Wednesday, June 1, 2011

A Dream French Open Semifinal

In one heavyweight semifinal the number 1 seed Rafael Nadal will play the number four seed Andy Murray. In the other semifinal the number 2 seed Novak Djokovic will play the number 3 seed Roger Federer. The top four seeds all advancing to the semifinals of a major has only happened 11 times in the Open era and the last time it occurred was at the French Open 5 years ago in 2006. Previously, these four guys along with fifth seeded Robin Soderling became the first top five seeds since Wimbledon in 1989 to all reach the quarterfinals of a major. Pretty amazing stuff; I would definitely agree with that statement. 

Rafael Nadal is just two matches away from winning his 6th French Open title, which would tie him with Bjorn Borg for the second most French Open championships in history.
Will Rafa tie Borg for the second most French Open titles?

Novak Djokovic has a 41 match win streak to begin 2011, and now has 43 wins in a row dating back to last year. Djokovic needs 1 more win to tie John McEnroe's record of 42 straight wins to begin a season, which he did in 1984. If Djokovic beats Federer in the semifinals, he would tie Ivan Lendl's 44 match winning streak, which he did in 1982. If Novak wins his next two matches at the French Open, he will be just one short of Gullermo Vilas's record for 46 straight match wins, which Vilas set in 1977.
Will the streak continue?

After beating Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 in the round of 16, Federer broke Jimmy Connors record of most consecutive quarterfinal appearance at a major by reaching his 28th straight. Federer is looking to win his first major since the Australian Open in 2010 and is looking to extend his record 16 major victories to 17.
Will Roger win his second French Open?

Andy Murray has made three glam slam finals and has not won a set in any of the three matches. He is looking to break through and win a major at this year’s French Open. Murray is also just the second British player to reach the semifinals of the French Open in the Open Era. In 2004,Tim Henman made the semifinals before losing to Guillermo Coria.
Will Murray finally win his first major?

Although it sounds cliché, tennis is really the winner in this situation. Although everybody likes an underdog story, a semifinal that includes the top four players in the world, who are all playing at such a high level, and all have so much to play for, is just something spectacular. No matter if Nadal ties Borg for the second most French Open victories, or Djokovic's streak continues and he breaks McEnroe's record, or Federer extends his record for major victories by winning his 17th, or Andy Murray becomes the first player from England to win the French Open, it should be a hell of a Friday and Sunday of tennis.

2 comments:

  1. Couldn't agree with you more about a great French Open semifinal Cory!

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  2. I like Nadal over Murray in 4 sets. Djokovic over Federer in 5 sets. Djokovic over Nadal in the final in 5 sets.

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