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5/28/10 1:11 AM | Ricky Dimon
The wide open second quarter of the French Open draw will continue to run its course on Friday, as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga takes on Thiemo De Bakker and Tomas Berdych goes up against John Isner.
Thiemo De Bakker vs. (8) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
De Bakker and Tsonga will be going head-to-head for the third time in their careers when they meet in the French Open third round on Friday. They split two previous encounters, with Tsonga prevailing in a Davis Cup fourth-set tiebreaker last year on clay in the Netherlands before De Bakker got revenge 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 last month in Barcelona.
Upsetting Tsonga at Roland Garros will be a much different proposition for the 21-year-old Dutchman, who has defeated Olivier Patience and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez so far this week. Tsonga struggled to a five-set win over Daniel Brands in his opener, but he picked up the pace in round two in an absolute blowout of Josselin Ouanna. With momentum in hand, look for the 10th-ranked Frenchman to hold off De Bakker in four sets.
(17) John Isner vs. (15) Tomas Berdych
Isner and Berdych have faced each other on two previous occasions, and both matches went the distance. Last summer in Washington, Isner won 6-3, 6-7(10), 6-2, but last week on the clay courts of the World Team Cup, Berdych avenged the loss in 1-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) fashion.
This one could be equally stellar, as both players are very capable on the slow stuff even though they are at their best on faster surfaces. Berdych has defeated Jorge Aguilar and Edouard Roger-Vasselin so far at the French Open while Isner has dismissed Andrey Golubev (losing only nine service points in a 90-minute match) and Marco Chiudinelli (in four sets, including three tiebreakers). Isner had to finish off Chiudinelli on Thursday, while Berdych wrapped up his effort before rain and darkness on Wednesday.
If the 6'9'' American is fatigued, Berdych will have the advantage. All things being equal, however, Isner is mentally tougher--especially at the Grand Slam level--and he will win more free points on serve than the 17th-ranked Czech. As a result, Isner in four extremely tight sets is the pick.
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Also jumping on de Bakker bandwagon?
Bonker , 5/28/10 3:26 PM
good conditions for Isner today. He will clinch it.
RickyDimon , 5/28/10 3:40 PM
Scuseme Pardonme Pardonme Scuseme. Getting off! Getting off the bandwagon! Getting off! Scuseme! Thanks.
SenorPlaid , 5/28/10 7:03 PM
i would get as far away as humanly possible from the Isner bandwagon on grass, but I would ride shotgun for it when the U.S. hard-court season rolls around!
RickyDimon , 5/28/10 7:20 PM
i would get as far away as humanly possible from predicting Berdych :)
just teasing you ....
rfzr , 5/28/10 7:44 PM
How the game's changed, eh, Ricky? Twenty years ago, we'd be picking Isner -- big serve, long reach, nice touch at net -- as a favorite at Wimby. Still, the kid had a decent clay season for someone who's not a big clay guy. Don't know how high he'll ultimately go, but he continues to impress.
SenorPlaid , 5/28/10 9:13 PM
I know Berdych can beat Isner and I'm expecting him to do so. However, I did not expect him beating Isner so convincingly, allowing Isner only five games! Berdych has a very good season so far, and I'm expecting him to beat a tired Murray in the fourth round.
A bit of side tracking: I'm also predicting a Cilic win over Soderling, as Cilic can deal with a big hitter more than a clay courter, on clay; and if Cilic can recover from today's five set match, he has the varieties in his game to deal with Soderling.
luckystar , 5/28/10 11:17 PM
SeniorPlaid: you do realise, don't you, that when de Baaker wins Wimbledon, somewhere round 2012, we won't let you back on the bus?!
deuce , 5/29/10 2:53 PM
some one like isner can never be considered favorite on grass, MOVEMENT is what seperates the bests from others (nadal and federer), isner moves pathetic on grass.
vamosrafa , 5/29/10 3:11 PM
vamos: That's now; I was talking 20 years ago before they took the air out of the balls and turned the grass into green clay. You could finish a five-set match in 2 hours. It was shootout tennis (and I loved it), and Isner would've been more than able to hold his own in that game.
deuce: ;-)
SenorPlaid , 5/29/10 3:24 PM
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Bandwagon, comin' through!
SenorPlaid , 5/28/10 3:07 PM