Get A Roof!

If there was one thing to take away from Day 4 at Roland Garros, it was this - GET A ROOF. Seriously, why is it that Australia, the Slam where it hardly ever rains, has two (soon to be three) of the things, and Roland Garros has none? When Wimbledon is ahead of the times you know something's a little interesting.

I know there's a lot of talk about Roland Garros moving sites - personally, I hope that doesn't happen, because this site is great, but how about a bit of the ol' upgrade? Melbourne Park is currently undergoing an AUD$363 million upgrade - surely Roland Garros can spring for a roof for Philippe Chatrier. I'm sure Wimbledon will give them the name of the guy they used.

But despite all this rain, there was actually some tennis - so without further ado...

The winners: The Yoker is coming through the draw like a hot knife through butter and I'm surprised people aren't talking about it more. He was on and off court in something like 71 minutes, which is obscenely quick. I will be very much surprised if he does not make it to the quarters (where I am hoping he will be stopped by Federer), because he is looking very, very good. He might have peaked a touch too soon, but we shall see, we shall see...

Speaking of winners, after a slow first set, Roger Federer is also in this column. Definitely a much better match than that four set nailbiter he played with Jose Acasuso last year.

Over with the ladies, I'm very surprised I'm saying this, but I am super impressed with Caro Wozniacki. She's not normally the type of player who closes out matches quickly, but she's had two quick matches now. Maybe this injury cloud hanging over her head has been good in a way, because it's forcing her to pull the trigger a little earlier and be more aggressive.

And also, no one's talking about her, but Nadia Petrova. Watch out for her!

The losers: Andrea Petkovic. Anyone that holds four match points (or, indeed, any match points) and then loses the match has got to be absolutely kicking themselves, and I'm sure this is exactly the case with Petkovic. It would have been an upset if she beat Kuznetsova, but she had her in the palm of her hand and still couldn't close it out.

Also, Lucie Safarova. I thought she was going to go a long, long way and then she went and lost to Polona Hercog in straights. This is a big time loss, because Safarova had the draw to go a long way. It's going to be really interesting to see who comes out of that side of the draw, because I just cannot pick it at all.

The disappointments:I have to put Gisela Dulko here. To go from beating Azarenka to losing to Chanelle Scheepers (yeah, I don't know who she is either) is fiercely disappointing.

I also have to put Taylor Dent here, because as brilliantly as Robin Soderling played, Dent played horrifically awfully. Seriously, dude, with your serve, you should be able to win more than two games in a best of five set match, even when your opponent is top ten. Really disappointing showing here.

The scraped-in-by-the-skin-of-teeth: As if I would go past Sveta on this one. She clawed this victory by the skin of her teeth, and I'm still not quite sure how she did it. Kudos to her, though. I love watching Sveta when she's playing well, and I'm really hoping she has sort of played herself into form. I would love it if she could come anywhere close to defending her title. Am not in any way expecting this to happen, but it would be awesome.

Story of the day: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga going apesh*t at tournament organisers about scheduling. I have to admit I don't have a lot of time for these kinds of temper tantrums - sure, it might put you out to have to play on Sunday, but suck it up, dude! But I am not a tennis player, so maybe I don't understand how difficult it is... and in any case, the tantrums are always mildly amusing, in a watching-a-train-wreck kind of way.

And the other story of the day is LightGate with Monfils and Fognini. Monfils nearly made the worst decision ever when he asked to push on at 4-all in the fifth... it will be interesting to see who comes out of this. I expect to be Monfils, but I would not be surprised if Fabio Fognini surprised him...

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and The Still-In-It-Just

Roland Garros is here! Day one is over and gone and we have some stories and some winners and some losers and all kinds of things. Tennis, tennis, tennis - I love tennis! I love Roland Garros! (Yes, I have had a couple of glasses of wine...)

The winners: Robin Soderling. Big time. He smashed Laurent Recourderc like a guitar and looked very, very dangerous. I thought this was the best performance of the day by a long way - for the boys at any rate.

Over in the women, you have to go with Gisela Dulko, because that was quite some win she had over Vika Azarenka. See notes re smashing like a guitar. But another person that did some serious smashing was Aravane Rezai. That gold dress has given her superpowers, even though it's totally fug.

The losers: You can't go past Victoria Azarenka on this one, because this was one of the most disappointing performances I have seen in a long time. I thought this was going to be an upset win, but I didn't think it was going to be an upset shut out. Dulko absolutely destroyed Azarenka, but Azarenka destroyed herself as well.

There have been 'Azarenka is the next Vaidisova' opinions voiced. I think this is a bit OTT - Azarenka had a leg injury which she didn't take time off to heal, which was totally stupid, but not the end of the world. She really needs to take time off now, and this exit gives that, at least.

And also - Janko Tipsarevic. What kind of performance was that?

The disappointments: It's got to be Gulbis. This was a great win by Julien Benneteau, but obviously not the way that Gulbis wanted to conclude his clay tournament, especially when he's done so well at this tournament in the past. And the retirement... oh, Ernie. Not happy with you, chappie.

The scraped-in-by-the-skin-of-teeth: Jo-W Tsonga. He really, really shouldn't have gone five sets. I picked him to win his quarter and I will be mighty pissed off if he screws up my bracket. Obviously he hasn't been in le form d'awesome or anything, but his quarter is so eminently winnable...

That's all from Day One... oh, except for Dinara Safina breaking up with Zeljko Krajan! That made me actually very sad - I loved those crazy kids, with all their shouting... I kind of hope they get back together. I love them.

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?

I can't help it. I've tried, and I can't help it. I really, really like Maria Sharapova.

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Off court, I think she's a bit of an idiot. I'm not a fan of her personality or her bandying of herself about on the endorsement circus - sex sells, said Michael Stich (spit spit), and Sharapova is up there as one of the biggest glamazons of the tennis tour.

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But I can't help it. When I see her on court, I often can't help but go for her.

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It's the same thing as I get with Lleyton Hewitt. It's the grit, the determination, the fighting spirit - I can't stand either of them off court, but on court, when they're grinding it out, you can't help but cheer for them most of the time. They don't give up. They believe. They fight.

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Sure, it doesn't always work. Sharapova lost yesterday to Dulko. But you can't help but think that she believed in her chances right up to the very last point.

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People have been talking about how she's on the way out after coming back and, you know, not immediately winning everything she's played. Personally, I think the media is insane. Sharapova's results since that layoff have been great. The abbreviated service motion might be compromising her a bit, but mostly I think that once she plays herself back into the tour she's going to be as big a force as she's ever been.

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And it's not because she's talented, because she is - but so are a lot of people, a lot of journeymen and journeywomen that have never made it to the top. What makes Maria Maria is her grit and her determination. She could be ranked nine millionth in the world and still believe in herself - sure, she gets beaten sometimes, but I think for the majority of players, they're still going to be asking themselves how to solve a problem like Maria for quite some time.

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I cannot finish up today without some words for my man the Maestro, who was absolutely supreme today against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez: and I have to share some humorous words of a friend of mine. 'Roger's chest hair is not a carpet,' said she, 'it is a rich tapestry.'

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Yeah, I had to share that.

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But his game was absolutely sublime. The wizard, Monsieur le Fed, is gliding here. He is a thing of beauty to watch, and I feel privileged to watch him. And his clothes. And his rich tapestry, occasionally emerging on changeovers.

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Today's Results

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The Championships (Wimbledon)

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-2 6-2 6-4

Marin Cilic def. Sam Querrey, 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-4

Tommy Haas def. Michael Llodra, 4-3 retired

Novak Djokovic def. Simon Greul, 7-5 6-1 6-4

Mardy Fish def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-4

Robin Soderling def. Marcel Granollers, 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 7-5

Fernando Verdasco def. Kristof Vliegen, 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-4) 6-4

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Simone Bolelli, walkover

Tommy Robredo def. Stefan Koubek, 3-6 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 6-1

Ivo Karlovic def. Steve Darcis, 7-5 6-3 6-4

Daniel Gimeno-Traver def. Taylor Dent, 7-5 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 6-7 (3-7) 6-4

Dudi Sela def. Rainer Schuettler, 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 6-2

Nicolas Almagro def. Karol Beck, 6-4 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 3-6 7-5

Philipp Kohlschreiber def. Ivo Minar, 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-2 8-6

Igor Andreev def. Vince Spadea, 6-3 7-5 6-2

Albert Montanes def. Guillermo Canas, 6-4 6-3 4-6 6-3

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Women's Singles

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Gisela Dulko def. Maria Sharapova, 6-2 3-6 6-4

Serena Williams def. Jarmila Groth, 6-2 6-1

Elena Dementieva def. Aravane Rezai, 6-1 6-3

Victoria Azarenka def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-0 6-0

Marion Bartoli def. Timea Bacsinszky, 7-5 6-1

Daniela Hantuchova def. Jie Zheng, 6-3 7-5

Roberta Vinci def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-4 7-6 (8-6)

Virginie Razzano def. Jill Craybas, 6-3 6-0

Dominika Cibulkova def. Urszul Radwanska, 6-2 6-4

Regina Kulikova def. Alisa Kleybanova, 0-6 6-4 6-1

Francesca Schiavone def. Michelle Larcher de Brito, 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4)

Sorana Cirstea def. Sania Mirza, 6-4 6-4

Elena Vesnina def. Vera Dushevina, 6-3 6-4

Nadia Petrova def. Shahar Peer, 6-3 6-2

Vera Zvonareva def. Mathilde Johansson, 6-1 6-3

Ai Sugiyama def. Arantxa Parra Santonja, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3