ROLAND GARROS May 30 – Roger Federer mixed up his entire game to beat the unknown Damir Dzumhur 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. He stayed back, he went to the net frequently, he swung hard, he threw a bunch of drop shots and he leaped high to put away his drop shots. The guy had little chance to upset the Swiss, and Federer knew it, so essentially he practiced. Federer is Dzumhur’s idol and he was just happy to be out there.
The 18-time champion Federer will face Gael Monfils, who won two five setters, the 13th time at RG. That is a lot. Fortunately, it will only be in the fourth round, so he couldn’t be exhausted after 3 hours or so. Federer has owned Monfils at the RG, beating him three times, which we never really close except in four sets in the semifinal of 2008. But during the last eight months, it’s change a bit, or a lot of bit. At the US Open, Federer had to come from two sets to defeat Monfils. But in the Davis Cup final, Monfils was out of his head, crushing the Swiss on the clay in straight sets, perhaps his best match ever. In Monte Carlo in April, the Frenchman took Federer again and you could tell that her was giving him fits. He changes constantly. So now on Sunday, Federer could become frustrated very quickly.
“Roger is very comfortable on couple of shots or couple area that I try to manage to put him out of this comfort zone,” Monfils said. “And then also I try, to find a rhythm also with Roger that I’m happy with, because Roger always wants to dictate the match the way he wants, the way he make you wait or speed up the match, the way he will select his shot. And me, I really try to change out of him, and sometime Roger get pissed a little bit. And also, whether I will — and I know he will respect it, but when he’s good — actually, when I saw it the most it was in US Open, you know, Roger was very unhappy when the crowd is not behind him. And that will help me a lot, for sure.”
Federer has looked just fine, winning the three rounds without sweating, but now on Phillip Chatrier where it could be raining and dizzily and he is going to have to be very patient. The same goes with Monfils who can be way up, and way down. Federer knows that it will be difficult.
“Davis Cup was rough,” Federer said. “Monaco was so early in the clay court season it was always going to be tough, even though I wasn’t hitting ball so bad, but still not quite understanding how passive or aggressive I needed to play. I thought he played a good, solid match, and me, too. It came down to a few points. It was a pity for me not to get through that one. He’s played me tough, throughout my career, I thought. Especially the last four, five years now. He’s been tougher for me to play against. We have played against each other here on a few occasions as well. Semis, quarters, some of my big years here. So clearly I’d love to play against him.”
His buddy, Stan Wawrinka, beat the American Steve Johnson 6-4 6-3 6-2 and will face the Frenchman Gilles Simon who bested Nicolas Mahut 6-2 6-7(6) 6-7(6) 6-3 6-1. The two know each other and there will be tremendous rally and super long points. For the past two years, Wawrinka has been much more intelligent. Simon is very smart, but he can go off. “Gilles is always a tough player. He’s difficult to handle. You do not want to precipitate your game. You have to be aggressive and really catch opportunities when they’re there. I think Gilles, his play will depend on me and on how I play. He tries to get you to come to the net, and you shouldn’t. You shouldn’t go when he wants you to go. You have to go when you want to do it yourself, when you feel like it. That makes a big difference.”
Jo Tsonga made it through to the fourth round and will face Tomas Berdych, who hasn’t lost to anyone outside of the top 10 this year. Tsonga used to be in the top 10, but he has been injured during much of the fall and part of the season, but he is back now. Tsonga says that he is playing better and better and he has a chance, but in order to win, he is going to have to dominate his serve and forehand. Plus he is going to run extremely fast.
THE WOMEN
It’s early at Roland Garros, but there were tears. Alize Cornet beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 4-6 6-3 7-5 and wept, as it’s the first time ever she reached the fourth round. “It’s magic” she said. If she can reach the quarters she will have to play better as Elina Svitolina is rising.
Then the defending champion Maria Sharapova beat Samantha Stosur 6-3 6-4. The Russian has a bad cold and she was fearful, even though she is now 15-2 against her foe. “I knew it was going to be a tough one going into the match,” Sharapova said. “And considering the start of the week was really tough. I knew I had a tough opponent, and I just wanted to be as ready as I could. I was really happy to win it.” She will play the lefty Lucie Safarova in the next round, which could be very close if the Czech steps in early.
Flavia Pennetta has said that she might retire at the end of this year, or she may not, but what she does know is she is very good and doesn’t get too nervous. Pennetta downed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3 6-4. The Spaniard has played well this year but she had a real shot to make it in the quarters and now she didn’t. That will really hurt. … Speaking of which, another Spaniard player, Garbine Muguruza, scored a huge win and upset Angelique Kerber 4-6 6-2 6-2. The powerful Muguruza can take down Pennetta, but she will have to understand which way the bounces are going.
Ekaterina Makarova has been pretty darn good over the past year, having reached the US Open semi and the Australian Open semi. She has made it into the fourth round, which made her happy considering that she hasn’t loved clay overall. She beat her good friend and doubles partner Elena Vesnina 6-2 6-4 and now will play Ana Ivanovic, who blew out Donna Vekic 6-0 6-3. That is a toss-up. The 2008 RG champ is happy now again, but she hadn’t done much since the start of January, but she is thrilled she won three straights matches. Ivanovic can grab the match, but she has to be smart and not panic at all.
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