Nadal Wins 8th French Open

On a chilly Sunday afternoon in Paris, the fastest man in track witnessed the fastest man on clay etch himself into the pages of history with an incredible eighth French Open win. Usain Bolt, the Jamaican record sprinter who was to present the winner with the trophy, could be seen in the stands wearing sunglasses and a light fedora.

Rafael Nadal fulfilled his once-in-a-lifetime campaign by pummeling his friend and compatriot David Ferrer to a pulp in three arduous sets. The constant pushes and pulls which occurred are not reflected in the 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 final scoreline, but it was Rafa's match to win from the get-go.

In just the third game, Nadal's high-bouncing forehand whiplashes were already lethal enough to force a break out of David and the reigning champ would go up 2-1.

But the tenacious David, never mindful of the scoreboard, drew a string of errors in Nadal's would-be consolidation service game to break back for 2-2.

Ferrer then held serve with tidy play at the net, followed by Nadal's hold with fewer errors than his previous service game.

Two heartrending breaks of serve in Nadal's benefit hinted at the fact that Ferrer was the less competent player on court, and so the first set went to Rafa, 6-3.

Off the bat in the second set, Rafa broke for 2-0 despite truly superb efforts from Ferrer and consolidated the lead with a series of winners. 3-1 Nadal.

Game 5 of set 2 was chock full of deuces and break points, the fourth of which Nadal sent packing with a flat and low backhand pass that fell just inside the baseline corner of the ad court almost at his command. Soon after, Rafa would hold for 4-1.

Now, the tone was getting more sombre as neither inexhaustible competitor was about to subside in contest for the title.

Nadal paused play on Ferrer's serve at 4-1, 30-15 to glare at members of the audience who refused to sit and be quiet, despite repeated requests in that respect from the chair umpire. The French crowd was not very fond of his annoyed disposition, and Ferrer used the mental preoccupation plaguing Nadal to erase three break points; still, Nadal found a way to get the break on the fifth chance to go up 5-1.

Before Nadal could serve next, a shirtless fan with a lighted flare had to be shoved off the court. Perhaps fazed and momentarily afraid, Nadal played a tight game and surrendered the break 5-2.

Next it was David Ferrer who got tight and lost a quick but significant game on serve to lose the set 6-2 and hand the reins back to Nadal.

Rafa started the third set with a love hold in five minutes, still energized after one hour and thirty-nine minutes of play, then broke Ferrer's serve for a 2-0 lead.

Ferrer was not making it at all easy for Nadal, who was beginning to serve and retrieve poorly after almost two hours working with the new "old" knee on court. This gave Ferrer the chance to break back at 0-40, which he did, but the exertion necessary to out-stroke Nadal  was apparent in his body language. Luckily for them both, a steady drizzle paused play just long enough for them to compose themselves.

Deceptively re-energized, Ferrer stepped back onto court when the skies cleared up a bit and consolidated the break for 2-all. Nadal too was relentless in battle and kept his neck out in front with a 3-2 hold.

Sacrificing accuracy for aggression, David was going all out on his shots and hence making a heap of errors, allowing Rafa to maintain the lead. Something or someone on the side of the court from which Rafa was complaining in the second set seemed to be troubling Ferrer; he and Nadal exchanged a knowing look and a wry smile, and David continued trucking on, 3-3.

Two hours and six minutes into the match, Nadal won a pivotal seventh game to go up 4-3.

Another nervous game from Ferrer culminated with a double fault that gave Rafa the break for 5-3. Serving for the match, Nadal let Ferrer hammer the nails into his own coffin by forcing errors in order to get to double championship point.

Straight-faced, he took to the baseline and sealed his place in the hall of tennis fame with a helluva big serve followed by his favorite forehand, irretrievable by what was left of the crushed spirit in David Ferrer. Then he was on the ground, ritualistic even in celebration, as he soiled his shirt in the red dirt that adores him and covered his face with his hands.

Rafa can now boast a whopping twelve major titles, on par with Roy Emerson and eclipsed only by Pete Sampras's fourteen and Roger Federer's insuperable seventeen titles. That isn't bad for a guy whose physicality has been both the boon and bane of his performance.

But Roger already had fifteen titles in 2009 when he was the same age that Rafa is now (27 years). So will Rafa be able to overtake him? It certainly isn't at the forefront of his mind; Nadal says he is focused only on continuing to play consistently well for as long as he can.

We're the ones who want to see if he can make it there and who, if anyone (*cough* Djokovic), can stop him. With the clay season wrapped up (mostly in Nadal's trophy case), and the green grass of Wimbledon just on the horizon, we won't have to wait too long to get some answers.

Rafael Nadal (L) accepts the French Open trophy from Usain Bolt (R)

Breathe tennis!!

French Open 2013 Women's Singles Final: Serena Williams (USA) v. Maria Sharapova (RUS)

The Women's Singles Final at Roland Garros on Saturday, June 8, 2013 went every bit as expected.....in the favor of fifteen-time Major champion and Parisian by acclimatization Serena Williams.

The 31-year-old, who owns an apartment in Paris, fell early in the first set to a 0-2 deficit. Her opponent Maria Sharapova was being amply aggressive, kicking the proverbial dust in Serena's face as she raced out of the starting gate.

But did she really think Serena would roll over and just give her the set on a silver platter? Williams quickly broke back to forge a 4-2 lead.

Sharapova had a tactic, though: go wide to Williams's forehand to force the errors. It worked well enough to allow her to break back and make it 4-all.

At 15-30, unfortunately, MaSha dumped a wild backhand to hand Serena two break chances. The American would capitalize on them and go on to win the first set 6-4.

Sharapova was working mightily hard to put in big serves but Serena only returned them with interest, as she did at the start of the second set. That and an untimely double fault put Maria down 0-30. It must have been difficult to stick with the forehand target game-plan with the wind whipping as it was.

After warding off 5 break points for an important hold, Sharapova screamed with emotion. 1-0 was the score.

But in her next service game, she would be broken at love. 3-1, favor of the American.

Williams was really smacking her around at this point, and having far less trouble holding her own serve. As in the previous set, Maria was up 40-15 when Serena crashed her party to make it deuce. But MaSha steadied her nerves to keep Serena's lead down to only one break.....and there we were at 3-2.

New balls were brought out for the sixth game and, after a few powerful serves, Serena kept her head in front at 4-2.

Maria then held serve again, fending off what could have easily been an embarrassing 2-5 hole.

When Serena again served her way to 5-3, many feared how close to over this match was.

In game #9, it seemed for a moment that Maria would hold easily, but it was deuce in the blink of an eye, and she had to fight with everything she had just to stay in the match.

Serena fired an ace to begin the tenth game.

The second point went to Sharapova as Williams spawned a wild backhand to make it 15-all.

A second ace (195 km/h) put her back on track. 30-15.

Then she hit a perfectly measured backhand down the line to garner double championship point.

And with one more ace, her 41st of the tournament, she'd proven that eleven years did little to water down her form. Nearly in tears, she fell to her knees in palpable elation, perhaps not even hearing the roaring cheers of the crowd as they lauded their great Roland Garros winner.

Two-time French Open Champion, Serena Williams

Breathe tennis!!

The King for All Intents and Purposes

Already, the world is poring over what has been the most epic Grand Slam match since the Wimbledon final in 2008, or for these two rivals since the Australian Open final last year. Rafael Nadal asserts himself as the rightful King of Clay, more specifically the Master of Roland Garros........in the semifinals.

The heavens looked favorably upon the center court at Roland Garros, bathing Court Philippe Chatrier in glorious sunshine. The crowd cheered boisterously as both men entered the arena. The sweet smell of revenge swirled about the sun-drenched surface of the court, flitting about in the breeze. And the way the stands were bloated with fans, you'd think this were a final.

That's because the stakes couldn't be higher: Djokovic could complete his Career Grand Slam with the French Open title, with the added perk of dethroning Nadal from yet another sovereignty. Rafa, on the other hand, could become the first man in the Open Era to win the same tournament eight times and begin to screech to a halt the slippery slope on which his 20-15 head-to-head against Djokovic is sliding. Two particularly admirable aspirations, unlikely to be matched or even approached, but only one man could walk away with his dreams still alive.

Service holds were fulfilled at the start of the first set, as expected, and with a plethora of unforgettable points strewn in between. Par exemple, in the sixth game, Nadal opened his service game with one jammer of a serve that caused the stunned Djokovic to play a short return. Rafa then lasered a forehand way into the far corner but was a step behind Novak's unintended drop-shot return. Making up for his bad timing with lightning speed, Nadal would scoop the ball back behind the fast-approaching Djokovic, forcing him to play a lob that landed just wide of the service line.

And then King Cobra Nadal landed a deadly strike: he broke Nole's serve in the seventh game, then followed that up with a love hold to take a 5-3 lead. In just over 50 minutes, Rafa had the first set in the bag, 6-4.

Things seemed routine again in the second set until the fifth game when, serving at 2-all, 30-40 down, Djokovic would, for lack of a better way to end the rally, hiccup a drop-shot sufficiently low to foil any other opponent's plans to win the point. But this is Rafael "Quick Feet" Nadal we're talking about. Of course, he got there with time to spare and caressed a backhand pass down the line while Djokovic looked on helplessly from the center service line. 3-2 Nadal.

Now, as most players on tour know, even worse than being outplayed by Djokovic is thinking you're about to grab an easy one from under him when he comes out of nowhere and almost magically throws you into the hole you just tried to push him into. Rafael Nadal knows this feeling all too well. In a manner that can only be attributed to the world #1, Novak Djokovic made a hard-earned comeback, putting himself in a good position at 4-3, with one break opportunity against the Spaniard. And the result of practically painting the lines with uncanny angles, as well as exploiting Rafa's not-so-effective backhand slice, was a 5-3 lead for the Serb.

'Goodness, they're hitting the ball hard' is what one would have thought a few minutes later during game 9. And an outstanding backhand skidding off the loose dirt would prove too good for Rafa as he relinquished the second set to an energized Djoko. Second set: 6-3 Djokovic.

The loss of the second set seemed to have reignited the flame of controlled aggression within Nadal, for he wasted little time in jumping to a 5-1 lead in the third. And then, more drama would ensue..... Two points away from clinching the third set, Rafa played a captivating game of offensive defense with Novak: the Serbian carved out a decent drop-shot and covered the closer half of the court in rightful anticipation of Nadal's down-the-line pass attempt. But Rafa easily chased down the lob that followed and, to the utter surprise of the crowd, Djokovic netted the smash from less than two meters behind the net. He would win only one more point before thrashing a forehand long. Third set: 6-1 Nadal.

In the fourth set, the only thing as spectacular to watch as Djokovic's delicate drop-shots were Nadal's impossible retrieving skills. Hence, the two stayed deadlocked for ten consecutive games, until the Spaniard shook himself loose and a fraction ahead with a break for 6-5.

Then there was precious little time for onlookers to register that Nadal was serving for the match, so rapidly did Djokovic seize control of the game and force a tiebreaker upon the proceedings at Roland Garros.

Rolling with the momentum, Nole would tug at the tense strings possibly stiffening Nadal at the time. In a flash, the top seed had grabbed the fourth set 7-6 (7-3) and forced a deciding fifth, much to the delight of the French crowd.

The moment of guts, nuts and powerful shots lay right before both men as they entered the final set. Nadal was broken right off the bat, seeming to stumble now that the clock registered more than three grueling hours since the match had commenced.

No amount of scrambling from Rafa would cause Djokovic to surrender this vital lead; even two scorching backhands in the fifth game couldn't erase the break difference that kept Novak a hair's breadth nearer to victory than Nadal.

But we all sensed that something else, something humongous was on the horizon, and we were right. Nole was maintaining the strangle-hold at 4-3 and deuce when he lost balance on a net smash approach and almost fell forward over the net. Chair umpire Pascal Maria felt the only logical thing to do was to penalize Djokovic for winning the point! Advantage Nadal thus. And 6-6 soon after for the final tiebreak showdown.

Still employing the drop-shot effectively, Novak had only to keep holding serve to prevent an unfortunate exit. Nadal, sent running away from the net with yet another lob, delighted fans with a "tweener" that rose high enough for Djokovic to sack the smash. Again.

At 8-7, 40-0, the door that Nadal had been banging on all match at last began to creak as he crouched to receive Djokovic's must-win serve. And when Novak the Great pushed a forehand a mere three feet past the baseline, that door swung open most emphatically. Four hours and thirty seven minutes after the first ball bounced on Court Philippe Chatrier that afternoon, Rafael Nadal and his team were jumping for joy at his (semi)final win over the formidable Djokovic.

Far from being over, Rafa Nadal faces yet another formidable opponent in fellow Spaniard David Ferrer. Convinced Sunday's final will be a blowout? Might I remind you that Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was flying sky-high after eliminating Roger Federer in straight sets but couldn't find the will or the way to oust Ferrer. There's no telling what the Spaniard can achieve now, driven and focused as he is at the moment. He is going for his very first Grand Slam title and at age 31, this may be his last chance.

All we are hoping for is another blockbuster of a match, with emotions running high, momentum swinging back and forth, umpire decisions on which to speculate, and dazzling points that seem humanly impossible to execute. One way or another, we will have a Spanish King. Yes, Nadal has already proven his point; let's see if he can make it official.

Nadal feels the triumph of beating Djokovic in the semifinal at RG13

Breathe tennis!!

Closer to Crowning the Champs

TUESDAY, DAY 10

Les Hommes

Well, we weren't too startled to hear that David Ferrer of Spain had dismissed his countryman Tommy Robredo in straight sets 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 on Court Suzanne Lenglen for a seat in the quarterfinal huddle.

But we were astonished by Federer's loss (oh how sacrilegious it seems to utter these words in that order!!) to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in an elimination as quick and unexpected as an axe to a chicken's neck.

In one of his sloppiest matches of the year to date, Roger Federer was shoved out of the race to RG coronation by one tenacious and light-footed Tsonga. Fed was shown no mercy by the Frenchman after racking up a few forehand errors in the middle of the first set. JW Tsonga took full advantage and won the set 7-5.

What astounded the French crowd, and the millions watching from all over the world, was the lack of comeback by the Swiss Maestro. The last time Federer lost the first set in a Grand Slam final was last year at Wimbledon against Andy Murray, but he won then (4–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–4) and we all expected him to win here against a seemingly less qualified opponent than the clean-hitting Murray.

But Jo-Willy was not ready to let down his home crowd and blasted his way to the finish line, ignoring Roger's sluggish movements and channeling all his energy on executing his own game successfully.

The final score of 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 marks an auspicious moment for French tennis by the hands of Tsonga, who has hopes of commemorating the 30th anniversary of a local French Open champion (Yannick Noah, 1983) with a win of his own, come Sunday.

Unfortunately, it also marks the third time that Federer has lost in a French Open quarterfinal. It has been four years since Roger has hoisted La Coupe des Mousquetaires (or "Musketeer's Trophy", as the silver-lined cup is commonly called) in his first and only Parisian conquest in 2009.

So where does this leave us? With several questions, one of which is whether Roger will be physically able to contest this tournament next year (by then, he will close to 33 years young) amid twenty-somethings fresh out of the junior circuit and hungry for titles.

An even more gut-wrenching question: with the "Big Four" all over the age of 25, Roger leading the way in age, titles and all-time records, is the "Golden Era" of tennis coming to a close? Or is another great age headed our way under the ensign of the little ones like Jerzy Janowicz, John Isner and Grigor Dimitrov? Only time will tell.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, victorious in battle against Roger Federer at RG13

Les Dames

Ms. Williams was in full control of her quarterfinal match against Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia on Court Philippe Chatrier. Despite hot hitting from the Russian (who is known for her occasional inconsistency), Serena was able to forge a 6-1 first set choke-hold.

Perhaps sensing Williams's propensity to outpace opponents, Kuznetsova began the clever technique of using the slice backhand to draw Serena in towards the net and then whoosh deep passing shots to gain easy points. Amazingly, Serena did not find an answer to that for the duration of the second set; hence, Svetlana loosened the choke-hold with a 6-3 equalizer.

Looking to pick up the slack before momentum rolled too far away from her, and apparently coming to terms with the butt-load of forehand errors she made in the second set, Serena upped her game just enough to come back from 0-2 down and steal the match from between Lana's deft fingers.

The mood changed at 15-all in the sixth game of the third set when Williams curled a forehand in the ad court to end a long rally with a grimace and a grunt. Showing improved anticipation and timing thenceforth, Serena won the next two games to consolidate a vital break for 5-2.

Not to be put away without retaliation, Kuznetsova bravely held serve then to force Serena to serve it out.

And as her final forehand, laced with controlled aggression, bounced past the 27-year-old Kuznetsova, multiple Grand Slam champion Serena Williams would do just that, crouching in transparent emotion at this, her laborious triumph.

Italy's Sara Errani is her next competitor. Maybe the petite clay court expert from Bologna will be able to bring her best game against Williams, who, in spite of her 15 singles titles, is not as adept on this surface.

Serena Williams advances to the French Open semifinals

WEDNESDAY, DAY 11

Les Hommes

1		N. Djokovic	6	77	7			Quarterfinals
12		T. Haas	3	65	5			Jun 5, Completed
3		R. Nadal	6	6	6			Quarterfinals
9		S. Wawrinka	2	3	1			Jun 5, Completed

[Quarterfinal results in the Men's Singles draw at Roland Garros, as obtained from the Google search engine.]

Some experts argue that, notwithstanding these latest match results in which Djokovic's scoreline is closer than Nadal's, the Serbian has had an easier time progressing through the draw than the Spaniard.

The tournament statistics attest to this fact: Djokovic has conceded 57 games and just one set en route to this semifinal match with Nadal, who has conceded a total of 62 games and two sets.

What's worrying is the fact that both sets lost by Nadal were first sets to lower ranked players in the first two rounds. In his ongoing comeback, Rafa has been starting off shakily and improving his form as the tournaments progress to their final stages. He is slowly beginning to trust his somewhat-healed knee and his ability to run around and hit his signature whipping forehand.

The problem is that even healthy, pre-comeback Nadal had loads of difficulty beating Djokovic, without exception of surface. And Nole has already stopped him from claiming a record ninth Monte-Carlo title earlier this year. Therefore isn't far-fetched at all to think that the Serb has it in him to beat Nadal here.

All Novak must hope for is not to be bothered by the ego exuding off a man who has been in eight consecutive ATP finals over the past four months and captured six of those titles in grand style. But then again..... Always honest about his feelings, Rafa has already admitted his nervousness ahead of the match against Novak on Friday but promised fans to be driven more by desire to win than (justified) nerves.

Friday's proceedings  on Court Philippe Chatrier will put to bed all the wanderings of our imagination, since whoever wins this semifinal would be the overwhelming favorite to win the title. A king must be crowned. Who will it be?

Djokovic at the French Open 2013

Les Dames

Victoria Azarenka had a pretty routine win over Russian player Maria Kirilenko to book her place in the semifinals on Thursday.

Another Maria, Sharapova specifically, would have an almost as troubling time. Former world #1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia had Sharapova stumbling from one corner of the court to the next, thrashing a mixture of topspin-heavy winners and wild ground-strokes at the defending champion to capture the first set with a bagel (6-0).

In the second set , Sharapova was able to anticipate the ball much better and exploited a few forehands down the line to get an early break with consolidation to lead 3-1. Working the angles much better, MaSha made good on more break opportunities to go up 4-1. Jankovic appeared less and less nimble in her lateral movement but broke back to stay in the set at 5-4. Before long, however, Sharapova had the second set in the bag at 6-4.

Showing telltale signs of exhaustion after one and a half hours of intense play versus a younger opponent, Jankovic eased up off the gas pedal in the third set, allowing Sharapova to easily read her less than deft drop-shots to go up 5-3. Jankovic fervently needed to hold serve at this point but was double match point down when she sent a forehand just wide of the service line and ran almost instinctively to the net to congratulate Sharapova on the win.

Sharapova faces Vika Azarenka in the semifinals on Thursday.

2008 US Open finalist Jelena Jankovic on the stretch

Breathe tennis!!

Stan the Man

After one hour and fifty two minutes of irremissible misses on the forehand and backhand sides, Stanislas Wawrinka was two sets down and facing break points at 2-all, 15-40 when he almost visibly roused himself from latency with a spicy cross-court forehand.

His opponent Richard Gasquet paced patiently for a few moments while Stan wiped away his tentativeness in the court-side towel, the both of them wondering if the match were almost over.

In the next point, the second line call in a span of five minutes ensued, again going in Wawrinka's favor - his forehand was well inside the service line. He still had a few words to share with the chair umpire though, pointing his finger accusingly and raising his voice in anger.

Vexed outbursts more often than not cloud a player's focus and cause him/her to lose the match, mostly because it is the unattractive scoreline that frustrates them and not so much the particular incident at hand. But Wawrinka kept his cool - or rather his heat - and took the next two sets.

Richard of France was well aware that he'd just squandered a two sets to love lead to an enraged opponent and conjured up enough decent play to force a deciding tiebreak.

Fighting to stay in the match at 6-7, 15-40, however, his first serve betrayed him at the worst possible time and, whether he realized or not that he had one more opportunity to avoid an exit, he made little effort to return an inch-perfect down-the-line forehand from Wawrinka and lost - or forfeited, I dare say - his berth on the royal French clay.

Against the odds, Stanislas Wawrinka had made it to the quarterfinals, final score: 6-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 8-6.

Swiss #2 Stanislas Wawrinka on Day at Roland Garros

Weekend Blitz

From Saturday to Monday, we really got down to business in France and showed the world who's boss at the French Open.


Saturday

To close off the third round action among the men, an octet of matches were played and I don't think you'll be TOO surprised at the results.

In defeating Jerzy Janowicz 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, Swiss #2 player Stanislas Wawrinka sealed a sweet deal for the fourth round, which isn't too much of a shock in a battle between a feisty newbie and a seasoned vet with one of the best backhands on tour. Regardless of that, it must have been as momentous an occasion as his victory at the Portugal Open last month for his fourth career title. In fact, Stan's performance thus far this year has been nothing short of stellar. Just a few weeks ago in Madrid, he advanced all the way to the finals but was defeated by the very man he may face in the quarterfinals here, Rafael Nadal. And while Nadal has much more at stake here in Paris than he did in Madrid, "WOWrinka" may not need an invitation to kick some butt in the name of sweet, sweet revenge.

Again without surprises, Djokovic, Kohlschreiber and Gasquet all comfortably advanced to the fourth round in straight sets, as follows:

Novak Djokovic d. Grigor Dimitrov: 6-2, 6-2, 6-3
Richard Gasquet d. Nikolay Davydenko: 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
Philipp Kohlschreiber d. Victor Hanescu: 6-9, 7-6, 6-1

Tommy Haas continued to make miracles at age 35, defeating marathon-lover John Isner in five grueling sets: 7-5, 7-6, 4-6, 6-7, 10-8. Both men sporting white caps a la Andy Roddick, it was Haas who produced stunning shots that the seven foot wingspan of Isner could not retrieve. Even despite Isner's truly humongous serve (Haas's position for returning serve was so close to the first row of bleachers that he eluded the aerial camera at the start of almost every return game point.), Tommy managed to pull a win out of the old bag, and thus out went the last American man in the draw.

Mikhail Youzhny, Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori also earned their fourth round spots via straight set victories.

Wawrinka carving a slice backhand at RG13

The ladies were just as productive.

Jelena Jankovic knocked out 2011 US Open champion Samantha Stosur in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Jamie Hampton, Francesca Schiavone and Maria Kirilenko defeated their opponents in straight sets to advance to the fourth round.

On a roll of sorts, Bethanie Mattek-Sands needed three sets to beat Paula Ormaechea (4-6, 6-1, 6-3) and continue her amazing run towards the finish line at Roland Garros.

Sloane Stephens earned a bit of wows herself, getting past Marina Erakovic in three sets (6-4, 6-7, 6-3) to match her best performance at this tournament, when she made it to the fourth round last year.

And finally, the two top-tiered ladies of the day advanced without too much difficulty, Maria Sharapova defeating Jie Zheng 6-1, 7-5; and Victoria Azarenka defeating Alize Cornet in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

Sloane Stephens on Day 9 at Roland Garros

Sunday

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and David Ferrer ran away with their matches in straights. Tsonga defeated Viktor Troicki in straight sets, each at 6-3; whereas Ferrer got rid of Kevin Anderson 6-3, 6-1, 6-1.

Conversely, Roger Federer and Tommy Robredo were pushed to the limit in five set battles that could easily have gone the other way. But they managed to survive, defeating respective opponents Gilles Simon and Nicolas Almagro.

If this were any other surface, we'd expect to see Roger thriving and Rafa trying to settle in at this point. But this is clay and as the tournament progresses, we're seeing Nadal winning matches more comfortably while Federer is just a bit unsteady. The draw still favors Federer, who, unlike Nadal, won't have to face Novak Djokovic before the finals. But this is a new year, with new birthdays, new injuries and new circumstances that give either of the three men a fair chance to walk away with the title.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga whipping a forehand at the French Open

Among the women, Kuznetsova, Radwanska and Errani successfully advanced to the quarterfinals, as follows:

S. Kuznetsova d. Angelique Kerber 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
A. Radwanska d. A. Ivanovic 6-2, 6-4
S. Errani d. C. Suarez-Navarro 5-7, 6-4, 6-3

Needless to say, all-star Serena Williams defeated Roberta Vinci 6-1, 6-3 to make it to the quarters and keep alive her dream of winning the French Open for only the second time.

Agnieszka Radwanska

Monday

Nadal inched even closer to the expectant semifinal clash with Novak Djokovic by defeating competitor Kei Nishikori (6-4, 6-1, 6-3). The Japanese contender all but unraveled in frustration as one attempted winner after another seemed to sail long or wide. It's a feeling that many players experience while playing perhaps the most prosperous clay-court player the Open Era has ever seen. Nishikori certainly did not roll over but, after over an hour of being pushed around by the defending champion, his body language betrayed any gusto he may have been feigning. Not too long after smashing his Wilson racket to the ground as a wordless sign of defeat, the match had ended and he was officially out. Maybe Novak really is the only person who can stop - or at least slow down - Nadal from arriving at the winner's circle.

Speaking of the world #1, Novak Djokovic needed four sets to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber (4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4) in what seemed only for a moment like a formidable obstacle to the guy at the height of the rankings. Is he rounding into form or not admitting that the recent aggravation of his ankle injury is subtly diminishing his effectiveness at the Open? We'll do anything but credit Kohlschreiber, just another name on the list of opponents who underrate Djokovic's ability to significantly up his level of play and win matches, no matter how deep a hole he's dug for himself.

Battle of the backhands took place when Stanislas Wawrinka overcame a two-set deficit to beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet in five sets 6-7, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 8-6. The Swiss player would not be dismissed and proved too much for the high-strung Gasquet.

Veteran Tommy Haas is making his hometown of Hamburg, Germany proud as he progressed through the draw at the ripe old untitled age of 35 by beating Russian bulldog Mikhail Youzhny....and in straight sets, mind you. The final score of 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 reflects Youzhny's inconsistent level of play as of late. Haas, on the other hand, has never advanced past the fourth round at the French Open (or past the semis in any of the four Grand Slams in a pro career almost two decades in the making). It doesn't look like he will do any better this year either - he faces Djokovic in the quartfinals on Wednesday.

Tommy Haas, victorious in the fourth round at Paris

And on the women's side:

Jelena Jankovic continued to impress fans with a comprehensive win over American Jamie Hampton in straight sets 6-0, 6-2.

Maria Kirilenko had the pleasure of dismissing Bethanie Mattek-Sands 7-5, 6-4 and stop dead in its tracks the zooming train that ran over Li Na in the second round last week.

Sloane Stephens was not good enough to beat reigning champion Maria Sharapova. A match riddled with errors from Stephens gave Sharapova an easy 6-4, 6-3 win.

And Victoria Azarenka defeated Italian Francesca Schiavone in a 6-3, 6-0 blowout.

Vika Azarenka in a press interview ahead of the French Open

Thus the pieces are placed and the stage set to host some tantalizing quarterfinal combats in Paris on Tuesday.

Stay right here for more results and commentary. Breathe tennis!!

Birthday Greetings

The management and staff of the Breathe Tennis Blog would like to extend warm 27th birthday greetings to the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal. Here's wishing you a great day and all the best defending your French Open title. Good luck making history with a record eighth Roland Garros championship win. VAM8S Rafa!!

Rafa Nadal with French Open trophy in 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!