer, who as usual didn't give his opponent anything, emerging victorious in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. The upset of the tournament came in the final quarter final match up between Federer and Austrian Jurgen Melzer. Melzer, the reigning French Open semi finalist had experienced an indifferent start to the year on hardcourts, failing to win back-to-back matches on the tour since his fourth round showing in Melbourne, but was clearly back at home on his most successful surface. And things looked ominous again for Melzer during the early exchanges of this match, with the Austrian having to take a medical timeout at the beginning of the first set on his injured back. Normally, playing with an injured back against Federer meant only one thing. But not today. Melzer fought through the pain barrier, implementing the same strategy that Nadal uses so often against Federer with tremendous success. The high left handed topspin forehand to the Federer backhand is a winning tactic which everybody on tour should know about. Problem is that only a handful of them are left handed. The Austrian exercised this tactic to perfection in the opening set, going on to break Federer upon his return to the court from his injury timeout. He then managed to hold serve throughout, saving the Swiss third seeds four break point chances to take the first set 6-4. Melzer again peppered the Federer backhand at the beginning of the second set, with the strong wind also playing a telling factor in the baseline duals. Federer was becoming noticeably frustrated, both at the elements and his opponents successful tactics. Again, Melzer was able to find the early break and ride the momentum all the way to victory, taking the match in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. It marked his first win over Federer in four attempts and also meant that he had now recorded wins over the big three: Nadal, Djokovic and Fed. In a day of milestones for the Austrian, it was also the first time he had ever progressed through to the semi finals of a Masters 1000.

Melzer shakes Federer's hand after beating the Swiss superstar for the first time in the Monte Carlo QF.

Melzer however would run out of steam in his semi final matchup with Ferrer. If there's one man that you don't want to go into the match feeling underdone its against the Spanish pitbull. Melzer did run off to an early lead though, breaking Ferrer to go up 3-1 in the opening set. But that would be highlight of the day for the Austrian lefty, with Ferrer seizing control of the baseline and the match, reeling off five straight games to take the set 6-3. Melzer was unable to produce the tennis he had in the previous round against Federer and succumbed 6-2 in the second. The other semi was a much more dogged encounter which saw a rejuvenated Murray push Nadal to the brink of his first defeat at the Monte Carlo tennis club. And when I say brink, I mean taking a set off him, which is as close as anyone has really come to taking him out at this event. The pair traded a couple of breaks of serve in the opening set with Murray breaking in the Spaniard's opening service game before Nadal surged ahead, winning four straight games with his relentless baseline game in full force. Murray didn't deter though, breaking back again to level the first set at 4-4. Nadal is one of the few players that Murray really plays aggressively, stepping up into the court and taking the ball on the rise. It's not that he necessarily likes doing this, it's because he is forced to. It takes the Scot away from what has become his natural game style and pressures him to come up with shots that he wouldn't otherwise be comfortable playing. This pressure showed during the latter stages of the first set, with Nadal capitalising on some uncharacteristic unforced errors from Murray to hold and break, to take out the set 6-4. Murray didn't let his head drop though, saving an early break point chance for Nadal in his opening service game before breaking the Spaniard himself in the following game. The Scot would then survive a marathon 20 minute service game to consolidate the break before again breaking Nadal to go up the decisive double break. He would hold on and take the second 6-2. That second set would be the last hurrah for Murray though, with the world number four tiring quickly in the third set. That's what playing Nadal on clay can do to you. You put so much effort and concentration into winning only a single set, and by the commencement of the next one, you are mentally and physically exhausted. Nadal runs away with it in the end, taking the match 6-4, 2-6, 6-1. Nadal would extract revenge on his friend and compatriot Ferrer in the final after the 5th seed had defeated him earlier this year in the Australian Open quarter finals. There had been a question mark over Nadal's fitness in that encounter however. Not in this one. And when these two play each other at peak fitness and form levels, there is only ever going to be one winner. No need to write that much on this one, Nadal takes the match in straight sets and captures a record breaking 19th Masters 1000 title and his 7th successive Monte Carlo trophy.

Nadal sinks his teeth into a record seventh straight Monte Carlo title

The tour's next stop was the Barcelona ATP 500 tournament in Spain. This was the only event that was being held over this week as most of the guys are wanting to recover from their first taste of the dirt in Monte Carlo. Nadal decided to play here again after skipping the event last year in a bid to undertake a smarter scheduling pattern. I guess he wanted to rack up as many wins on the surface before a likely meeting(s)? with Djokovic sometime over the next month. As we all know with him, he needs to play a lot of matches to get into a nice rhythm and build up the confidence. Of course the catch 22 in this formula is that he runs the risks of getting injured due to overwhelming physical exertion. It's the same problem that has plagued Hewitt for the last six years or so. Anyway, the Spanish number one didn't have any injury problems to worry about this week, as he collected the trophy with a comfortable straight sets victory against Ferrer again in the final - the second straight Sunday he had beaten his compatriot.


The next week marked the return of Djokovic to competitive action where he took part in the second edition of the "Nole Open", otherwise known as Belgrade. This tournament is still finding it's feet and is not working with the biggest budget and if it wasn't for Nole and his family, the event wouldn't even be on the calendar. It's nice however that the people of Serbia have an event to go to and see some tennis being played in their country. They deserve it for the players they have produced, both on the male and female side, in the last few years. Djokovic extended his winning streak for the year and never looked like being threatened here, especially when his countryman Tipsarevic withdrew in the semi finals citing an injury. Nole over Flopez in the final, 7-6(4), 6-2. The Estoril Open in Portugal was being played in conjunction with Belgrade this week, and the event marked the welcome return to the winners circle for Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro. But before I get to that final, there was an extremely interesting semi final encounter that fate perhaps had set up. Raonic would play Verdasco for the third time this year, with the Canadian already sporting a healthy 2-0 head-to-head over the Spaniard. There was also Verdasco's previous comments about wanting to teach Raonic to play "real" tennis on a "real" surface to take into consideration. It had the makings of a fiery and intense battle. But sadly, it wasn't to be with Raonic having to retire after losing the first set 6-4. It would have been wonderful if the 20 year old Canadian could have shut up the big talking pretty boy but really, I doubt Verdasco was losing this to a healthy Raonic in any case. Which brings us to the final between Del Potro and Verdasco.  The contest began with several hesitant unforced errors from the pair, which in turn resulted in the opening three games going against the server. Then the Argentine began to find his range from the baseline, taking control in his service games and continuing to put pressure on the Spaniard's with his penetrating flat groundstrokes. Verdasco had no answer and Del Potro established a comfortable double break, before closing out the opener 6-2. Unfortunately for Verdasco it was more of the same in the second set, with the Tandil Tower dictating play with his forehand and pouncing on anything short. Del Potro secured the double break again to run away with the second and the match, 6-2, 6-2. This was the ninth ATP world tour title of the young Argentine's career and was a just reward for all the hard work he had been putting in after coming back from injury. The win was also reflected in the rankings with Del Pony now at a respectful 46 after being at 484 in mid February.

Del Potro returned to the winners circle in Estoril

In the other event taking place this week, Davydenko prevented funky German Florian Mayer from capturing his first career title, defeating him in three sets for the Munich title.


The tour then moved on to the back-to-back Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome. Unlike Monte-Carlo, these two events are mandatory for all the top players, hence why we saw Roddick competing in both of them. The big serving American didn't last long in Madrid however, going down to diminutive Italian qualifier Flavio Cipolla in the opening round. Madrid is logically the place where Duck should have the greatest chance of being successful on the surface because of the slight altitude, but he had no idea how to handle the variety that was being dictated to him off the Cipolla racquet. The Italian will never be a world beater, he has the power of my grandma of the baseline, but that didn't stop him pushing the American around the court and outsmarting him on the big points. This defeat, combined with Melzer losing his first match up, meant that this little section of the draw had opened up with some hilarious results to follow. Cipolla would proceed to lose his next match to Llodra, the man who was previously bagled by Raonic in MC in the WTA match of the year. Llodra would then meet Daniel-Gimeno Traver who took out Melzer. The Frenchman would carve out another victory against the Spanish dirtballer and somehow found his way in the quarter finals against Nadal. Amazing what a bit of altitude can do, although honestly it's not that much different, just one of those cases of the draw opening up and one person taking his chances.

Roddick is visibly frustrated after going down to Italian Flavio Cipolla in Madrid

Other notable early round matches included the second round affair between Feliciano Lopez and Federer. The Swiss great won the marathon match 7-6(13), 6-7(1), 7-6(7) in which Judy Murray's playboy held a match point in the decisive third set tiebreak. It was a massive effort from Lopez and one of the few times this year that he left everything out there on the court. If the man had the desire and work ethic to work on his backhand, then he is top 15 every day of the week. Now I have to apologise in advance here to the Verdasco fans - it may seem as if I have been having a dig at him in this review, but the man sometimes makes it just to damn easy. This was the case yet again in Madrid where he lost in the first round to Taipei's Yen-Hsun Lu. Lu was in horrible form this season, losing his first seven matches of the year and also falling in qualifying the week before in Belgrade, 0-6, 4-6, to Sweden's Ervin Eleskovic who was ranked 411 at the time. On top of that, this was Lu's first ever ATP win on clay and only his second in his entire career, with his last victory on the dirt coming at the French Open qualies in 2004. He simply cannot move on the surface and it took something very special from Verdasco to find a way to lose this one. Well look on the bright side, at least he featured in the upsets of the year.

Verdasco sets the record for the worst loss of the year, going down to Lu in Madrid

Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci was the surprise packet of the tournament, defeating Murray in straight sets in the third round before advancing all the way to the semi finals where he led Djokovic by a set and a break before succumbing in three pulsating sets of tennis. Bellucci had come out of nowhere to make it to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi final and certainly did not look out of his element in the first one and a half sets of this matchup. But as is the case so many times when one of these players has a top guy on the ropes, the concentration wavers and the winners became unforced errors. Djokovic stuck to his guns and ground out the victory while not playing his best ball - something the top players do so well. Federer played Nadal in the other semi. No need to explain this one. But I will in the simplest of terms. Topspin forehand to one handed backhand, gets the loopy reply and puts the ball away. Boring right, but that is just the way these matches between the pair will go, especially on clay. It's all about the matchup in this sport. Which leads us to the final in which the aforementioned statement again holds true. Djokovic can counter Nadal's heavy forehand with his brilliant two handed backhand. Which again, brings me to explain this matchup in the simplest of terms. Nadal's strength is is forehand crosscourt so he is not going to change that. Nole leans to his backhand side and hits hard and flat through the court, either back cross court or down the line. This is something that Federer cannot do, at least when playing Nadal from his backhand wing. Now Nadal is the one replying with the loopy short balls. This puts the Serbian in an advantageous position from the back of the court and then he can take over. It also helps that he has improved his serve as well. And that is basically what happened in the final with Djokovic taking it in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. In the process, he ended Nadal's 34 match unbeaten streak on the surface and extended his winning run to the same number. His season mark of 32-0 was the also the second best start to the season since John McEnroe went 42-0 in 1984.

Djokovic once again gets the better of Nadal to win the Madrid Masters

It was on again the next week in Rome. This was part of the reasons that five set finals were scrapped in these masters events. Too short a turn around but the calendar has been warped for years now and won't change soon. The other reason was Fed and Rafa don't like them and whatever they want, they usually get. Simon got the bye of the draw, defeating Roddick in the opening round. Honestly if Roddick didn't have to turn up to these events he wouldn't, at least during these latter stages of his career. Nadal showed the ill effects of his torrid encounter with Djokovic in the Madrid final only a couple of days earlier, battling past Italian journeyman Paulo Lorenzi in three sets. Verdasco would play Raonic for the fourth time this year and would finally get his full victory over the young Canadian, defeating him 6-4, 6-4. See look at that. I didn't bag him out. He would then go on to have one of the chokes of the season against Soderling in the next round. Sorry, couldn't resist but like I said, he makes it to easy. The biggest upset of the early rounds was when flamboyant Frenchman Richard Gasquet took out Federer for the first time since his epic win over the Swiss superstar six years ago in Monte Carlo. He had loss his last nine consecutive matches against Federer. And it looked like it was going to be 10 halfway through the match with the Frenchman down a set and 4-2. However, some spectacular volleying and miraculous shotmaking from the back of the court saw Gasquet claw his way back into the second set, which he eventually ended up taking in an absorbing tiebreak. Each player held their serve all the way through the decisive set to force another breaker, in which again Gasquet triumphed to complete a memorable victory 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(4). It was just the second time this year that Federer had lost to someone outside the top 3.

Gasquet won his first match in nine meeting against Federer in Rome

Gasquet continued his good form in the quarter finals, defeating the hard hitting Berdych in three sets to set up a semi final meeting with Nadal. The Spanish number one would prove too strong however, taking the match in straight sets. The other semi final pitted the seemingly unbeatable Djokovic against Murray, who had looked to have regained some of the form that saw him push Nadal in the Monte Carlo semis a month earlier. In one of the most exciting matches of the year, Murray had the Serb on the brink throughout the latter stages of the match, serving for the contest at 5-4 and four times coming to within two points of victory. Djokovic showed why he was the form man on the planet though, breaking Murray back to level the scores at 5-5 before going on to clinch the pulsating encounter in a tiebreak. It meant he would play Nadal in the final for the second straight week, and marked the first time in Masters 1000 history that the same pair of players would participate in four finals during the same year. But unfortunately for Nadal, it was the same old story of their three previous finals this year, with Djokovic again proving too strong, taking the match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. The losses were sure to be hurting Nadal mentally now and one could only wonder what would happen if the pair squared off in the French Open final in a couple of weeks time....

Nadal in an all to familiar position this year in finals against Djokovic

Nice was played one week before Roland Garros. These are the events where the top guys get a couple of matches in then tank halfway through when they're feeling happy with the matches they've got under their belt. Almagro picked up his third clay court title of the year with a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-3 victory over towering Romanian Victor Hanescu. I bet you one round into his French Open campaign he would regret that...


So Roland Garros was now upon us and most of the buzz circulating around the grounds was whether or not Nadal could put those four consecutive finals losses to Djokovic behind him and capture his sixth French Open championship. Could Djokovic repeat his efforts this year on the biggest stage when it mattered most? Could Soderling repeat his finals showings from the previous two years? Would Federer bounce back to grand slam glory after going his longest stretch without a slam since early 2004? Out of these four, it was the Spaniard who had the biggest trouble early on, going the distance with giant American John Isner. On paper this looked like a simple match for Nadal. He should have been able to dictate from the back of the court and expose the lanky American's movement for all his money on this surface. But Isner had other ideas. He had convinced himself beforehand that there was no point going out there unless he believed he could win. And sometimes that belief is the key ingredient to beating these top players on the grandest of stages. Despite going down a set and a break early on in the piece, Isner fought back in the second set to reel off three straight games to lead 5-4. They would then each hold their serve until a tiebreak eventuated. Isner would then unleash some deep penetrating groundstrokes in the breaker, bewildering Nadal who in turn made some rather nervous unforced errors. The American college graduate would then run away with it, taking the breaker 7-2 and evening the contest at a set all. Game on. The third set was an intense mixture of blistering serving and groundstrokes of Isner and the relentless defence of Nadal. Isner was starting to get on top of the Nadal forehand that was being fed to his backhand wing, consistently running around it and smacking the winner. His height gave him a tremendous advantage in this regard as the balls sat up perfectly for him. It went on serve throughout the set which forced another tiebreaker. It was almost a carbon copy of the previous breaker, with Nadal making some uncharacteristic unforced errors while the American could seemingly do no wrong. Some world class serving saw Isner stroll to another 7-2 victory and take a two sets to one lead against the current world number one and greatest clay courter in history. Who would have thought it? Isner on the verge of one of the greatest upsets in history, ten times more unlikely than the Soderling defeat a couple of years ago. But this is also when the true champions up the ante, and find the necessary level and stroke play to find the win under any circumstances. Nadal did just that early on in the fourth, breaking the Isner serve to get that priceless break. You could tell by the Isner body language now that he didn't think there was any chance of clawing his way back into this set. He dropped serve again to go down 2-5 and Nadal served out the set with relevant ease. Two sets all and dead even on the scorecard, but you just sensed that Nadal had this one in the bag at this stage. Nadal put the pressure on early, forcing Isner to hit his first serve long and capitalising on the second delivery. The Spaniard broke and the American was physically spent. Credit to Isner though, he hung in there for the rest of the set and forced Nadal to serve out the match, which he did, completing a memorable 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-4 victory. Nadal has still never been beaten in the opening round of a slam.

Isner gave the world number one the fright of his life before finally succumbing in five sets

Although Isner didn't get the win, there were plenty of other upsets in the opening round. Sixth seed Tomas Berdych was defeated in five sets by French journeyman Stephan Robert 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 9-7. The quality in this one wasn't the best but the parochial French crowd got behind their countryman and spurred him on to an unlikely victory. Robert is no world beater, much in the Cipolla mould but he doesn't go away and won't hand you victory. There was no way Berdych should have lost this one, especially after leading by two sets but this just goes to show how important the mental aspect of the game is. Almagro payed the price for focusing to much on the 250 events and bombed out to Polish qualifier Lukaz Kubot in their first round encounter. Like the Berdych, the Spanish 11th seed blew a two sets to love advantage to go down 3-6, 2-6, 7-6(3), 7-5(5), 6-4. Maybe he will learn his lesson for next year. Hats off to Kubot though, the guy has never been one of the mentally strongest of players so he would have enjoyed being on the right side of the scoreline here. He has a very nice game to watch when he is on, varies it up and approaches the net and can volley well. The dance at the end of his big wins is epic as well, puts Petkovic to shame. Croatian 19th Marin Cilic was also "upset" in his 1st round matchup with Ruben-Rameriz Hildago of Spain. This match was a gamblers dream if you knew the sport. Cilic has never been all that effective on the dirt and Hildago loves the grind. The man with the trendiest shirt in mens tennis took this one easily in straight sets. 

Ruben-Rameriz Hildago celebrates his victory over Marin Cilic in the classic shirt

Other notable upsets during the first week included unheralded grinders Antonio Veic and Lukas Rosol collecting career best wins over Davydenko and Melzer respectively to move into the third round of a grand slam for the first time. Veic is a fiery customer from Croatia who loves the hard work and never gives up. Again it was the case of a seeded player surrendering a two sets to love advantage with Davydenko looking a completely different player in the last three sets here. The Russian has been plagued by injury problems the last year or so and doesn't look like getting back to the sort of tennis that saw him reach number three in the world. He has done his job on the tour though, making more than enough money and the wife will be happy with that. But the match of the tournament and perhaps the most exciting match of the year occurred in the 4th round between Fabio "The Fog" Fognini and Albert Montanes. In one of the most dramatic and hilarious matches I've ever witnessed, the Fog came back from behind on numerous occasions, saving five match points and fighting through leg cramps to take the match in 5 gripping sets, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 11-9. Montanes served for the set at 5-3 in the fifth set but  uncharacteristically tightened up to give the Fog a glimmer of hope. Then with the Fog serving at 6-7 and 15-30 down, he calls a medical timeout in which everyone thought he was being treated for his cramps. Fognini returned to the court and could barely move. He was stuttering all over the place, blasting winners without moving his body and foot faulting almost every service game. Montanes was stunned into oblivion, all the thought process went out the window and he was playing straight into the Fog's hands. With a clearer head, he would have attempted a few drop shots as Fog was not moving anywhere but all that goes out the window deep into the fourth set. Some of the Suzanne Lenglen crowd had started booing Fog but most of them were on his side, perhaps remembering his antics the previous year when he defeated Monfils in fading light and had to finish the job the next morning. Montanes had two match points at 7-8 and three more at 8-9 but Foggy just kept blasting forehand winners to all corners of the court. The leg was so bad now that the trademark strut couldn't be implemented between points. The Fog then broke Monty to go ahead 10-9 before going up 40-0 and having three match points. He then foot faulted two times in a row to reduce the deficit to 40-30 before somehow winning the last point to emerge victorious. The crowd erupt in a chorus of cheers and boos before Foggy goes to the back and announces he has a serious muscle problem with the leg and has to withdraw from his first ever grand slam quarter final against Djokovic. Say what you want about this guy, but he gives you value for money. We need a lot of photos here.

Fog grimaces in pain deep in the fifth set

Vamos

Pleading for the crowds forgiveness

The realises he is "The Fog" and struts off the locker room

Here is a short clip of the final game and all it's comedic value:

But perhaps the withdrawal of his quarter final opponent didn't do Djokovic any favours as he lost his first match of the season in the semi finals to Federer. In what I consider to be the best match Federer has ever played at Roland Garros, the Swiss Maestro turned back the clock to his vintage 2006-2007 form to seal the memorable triumph in four pulsating sets, 7-6(5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5). Unlike when Fed and Nadal play each other (or Nadal and Nole as well for that matter), there is no clear tactic that the other will implement on a consistent basis to outmanoeuvre their opponent into uncomfortable positions on the court. This alone makes their contests more exhilarating for the both the casual observer and keen tennis fan. The only disappointing thing about the result in this match was that the final was already now a forgone conclusion. Nadal, who had one day earlier defeated Murray in straight sets, must have been sitting in his hotel room breathing a sigh of relief that his recent nemesis Djokovic would not be present in the final to give him another beating. So again it was Nadal and Federer in the French Open final. And when these two meet here there is only ever going to be one result. High topspin forehand to the Federer backhand, Nadal gets the weak reply and puts the ball way for a winner. Sound familiar? It should because I have repeated the aforementioned sentence about 10 times so far in this review. It's getting very tiresome isn't it. Kinda like knowing the result of their big matches before the contest has finished. And for the second straight time in a slam, Federer blew a 5-2 lead in a set to end up losing it, and from there Nadal was never losing this final. Nadal wins the match in four sets and claims his sixth Roland Garros and his 10th grand slam championship to cement himself as one of the greatest clay courters the game has ever seen and obtain the confidence he needed for the rest of the season ahead.

Nadal wins his sixth Roland Garros championship