Joe Soriano
O.J. LewisFrench Open Men's Round 4 Set
May 31st 2008 20:49
French Open surprises Robby Ginepri, Ernests Gulbis, and Jeremy Chardy
The Round of 16 (Fourth Round) is now set for the men. Not surprisingly five of the eight matches will include a Frenchman, Nadal is yet to drop a set, and the American men have fallen one by one. The surprising things the lone American still playing is not James Blake or one of the Williams sisters, but Robby Ginepri. Possibly the biggest shocker on the men's side #3 seed Nikolay Davydenko lost three straight sets to finish his match against #28 seed Croatian Ivan Ljubicic. Only ten of the final sixteen are seeded players. Of course you have Federer, and Nadal, as well as #3 Novak Djokovic who are familiar names. But then there are names like Ginepri, Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, and Jeremy Chardy of France.
Rafa will probably have to go through Davydenko to get to the final and defend his three straight wins at Roland Garros. That is of course if that heavily favored pair can get past the upstart Gulbis and Chardy. Federer on the other side seems to have an easier path. The #5 seed would be his highest seeded competition on his road to the finals, although before then he might have to face Ginepri.
The #5 seed is David Ferrer of Spain who almost dropped his match against the #25 Australian, Lleyton Hewitt. Ferrer took the first set 6-2, and the first three games in the second set. At that point though Hewitt stormed back to win 6 straight games and the set 6-3. Hewitt would get behind in set three also, only to comeback again and win it 6-3. Ferrer recovered though and won sets four and five 6-3, 6-4 to win the match and move on.
It is definitely shaping up to be an exciting second week at Roland Garros. Exciting even for an Open that has been expected to be dominated by Nadal, and probably still will be. It will be fun to see just how much Ginepri, Gulbis, and Chardy can get done in week two.
| Round Three | Winners | |
| Roger Federer SUI (1) | 6, 6, 6 | |
| v | Roger Federer SUI (1) | |
| Mario Ancic CRO | 3, 4, 2 | |
| Julien Benneteau FRA | 1, 7(8), 6, 6 | |
| v | Julien Benneteau FRA | |
| Robin Soderling SWE | 6, 6(6), 0, 1 | |
| Stanislas Wawrinka SUI (9) | 7, 6, 4, 4, 4 | |
| v | Fernando Gonzalez CHI (24) | |
| Fernando Gonzalez CHI (24) | 5, 2, 6, 6, 6 | |
| Robby Ginepri USA | 6, 6, 6 | |
| v | Robby Ginepri USA | |
| Florent Serra FRA | 4, 4, 4 | |
| Nikolay Davydenko RUS (4) | 6, 6, 3, 2, 4 | |
| v | Ivan Ljubicic CRO (28) | |
| Ivan Ljubicic CRO (28) | 4, 2, 6, 6, 6 | |
| Jurgen Melzer AUT | 6, 5, 6, 0, 2 | |
| v | Gael Monfils FRA | |
| Gael Monfils FRA | 4, 7, 4, 6, 6 | |
| Tommy Robredo ESP (12) | 3, 2, 1 | |
| v | Radek Stepanek CZE (21) | |
| Radek Stepanek CZE (21) | 6, 6, 6 | |
| Lleyton Hewitt AUS (25) | 2, 6, 6, 3, 4 | |
| v | David Ferrer ESP (5) | |
| David Ferrer ESP (5) | 6, 3, 3, 6, 6 | |
| Ernests Gulbis LAT | 6, 7, 6 | |
| v | Ernests Gulbis LAT | |
| Nicolas Lapentti ECU | 3, 5, 2 | |
| Simone Bolelli ITA | 6(2), 4, 6(5) | |
| v | Michael Llodra FRA | |
| Michael Llodra FRA | 7(7), 6, 7(7) | |
| Eduardo Schwank ARG | 2, 3, 6, 6(9) | |
| v | Paul-Henri Mathieu FRA (18) | |
| Paul-Henri Mathieu FRA (18) | 6, 6, 3, 7(11) | |
| Wayne Odesnik USA | 5, 4, 2 | |
| v | Novak Djokovic SRB (3) | |
| Novak Djokovic SRB (3) | 7, 6, 6 | |
| Jeremy Chardy FRA | 7(7), 6, 6 | |
| v | Jeremy Chardy FRA | |
| Dmitry Tursunov RUS (30) | 6(1), 3, 4 | |
| Nicolas Almagro ESP (19) | 6, 6(3), 6, 7 | |
| v | Nicolas Almagro ESP (19) | |
| Andy Murray GBR (10) | 3, 7(7), 3, 5 | |
| Mikhail Youzhny RUS (15) | 6(5), 7, 5, 1 | |
| v | Fernando Verdasco ESP (22) | |
| Fernando Verdasco ESP (22) | 7(7), 5, 7, 6 | |
| Jarkko Nieminen FIN (26) | 1, 3, 1 | |
| v | Rafael Nadal ESP (2) | |
| Rafael Nadal ESP (2) | 6, 6, 6 |
| 47 |
| Vote |
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