French Open Men’s Preview: Federer Finally Wins
Before you get the butterfly nets out, I’m not crazy. You know Roger Fedeerer had a big sigh of relief when he saw that Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal would be on the same side of the draw. A nice long drawn out battle between them would suit Federer just fine, he can and will pick off the winner in the finals.
Oh, what’s that? What about David Ferrer? What about him? Everyone is talking right now about Ferrer upsetting Federer in the semifinals. Well, don’t assume Ferrer is going to make it that far. If he makes it to the fourth round, I’ll be surprised. Ferrer for all his talent and supposedly clay court prowess isn’t going far. Last year he was upset by Fernando Verdasco in the third round in 4 sets. This year has been even worse.
Ferrer was upset in the third round by Verdasco in Hamburg and Stepanek sent him home in the second round in Rome. He lost to Nadal in the Barcelona finals but the highest ranked player he beat on the way was Robredo. He lost to Nadal in the quarters at Monte Carlo and while he won the Valencia title, again, he beat nobody of note.
Unfortunately for the men, it’s Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and then everyone else. There may be a few minor upsets along the way but everyone is watching the big three. Andy Murray isn’t counting on doing much in Paris and James Blake, Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga aren’t looking like spoilers heading into the second Slam of the year.
First Round Match You Can’t Miss…
#13 Juan Monaco vs. Robin Soderling. Soderling should pull the upset in 5 sets. Also, don’t miss Gustavo Kuerten taking on Paul Henri Mathieu in Kuerten’s French swan song.
Semifinal Matchups
Roger Federer def. Radek Stepanek
Rafael Nadal def. Novak Djokovic
Your Winner Is…
Roger Federer over Rafael Nadal. Federer has come really close to beating Nadal on clay both in Monte Carlo and Hamburg. If Nadal isn’t 100% and has a tough battle against Djokovic, it could be a 4 set cruise to his first Roland Garros title.