Ricky Dimon

• French Open Preview: Top 25 Contenders (Part 2)

  2008-05-05 17:40:00
  

  In the 25 days leading up to the 2008 French Open, Ricky is counting down the Top 25 contenders – starting from No. 25 and going to No. 1 – in Roland Garros. Part 2 of the preview includes contenders 20-22.
  
  #22: Jose Acasuso
  Acasuso has been inconsistent in 2008, but interspersed with several first-round exits are number of encouraging results that would suggest great potential for the French Open. The Argentine, ranked No. 41 in the world, reached the quarterfinals in Vina Del Mar, the final in Buenos Aires (featuring wins over Moya and Volandri), and the semifinals in Acapulco. All of those were events were contested on clay, Acasuso's favorite surface. Even at the biggest hard-court event of the year outside the Grand Slams, the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Acasuso won three matches before falling to Roger Federer. The 6'3'' Acasuso is always a threat on the dirt (his long backswings and heavy topspin are best suited for the surface), and the fact that he is playing relatively well at the moment will only make him and even more dangerous opponent in Roland Garros. He is not ranked high enough to be seeded so he is at risk for a bad draw, but Acasuso has second-week potential if the chips fall in the right places.
  
  #21: Andy Roddick
  As I said earlier in regard to James Blake, I really didn't want to have anything to do with any American in this Top 25 list. As you can see from the quality--or lack thereof--of the first few contenders, there just aren't enough clay-court threats out there to justify keeping the No. 6 player in the world completely out of the Top 25. Plus, Roddick is enjoying a quietly (other than his loud win in Dubai) strong start to the season, albeit having done all of his work on hard courts so far. He got knocked out in the third round of the Australian Open, but he really played a great match and simply got out-hit by an on-fire Philipp Kohlschreiber in a five-set instant classic. Roddick won the title in San Jose, lost early in the Memphis quarterfinals but that came against another on-fire player (Robin Soderling), and won another title in Dubai. After a surprise setback to Tommy Haas in his first match in Indian Wells, Roddick bounced back to overcome Roger Federer in the Miami quarterfinals, only to fall to eventual champion Nikolay Davydenko in the semis. We don't have the benefit yet of seeing Roddick's performance at the Masters Series Rome, and how he fares this week will go a long way in painting his true French Open prospects. Past results in Roland Garros do not bode well for Roddick, nor for any of his compatriots. He is just 4-7 lifetime in Paris, but it hasn't necessarily been that terrible. Don't forget that last year he had to play clay-court guru Igor Andreev in the first round, and you'll also probably be surprised to know that Roddick's best-ever French Open finish came way back in his first try there back in 2001, when he reached the third round. That would suggest that if he can rebuild any ounce of confidence on the red stuff, Roddick could at least entertain visions of making it to the second-week. Needless to say, of course, a draw devoid of clay-court specialists is a must.
  
  #20: Paul-Henri Mathieu
  Mathieu caught fire during last year's U.S. Open series and also he started off 2008 hot, rising to a career-high No. 12 in the ATP rankings (he currently stands at 20th). The Frenchman's first event of the season resulted in a quarterfinal appearance in Adelaide and he followed that up by reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open and the semifinals in Marseille. Inconsistency has been the name of the game for Mathieu over the past few months and that trend has continued into the clay-court season. He lost to Janko Tipsarevic in the first round of the Masters Series Monte-Carlo, but Mathieu bounced back to win three matches in Munich as the No. 1 seed before falling to Simone Bolelli in a semifinal third-set tiebreaker. Roland Garros seems to bring out the best in the up-and-down Mathieu. He erupted onto the scene as a promising youngster in 2002 by making it to the fourth round, where he lost to Andre Agassi in a five-set thriller. Mathieu has been solid--if unspectacular--ever since at the French Open. With Gael Monfils just returning to the ATP Tour, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga a little banged up, and Richard Gasquet mired in a bad slump, the French fans will certainly be firmly behind Mathieu this year in hopes of having one of their own make some noise in Paris.

Tell a friend »

Comments

Write comment

You have to be logged in to comment. If you do not have an account, click here to register. It only takes a minute and you'll be redirected back to this page.

Username:

Password:

Ricky Dimon

Archive

Poll

Articles - Latest commented

• 
  1
  Big finish in Macao for Federer with Asian exhibition payday
  

  janhavi, Nov 20, 2008 2:41 PM

• 
  2
  Davis Cup preview: Spain vs. Argentina
  

  janhavi, Nov 20, 2008 2:14 PM

• 
  1
  Serbia stands at the top of tennis after 2008 season success
  

  gordana, Nov 20, 2008 11:28 AM

• 
  7
  Federer beats Blake at Showdown of Champions
  

  james007, Nov 20, 2008 8:03 AM

• 
  12
  UK bookies say surging Murray on track for Grand Slam title
  

  janhavi, Nov 20, 2008 4:04 AM

Blog - Latest commented

• 
  35
  Top ten "what were they thinking" moments in 2008 Part II
  

  janhavi, Nov 20, 2008 5:15 PM

• 
  16
  Top ten "what were they thinking" moments in 2008 Part I
  

  tennisfan2, Nov 12, 2008 4:24 AM

• 
  13
  Federer's finest 5
  

  elle, Nov 10, 2008 2:11 AM

Tell a friend

Other tennis links

• www.menstennisforums.com
• www.tennis.com
• www.itftennis.com
• www.tennisnews.com
• More links...