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  • French Open 3rd Round: Roger Federer vs. Mario Ancic

    5/30/08 7:13 PM | Ricky Dimon
    - Roger Federer meets his third straight unseeded opponent in the third round of the French Open on Saturday, but Mario Ancic presents the biggest test yet. Ancic is healthy, in great form this season, and surprisingly adept on clay.

    Now Roger Federer's 2008 French Open really begins.

    Sure first-round opponent Sam Querrey is a major talent and Albert Montanes stole the first set from Federer in round two, but Mario Ancic is a whole different beast at the moment than those two. The good news for Federer, however, is that they have played on five previous times in their careers and Federer holds a 4-1 advantage, including 1-0 on clay. That win came two years ago at Roland Garros, where the Swiss needed just three sets to oust Ancic in a quarterfinal clash.

    Ancic is healthier now than ever and it has showed this season. In addition to a runner-up performance in Marseille, a semifinal showing in Zagreb, and strong results in both Indian Wells and Miami, Ancic also boasts a winning record on clay in 2008. The 6'5'' Croat was 4-4 on the slow stuff coming into Paris, and so far this week he has dispatched 31st-seeded Andreas Seppi and qualifier David Marrero without any problems.

    As good as Ancic is, all signs point to Federer being able to get the better of him once again this time around. It's obvious that Federer has not been the Federer of old this year—losing matches to Andy Murray, Mardy Fish, Andy Roddick, and Radek Stepanek to go along with his two setbacks against Rafael Nadal—but his clay-court exploits have been just fine so far. He won the title in Estoril over Nikolay Davydenko and finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal at both the Masters Series Monte-Carlo and the Masters Series Hamburg. This week in Roland Garros he has taken out Querrey in straight sets and rolled over Montanes after a first-set blemish.

    Ancic needs to employ an aggressive style of play if he wants to avoid a similar to fate to that of Querrey and Montanes, and he has the game to do it. With a big serve, strong groundstrokes, and exquisite volleys, Ancic cannot hang back at the baseline, where Federer will run him all over the place. He must follow his serve and short balls into the net whenever possible, while perhaps even mixing in some chips and charges off of Federer's second serves. Ancic could take a set if he effectively attacks his opponent's backhand en route to the net, but Federer is simply too good and will wear Ancic down in four.

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