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Roger Federer breezed through his second round match today at the French Open, taking out former UVA player, S. Devvarman, 6 – 2, 6- 1, 6- 1. Fed had over fifty winners as he easily took care of the young qualifier today. Roger has had two easy first round matches and has a very favorable draw. Next up is J. Benneteau of France and he could be a tricky match up for Fed. (Federer is 4-2 against him). Looming in the next round could be a possible quarterfinal match against another Frenchman, the colorful J. Tsonga. If all goes well, look for Federer to meet D. Ferrer in the semifinals. Let’s just call Roger Federer the Iron Man of tennis. He is now in third place for most matches won at this event, Nadal is just behind him, and with another couple of victories, Federer will become the leader of the pack. He has 35 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals (a record of course) and is appearing in his 54th consecutive Grand Slam (24 of those appearances have put him in the finals!). With all the talk of Nadal, and take nothing away from Rafa, he is the greatest clay court player ever, people do not recognize just how great Roger has performed on clay throughout his illustrious career.
Also advancing today with ease was world #1 on the women’s side, Serena Williams. She dispatched Caroline Garcia of France, 6 -1, 6-2.
Other winners of note today: M. Raonic, D. Ferrer, B. Paire, G. Simon, J. Benneteau (5 sets), S. Querrey, V. Azarenka and A. Radwanska (younger sister, Ursula lost today).
In his post match interview, Federer commented on the cool temperatures and how the court was playing. He feels it is playing fast (especially since clay is notoriously slow) and the balls are not bouncing as high as usual. He also said it favors offensive, aggressive play. He will need every bit of that he can muster should he find himself in another French Open final with Rafa on the other side of the net. I am hoping it happens, but we have a long way to go, only day four of fifteen day tournament.
