Federer And Nadal Cruise, But Plenty of Drama At The 2019 French Open Tennis

Rafael Nadal of Spain plays Yannick Maden of Germany during their men’s second round match during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 29 May 2019. EPA-EFE/JULIEN DE ROSA

 

 

Federer and Nadal cruise, but plenty of drama to be had on Wednesday at French Open

 

By Ricky Dimon

 

Making his first French Open appearance since 2015, Roger Federer has coasted through two matches and now finds himself in the third round. Federer followed up a rout of Lorenzo Sonego by beating lucky loser Oscar Otte 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday afternoon.

 

The 37-year-old Swiss is now 6-1 on clay this season.

 

“I must say I feel really good, considering I haven’t played here in that long,” Federer said. “Especially if I think back a few weeks and months ago before Madrid, didn’t know how successful I was going to play or how I was going to feel on the clay. Honestly, I was looking at a worst-case scenario, losing first round in Madrid and then somehow having a tough draw here as well and not getting past the first-round hurdle, and now I am talking about having won enough matches in Madrid and Rome, winning my first matches here in straight sets.

 

“All of a sudden, you feel the clay-court season has been busy…and it’s nice this way. So I hope I can keep it up…. I’m very happy. We’ll see how far it’s going to take me.”

 

As for Rafael Nadal, he is obviously expected to take another trip to the French Open final–and capture title No. 12. Through two matches, albeit against a pair of qualifiers, Nadal is looking like his typically dominant self. The second-ranked Spaniard trounced Yannick Hanfmann 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 and then made easy work of Yannick Maden 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

 

“I don’t like the word ‘easy,’ because when you win (it) always looks easier,” Nadal explained. “When you play well, things looks easier. When you are playing bad, things looks very difficult. Easy is never, but I can [it was]  a comfortable victory. I have been in control most [of]  the time (through two rounds). And that’s the only thing that really matters.”

 

Nothing was easy for Grigor Dimitrov and Benoit Paire on Thursday, and that was no surprise given their quality of opposition. Dimitrov overcame Marin Cilic 6-7(3), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3, while Paire outlasted fellow Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-2, 6-2, 5-7, 6-7(6), 11-9 in the nightcap on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Herbert almost staged a second comeback from two sets down in the span of three days, having previously stunned an in-form Daniil Medvedev.

 

Paire finally finished off Herbert around 9:00 p.m., just barely beating the darkness deadline in front of a raucous French crowd.

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.