Acasuso's Gallery of Disappointments

Whoa, whoa, whoa, Roger Federer! You owe me a manicure, monsieur! I am not really cool with this being-a-set-and-a-double-break-down-to-some-random lark you seem to think is so much fun. What was this, some kind of bet with Andy Murray about who could dig themselves a deeper hole in the third set and then still come back to win in four? I've got no nails left, I was biting them so much.

*

Of course, after putting himself in this most unadmirable of positions, Federer did the admirable thing and dug himself out of it handily - after being down 5-1 in the third set, he reeled off five straight games and ended up winning the set in a breaker. It's an object lesson that anything can happen in tennis and you should never let your guard down when one of the great champions of sport is playing, because when Roger had a double break in the fourth, you knew there was no way Acasuso was coming back from that. So the comeback itself = good. The hole itself - I wasn't a fan.

*

All credit to Jose Acasuso - he played out of skin well. But he did choke majorly on a few huge occasions - the breaker in the first, where he had four set points, springs to mind, as well as, oh yeah, the double break he gave back. Sure, Federer lifted his level, but he should have won that third set. I guess this will be another one to add to his gallery of disappointments with those two Davis Cup rubbers he lost in finals.

*

But we all know I care much more about Federer than Acasuso. What effect will this have on him? None, I hope - and if it is an effect, I hope it will be positive. It certainly won't wear him out, that's for sure - he's fitter than that. I'm hoping it will give him some mental toughness here at Roland Garros - he proved himself capable of digging himself out of a position where he was losing badly, and he did it with style.

*

Other exciting matches included Safarova and Venus Williams - both had match points, though Williams pulled it out in the end - and Jeremy Chardy and Simone Bolelli, which went the full distance, with Chardy coming out the victor there (score one for the Stars!) Heartbreaking matches... well, the cake here goes to Dokic/Dementieva. Dokic was looking like she was going to win - she won the first set 6-2 - and then she had to retire. I was very sad for her.

*

Of the Aussies, Olivia Rogowska also went out in a tough three setter to Kateryna Bondarenko - she has a lot to be proud of there! - but Sam Stosur and Jarmila Groth are both through. With Hewitt, that means we have three Aussies in the third round. That isn't too shabby at all - it still means one sixteenth of the women's draw is Australian!

*

*

Today's Results

*

French Open (Roland Garros)

*

Men's Draw

*

Roger Federer def. Jose Acasuso, 7-6 (10-8) 5-7 7-6 (7-2) 6-2

Gael Monfils def. Victor Crivoi, 6-4 6-3 6-3

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Juan Monaco, 7-5 2-6 6-1 7-6 (10-8)

Nikolay Davydenko def. Diego Junqueira, 4-6 6-3 6-0 6-2

Jeremy Chardy def. Simone Bolelli, 6-2 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-1

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Pablo Andujar, 6-2 6-3 6-4

Christophe Rochus def. Arnaud Clement, 6-1 7-5 4-6 6-3

Andy Roddick def. Ivo Minar, 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7-2)

Tommy Robredo def. Daniel Gimeno-Traver, 6-4 6-4 6-3

Jurgen Melzer def. Guillaume Rufin, 6-2 7-5 6-4

Igor Andreev def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 1-6 7-5 5-7 6-3 6-4

Maximo Gonzalez def. Andreas Seppi, 7-6 (10-8) 6-3 6-3

Tommy Haas def. Leonardo Mayer, 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 4-6 6-4

Juan Martin del Potro def. Viktor Troicki, 6-3 7-5 6-0

Marc Gicquel def. Andreas Beck, 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

*

*

Women's Draw

*

Tathiana Garbin def. Marion Bartoli, 6-3 7-5

Serena Williams def. Virginia Ruano Pascual, 6-2 6-0

Venus Williams def. Lucie Safarova, 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 7-5

Jelena Jankovic def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-1 6-2

Sorana Cirstea def. Alize Cornet, 6-3 6-2

Virginie Razzano def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-2 6-2

Elena Dementieva def. Jelena Dokic, 2-6 4-3 retired

Caroline Wozniacki def. Jill Craybas, 6-1 6-4

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Galina Voskoboeva, 6-0 6-2

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Viktoriya Kutuzova, 3-6 6-3 6-3

Jarmila Groth def. Mariana Duque Marino, 6-2 7-6 (11-9)

Samantha Stosur def. Yanina Wickmayer, 6-3 4-6 6-4

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Mariya Koryttseva, 6-1 6-4

Lourdes Dominguez Lino def. Alexa Glatch, 7-6 (7-0) 7-5

Melinda Czink def. Sybille Bammer, 4-6 6-3 10-8

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Olivia Rogowska, 4-6 7-5 7-5

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Petra Martic, 6-3 6-3

Nando Brings Home The Bacon

What an incredible victory for Spain. But it is tinged with a few bittersweet notes, in my opinion. Not that Spain didn't deserve their win, because they wholeheartedly did, but there is some sadness among the gladness, and not just for Argentina.

*

First, the health of Juan Martin del Potro. He was obviously pretty badly injured, considering he chose not to play or was sidelined or whatever in the reverse singles. Would the story have been different if he had been fully fit? I like to think not, because I don't want to take anything away from the achievements of Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco, who were both outstanding this weekend. But I'm sure that seed of doubt will linger in a few minds for some time to come.

*

And secondly, poor David Ferrer. I was all geared up for him to bring home the bacon today - not that he had to make up for losing to Nalbandian, because there's no shame in that, but it would have been nice if he could have had a second chance, so to speak. I wonder how difficult it was for Emilio Sanchez to make the decision to play Verdasco instead of Ferrer - and how Ferru reacted? Tennis is not by nature a team sport - rejection is not something players would often have an opportunity to cope with. Losing, yes, but not even being allowed the opportunity to lose? Poor Ferru. He was part of the winning team, all right, but he was the 1, not the 3. Tremendous as Fernando Verdasco's victory was, for it to come sort at the expense of Ferrer was, for me, bittersweet. I love Ferrer's style of play and he seems like such a nice bloke. It's great that he won Davis Cup and all, but I don't think he made any progress in coming out from Rafa's shadow. I'm sad he didn't get his chance.

*

But how can one ignore the way that Lopez and Verdasco came through bigtime? I talked about Fidgiano yesterday, so let's talk Nando today - what a victory that was over Acasuso! Isn't it strange, the way the biggest event in world team tennis can come down to a match between two men who are essentially journeymen: neither have been or probably never will be near the top ten, and yet what a spectacle they put on! I always go on about how un-patriotic I am in terms of tennis and how it's about the individual not the nation, but I really think that the nationalistic element of Davis Cup really spurs the players on to excellence. In normal tour tennis, sure, you're playing for your country to a degree, but mostly you're playing for yourself. In Davis Cup, you've got a country behind (or at least the part of your country that pays attention to tennis, however meagre it may be.) This match between Verdasco and Acasuso was a real thriller, a popcorn match. You have to feel for Acasuso as well - this isn't the first time he's been the losing guy in a deciding rubber. You only have to think back to Argentina vs. Russia, Davis Cup final '06. But Nando really pulled it out. I bet his lovely girlfriend Mademoiselle Ivanovic will be pleased.

*

This proves that Spanish tennis isn't all Rafa - just like Stan Wawrinka proved this year that Swiss tennis isn't all Roger. Fidgiano and Nando have been round for a while and they've done a whole heap of good stuff, but they just brought home the Davis Cup for their country, with no help from Rafa at all. Congratulations, guys - and congratulations to David Ferrer and Marcel Granollers and Emilio Sanchez and the whole team. Spain is the deepest country in men's tennis right now - and they've got the enormous trophy to prove it.

*

*

Today's Results

*

Davis Cup (Mar del Plata)

*

Spain 3, Argentina 1

*

Fernando Verdasco def. Jose Acasuso, 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 4-6 6-3 6-1