Yes, another French Open post. Murray has just lost and I wasn’t surprised at all because while Murray has improved, he’s still not really great on clay. And Soderling shows his win over Nadal was no fluke, when he beat Davydenko pretty handily earlier today. I had actually thought Davydenko would come through since he’d been playing well and dispatched Verdasco relatively easily.
However, Soderling played the same aggressive, high-risk tennis. The same type of tennis he’s used to beat Ferrer (who’s a dangerous clay-courter), then Nadal, and now Davydenko. However what do these 3 have in common? They’re all grinders and when you play a highly aggressive game with a high percentage you can really put them on the defensive. I think Soderling has a real shot at being the surprise finalist but Gonzo can take huge swipes at the ball, especially on the forehand so we’ll see how Soderling fares against him in the semis. Soderling can win if he keeps up this high level of play and serves well.
This has definitely been a very interesting French Open thus far. Of the Big 4, only Federer remains. And of the top 10, only Federer and Del Potro remain. I’m pretty sure Del Potro will come through against Robredo. Monfils may be a challenge for Fed. Last year, Monfils took a set off Federer and he seems to have gotten better this year. But unless Fed plays badly, I don’t think Monfils will be able to take 3 sets off Federer. It’s just hard for Fed to play 3 whole sets of bad tennis. You’ll rarely see something like that. His loss in the finals last year to Nadal was more an abberation. He was being very aggressive but just not hitting the shots. You know, say what you will about Nadal and Fed in decline or whatever, but in the last 4 years, Federer has never lost to anyone at the French Open not named Rafael Nadal. But hey, anything can happen and we’ve seen that all tournament.
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