Season II Roland Garros

[SirBloody Idiot]

Roland Garros II - Men's Doubles
GRAND SLAM - Monday (Day Nine) - Paris, France - Clay (Red)

• Thirteenth seeds Rob Bowenburg and Jarkko Maxum are into the quarter finals of a Grand Slam event for the very first time after a straight sets win over Björn Donaldson and Brett Read. It has been a hell of a fortnight for Brett Read, but his mind was clearly on tomorrow's singles quarter final as he looked stiff and disinterested at times. Donaldson, in fairness, wasn't particularly good either as the duo were perhaps flattered by the 3-6, 4-6 scoreline. Bowenburg and Maxum did not face down a break point all match while taking advantage of three chances from an amazing fifteen attempts as Donaldson and Read had to claw to stay in the match. It wasn't enough in the end as the thirteenth seeds dominated the match from start to finish to advance in straight sets.

• They now meet sixth seeds Andrej Konc and Evgeny Maximov after the Belarusian-Slovakian duo beat Henry Charles and Spas Delev. A successful fortnight for Delev came to an end in a tough content against the sixth seeds as Konc and Maximov came from a break down twice in the first set to take it 7-5. The second set was not as close for the unseeded duo as Konc and Maximov stamped their authority on the match - the giant Belarusian Maximov putting on a serving clinic to complete a 7-5, 6-3 win.

• In the first quarter final, defending champions Hugh James and Ralph Robinson, fresh off a 7-5, 7-5 win over Lee Inmin and Qingdong Tsai, meet unseeded European pairing Carlo Amato and Patrick Pascaul who continued their amazing run with a 6-3, 6-1 thrashing of Ion Andueza and Sanchez Emelio.

• Seeded players out: Ion Andueza & Sanchez Emelio; Lee Inmin & Qingdong Tsai.

QUARTERFINALS
[1] Hugh James/Ralph Robinson (USA) vs. Carlo Amato/Patrick Pascaul (ITA/FRA)
[16] Mikel Fosdike/Christian Mary (FRA) vs. Ivars Emsis/Alexey Yarkin (LAT/RUS)
[6] Andrej Konc/Evgeny Maximov (SVK/BLR) vs. [13] Rob Bowenburg/Jarkko Maxum (FRC/CDR)
[9] Mark Harmel/Yves Parmentier (BEL) vs. [2] Heath Davis/Jojo Mustard (FRC)

[morgieb]

Lost

Oh well, bring on the QF!

[SirBloody Idiot]

Roland Garros II - Men's Singles
GRAND SLAM - Monday (Day Nine) - Paris, France - Clay (Red)

• Eighth seed Jefferson Drake has done it again - rebounding from a disastrous start to clinch a fourth victory and advance to the quarter finals at Roland Garros. The World No. 8 dropped his first set to Finland's Lari Färkkilä on Friday, and many commentators suggested he could not afford to do the same thing against fourteenth seed Jojo Mustard of West CWLand. Knowing he needed a good start, Mustard shot out of the blocks to bring up three break points in the first game of the match and quickly set about picking apart a wayward Drake with some crisp hitting from the baseline. For such an anticipated contest between two of the world's best, it looked a fizzier as Mustard closed out the first set in 28 minutes 6-0. But as Drake broke immediately in the second set to take a 2-0 lead it was clear that it was now game on. Mustard managed to break back in the seventh game with a handy passing shot off the backhand side, but was blitzed in the tiebreaker as Drake rallied the crowd to level the match at a set each.
  
  Serving first in the third set, Mustard looked solid against a much-improved East CWLand opponent as he held his first four serves with little trouble. But in the ninth game trouble struck - Drake came back from dropping the first point to crack a forehand winner to bring up two break points. He needed just one for the 5-4 lead and then served the set out to take an unlikely two-sets-to-one lead. Mustard needed to find a break of the Drake serve again, but the eighth seed was now serving his way out of real trouble as a pair of aces saved two break points at 2-3. Mustard again faltered in the ninth game to allow Drake to complete an amazing turnaround to advance to the quarters 0-6, 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-4.

• Drake now meets defending champion Daniel Páez Blanco in unquestionably his biggest test yet. Blanco was pitted against the only man to beat him on clay in two years - Dwayne Murdoch - in possibly the biggest match of the tournament so far. After saving two set points and taking the second set in a tiebreaker, Murdoch fell victim to the bullying style of Blanco who eased into the quarters 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-2.

• The fairytale run for unseeded French veteran Jean-Alain Depuis has continued as he saved a match point to oust 24th seed Heath Davis in five sets in a marathon on Court Philippe Chatrier. The 38-year old was backed in by a fiercely patriotic French crowd, and after taking the first set 6-4 Davis was happy to play the villain as he riled up the crowd with some theatrics. Having not dropped a set all week, Davis was a strong favourite with the bookies but continually struggled to make chances on the economical serve of the veteran Frenchman. A former champion in the pre-Open Era at Roland Garros, Depuis managed the ultimate smash-and-grab as he converted his first break point of the match to take the second set 7-5. It was clear then that Davis was in for a scrap.
  
  The big West CWLander continued to toil away, and managed a break of serve in the fifth and ninth games of the third set to take it 6-3. More importantly, it gave him the chance to serve first in the fourth and he quickly set about putting pressure on the Frenchman. However Depuis did not relent - hanging onto his serve brilliantly to match Davis game-for-game to leave his Grand Slam chances on the line in a tiebreaker. Davis, however, looked ready to make his biggest Grand Slam statement yet and at 5-5 brought up his first match point by slamming a backhand winner past Depuis at the baseline. But a weak second serve was taken advantage of, and Depuis went to the change of ends at 6-6 as he ended a point with a simple volley.

• The underdog win was on the cards as he snatched a second point off the Davis serve to bring up a set point of his own, and although Davis saved that to level the set at 7-7 he managed to claim the next two points to clinch the tiebreaker 9-7. Disappointingly for the neutral, Davis collapsed to the delight of the French crowd as Depuis took advantage of the shattered big man to bagel him in the fifth and set up a quarter final showdown with Rasmus Olesen (who earlier ousted Johan Ortiz in three) 4-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-0.

• Seeded players out: Heath Davis; Dwayne Murdoch; Jojo Mustard.

So probably the most bizzare GS quarterfinals are set:

[11] Illya Altman (UKR) vs. Jean-Christophe Genghini (FRA)
Brett Read (FRC) vs. [7] József Boros (HUN)
[6] Rasmus Olesen (DEN) vs. Jean-Alain Depuis (FRA)
[8] Jefferson Drake (CDR) vs. [2] Daniel Páez Blanco (ESP)

[morgieb]

Haha how did the 2 Frenchies make the QF's?

Yeah, these QF's are quite weird tstl.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Originally Posted by morgieb

Haha how did the 2 Frenchies make the QF's?

Yeah, these QF's are quite weird tstl.

Been very weird. Genghini has gone and scalped three seeds, while Depuis was down a set to two in his first round match.

[Mister Wright]

That's poo! Mustard should have won that match after being so convincing in the first set. Very, very disappointing. Mustard will now have to make up for that performance in the doubles.

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Stop talking in the third person, it's creepy ****.

Very happy to last long enough to lose to Blanco.

[Marcuss]

Top seed in the youth stuff?

[SirBloody Idiot]

Originally Posted by Marcuss

Top seed in the youth stuff?

If that's a question, then yeah!

[SirBloody Idiot]

Roland Garros II - Boys' Singles
GRAND SLAM - Tuesday (Day Ten) - Paris, France - Clay (Red)

• Unseeded Westerner Koal Kao has picked up a shock second round victory - ousting second seed Tommy Schaap in straight sets. Schaap's first round performance was not particularly impressive, but his second round showing was even worse as Kao tore him apart with some clean hitting and real skill off both wings. His 6-4, 6-1 win sets up a third round clash with thirteenth seeded local Dominic Viens who won his match in straight sets.

• In the same section of the draw, Morgan Burridge had an easier match than he did on Monday as he cruised past Lucius Cremonesi of Italy. There were a few worrying moments for Burridge when, a set and 4-1 up, he allowed Cremonesi to draw level at 4-4 in the second set. But the Italian's serve was continually ****house, and he quickly folded to love to hand Burridge a third round berth 6-3, 6-4. He meets French wildcard Sebastien Gasgoine next after his 7-6(5), 6-2 win over compatriot Talbot Turgeon.

• Top seed Marcuss Deane had it far easier this time as he eased past local wildcard Henri Arcouet. Deane has spent more than a fortnight in Paris after qualifying for the main draw more than a week ago, and he is clearly acclimatised to the conditions as he breezed through to the third round 6-3, 6-4. He faces a test against Australian Open juniors quarter finalist Tom Eiffel. The sixteenth seed won a tight 7-6(4), 6-7(3), 6-3 match against Canada's Bernard Janković.

• Also having success was fifteenth seed Jay Ono who easily accounted for Russian youngster Tomas Volkoff. The Moroccan-born Ono has shown some real flare in his first two matches with some great strokeplay, and although his second serves were very ordinary he was never really troubled by his Russian opponent. After failing to convert three match points, Ono managed to seal the match with his fourth to advance to a third round meeting with third seed Stepan Ivanov 6-2, 6-3.

• The only CWLander to lose was East CWLand's Thomas McIntosh who fell in a marathon three-setter against Bulgaria's Yuri Shankov. In a serving display usually seen on the WTA tour, both players had countless chances to serve for the match in the deciding set before Shankov finally converted an amazing seventh match point to limp into the round of 16 6-4, 6-7(8), 18-16.

• Seeded players out: Felipe Braga; Jack Schaap; Tommy Schaap.

[Johnners]

Originally Posted by dontcloseyoureyes

Stop talking in the third person, it's creepy ****.

Very happy to last long enough to lose to Blanco.

atwa

[morgieb]

lol, 2 of my players meeting in the 3rd round of the Boys

[SirBloody Idiot]

Roland Garros II - Boys' Doubles
GRAND SLAM - Tuesday (Day Ten) - Paris, France - Clay (Red)

• Unseeded pairing Morgan Burridge and Cedric Petite are through to the second round in Paris after a straight sets win over local duo Orville LeRoux and Wyatt LeRoux. Burridge, still in the singles draw, started well with his Swiss partner as the duo combined well against the more experienced opposition. After taking the first set 6-2, they had it tougher in the second after the French duo served twice for the set. In a tough tiebreaker, Burridge and Petite set up a second round meeting with seventh seeds Stepan Ivanov and Yuri Shankov 6-2, 7-6(7).

• Joining them are fifth seeds Marcuss Deane and Koal Kao after an easy win over Bernard Jankovic and Andrew Jumper. The duo failed to find success in their doubles campaign in Melbourne earlier this year, but started like a shot against the Anglo-Canadian pairing. The second set was closer, but Deane and Kao advanced 6-1, 7-6(5) to meet Christian Richard and Marcelo Rojelli of France in the second round.

• No luck for Thomas McIntosh and Jay Ono or David Lamont and Shri Ram as both pairings fell. McIntosh and Ono were outclassed by German pairing Michael Adler and Phillip Brandt 6-7(5), 0-6 despite having three set points in the first set, while Ram and American Lamont started strongly before falling to third seeds Diego Caballero and Santiago Manzo 6-0, 3-6, 2-6.

• Seeded players out: Charlie Alderman & Manny Garcia; Nelson Nunes & Richard Turnbull.

[SirBloody Idiot]

Roland Garros II - Men's Doubles
GRAND SLAM - Tuesday (Day Ten) - Paris, France - Clay (Red)

• World No. 2 pairing Heath Davis and Jojo Mustard have secured yet another Grand Slam semi final with a come from behind victory over Belgian ninth seeds Mark Harmel and Yves Parmentier. The second seeds hadn't dropped a set all week, but that changed quickly as Harmel and Parmentier took the first set 6-3 with two breaks of service. Both Davis and Mustard fell in their fourth round singles matches yesterday, and their lightening start to the second set showed they did not want to leave Paris without some silverware. After shooting ahead 4-0, they dropped a game on serve before quickly reaffirming their authority to take the set 6-1. The decider, though, was always going to be closer as the Belgians drew back from an early break to be level at 5-5. At that point, though, some magnificent work from Mustard at the net gave them a big break point which they secured as Harmel was wrongfooted at the net. Serving for the match, Davis was cool and collected as he had no troubles - a love service game for the second seeds securing their passage to the round of four 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.

• They meet fellow CWLand duo Rob Bowenburg and Jarkko Maxum in an all CWLand affair after the thirteenth seeds proved too good for sixth seeds Andrej Konc and Evgeniy Maximov. Konc and Maximov fell at the quarter final stage last year to eventual champions James and Robinson, and were intent on stamping their authority on the match early. Taking the first set 6-4, Konc and Maximov looked good with two break points in the first service game of the thirteenth seeds in the second set but could not convert either of them as Bowenburg and Maxum clung on. They took the set 6-3 to ensure the match went to a decider and in a cavalcade of service mistakes all four players were broken to be level at 2-2. The decisive and final break was the fifth as Bowenburg and Maxum edged ahead and clutched their opportunity with both hands to send the Belarusian-Slovakian duo packing 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

• There was a small surprise in the second quarter final as unseeded East Europeans Ivars Emsis and Alexey Yarkin handed sixteenth seeds Mikel Fosdike and Christian Mary a straight sets defeat. Their 6-4, 6-2 win sets up an interesting semi final match up with Season I champions Hugh James and Ralph Robinson who survived an extremely dangerous match against in form singles pairing Carlo Amato and Patrick Pascaul 6-4, 7-6(4).

• Seeded players out: Mikel Fosdike & Christian Mary; Andrej Konc & Evgeny Maximov; Mark Harmel & Yves Parmentier.

[Cevno]

Out in the second round.