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5/28/09 4:06 AM | Cheryl Murray
Russian Marat Safin crashed out of the French Open at the hands of Josselin Ouanna in an grueling 5 set match. Janko Tipsarevic and Gilles Simon moved safely through to the third round.
Josselin Ouanna def. Marat Safin 7-6(2), 7-6(4), 4-6, 3-6, 10-8
In a four and a half hour barn stormer of a match, French hopeful Josselin Ouanna upset No. 20 seed Marat Safin. The first two sets played like carbon copies of each other. Ouanna and Safin traded a single break of serve to force the tiebreak. Once there, Ouanna simply outplayed Safin in both breakers to take a 2 sets to 0 lead. All credit to Safin for fighting back in the third and fourth sets. Safin captured early breaks in each set and held on to them to level the match. The Russian took the early lead in the fifth set, but gave the break back to Ouanna. With a raucous and oft-rude crowd behind him, the Frenchman took advantage of a weak service game from Safin at 8-8 to gain the final advantage. Safin was able to fight off 3 match points in all, but Ouanna (and the crowd) eventually won out. The Frenchman will meet Fernando Gonzalez in the third round.
Janko Tipsarevic def. Feliciano Lopez 6-7(9), 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-3
In a predictably close match, Janko Tipsarevic took out Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in 4 tight sets to advance to the third round. Neither man is a traditional clay court player. Both Lopez and Tipsarevic are more at home on faster hard courts where their forehands and big serves are more effective. Lopez has struggled with his form this year and the French Open proved no different. Though there were relatively few service breaks (six in four sets), Tipsarevic was able to expose Lopez’s weak backhand side at the important moments. The Serb will take on Andy Murray in the third round.
Gilles Simon def. Robert Kendrick 7-5, 6-0, 6-1
American Robert Kendrick was able to keep up with Gilles Simon for most of the first set on Wednesday. The set progressed most of the way without a break of serve. Simon only secured the set-winning break at 6-5 after saving two break points in his 5-5 service game. The disappointment of losing the first seemed to weigh heavily on Kendrick. Simon served at a dismal 33% in the middle set, and he still did not drop a single game. The American looked eager to have the match over with by the final set. The third set only lasted 22 minutes. Simon will take on Victor Hanescu in the third round.
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Marat will retire as he so eloquently announced before the year started. He's just so unpredictable. One moment it looked as if he was "back", then he'll play like an amateur at the blink of an eye.
agf25agf , 5/28/09 11:49 AM
Well done Janko!!!
I'll bet that Muzz wil have a lot of problems with Tipsarevic. This kid is simply unpredictable... Often he loose from 150 ranking player, and tomorrow gives a hell of a fight against first 10. It seems that he is inspired more to give good match against better players. Still think that Andy is favourit, but we shall see...
zare , 5/28/09 12:04 PM
You are right Zare - Tipsa admitted himself that he's inspired with big stages, and this Murray match should deffinitely be scheduled on Chatrier or Lenglen.
Therefore I expect big fighting from Janko, and some problems for Andy ...
HogarTheHorrible , 5/28/09 12:26 PM
Ah, the Safin match was a heartbreaker. Even my tennis-ignorant girlfriend got really into that match. Such a disappointing end. Hope to see Ouanna keep up his form, though, and vindicate Safin's loss to him. If he goes out and gets creamed in his next match, I'll be ticked.
-Arvis
Arvis , 5/28/09 4:36 PM
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Safin...so close......what now?
malteser1 , 5/28/09 11:15 AM