French Open Day 11 - Can Wawrinka Stop Rafa?

What a day we had, finally a French hero rising to the occasion to down a legend, but his work is not over indeed got 2 crucial matches ahead to be considered as a GS champ. Rise of underdogs as been the theme of the day will it continue another day? the biggest question is can Wawrinka somehow outset the off-color Rafa?

Haas has in him to beat Nole, but not sure Wawrinka has in him to take Rafa to even 4 sets let alone a win, but would certainly love a complete underdogs semi.

Schedule of Matches

Court Philippe Chatrier
2:00 PM Women's Singles - Quarterfinals
Jelena Jankovic (SRB) [18] vs. Maria Sharapova (RUS) [2]


Followed byMen's Singles - Quarterfinals
Rafael Nadal (ESP) [3] vs.Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) [9]

Court Suzanne Lenglen
2:00 PM Women's Singles - Quarterfinals
Maria Kirilenko (RUS) [12] vs.Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [3]

Men's Singles - Quarterfinals
Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] vs.Tommy Haas (GER) [12]

Jelena is a surprise semi's in my view, could get toasted at Sharapova's hands, Kirlenko vs Vika could be interesting, Two Maria's can do it.

I would love to see Wawrinka -Nadal match start atleast an hour early, so if miracle happen and Wawrinka upset Rafa I will be fully rooting for Haas, if not I would love to see Nole-Rafa semi's, so either Waw-Haas or Nole-Rafa, no other combination pls.

Tommy Haas got a good 7 odds to win the match, if people buying the hype of underdogs then Tommy's odds are eye catching. Wawrinka gets 10 odds on the other hand, I won't advice this unless somebody is an extreme gambler .

Let the theme "Rise of Underdogs" continue, most tennis fans want to see a new champ, let see whether Haas and Warinka has any say in it.

R We seeing a French Revolution in Tennis?

Lead by Jo Wilfred Tsonga we had atleast 17 players from France in the main draw if not more. Is this a French Revolution we are seeing in Tennis right now? It can be argued French Open being the home tournament and hence lot of home players, but most of them deserved a chance and some of them had mad use of it full like in case of G Monfills who over came the spirited challenge of Berdych in the 3rd and 4th set to win in 5.

This is the list of main draw players, please let me know if I missed some unknown player.

8 JW Tsonga - 2nd round

9 R Gasquet - 2nd round
18 S Gilles - 2nd round
26 B Paire - Likely 2nd round
27 J Chardy - 2nd round
32 J Benneteau - 2nd round
55 M Llodra - 2nd round
65 E Roger-Vasselin - 2nd round
69 PH Mathieu - not sure
81 G Monfils - 2nd round
91 K De Schepper not sure
98 G Ruffin eliminated 1st round

126 M Gicquel not sure
131 F Serra not sure
173 N Mahut - 2nd round
174 R Stephane not sure
182 D Guez not sure

May be USO in 90's had might have attracted more home players in a slam.

Whats the record for maximum representation of Home players in a given tournament be it slam or masters or any ATP tournament [atleast 500's]

Tsonga Verdasco tennis match on high speed train

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Fernando Verdasco, acclaimed for their speed around the court, admitted to feeling a little nervous themselves as they played a modified exhibition match while hurtling around Shanghai in one of the world's fastest commercial high-speed trains.

Billed as the "fastest tennis in the world," seventh-ranked Tsonga of France took on ninth-ranked Spaniard Verdasco on a mini-tennis court laid down in one of Shanghai's high-speed Maglev trains on Tuesday as it reached a cruising speed of 431 kph (268 mph) during the seven-minutes and 20-seconds it took to make the 30-kilometer (18.6-mile) trip from Longyard Rail Road station in Pudong to Pudong International Airport.

"The feeling is special because we are going faster than our serve and it's crazy," said Tsonga, who along with Verdasco is in Shanghai for the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000. "You are a little bit nervous when it's really fast."

While Verdasco enjoyed the train ride, he wasn't so sure about the standard of tennis on board.

"For the first time in tennis, nobody won," Verdasco joked. "For me, it was the first time to be (traveling in a train) over 400 (kph). If we don't crash I'm not afraid."

At the Shanghai Masters, Verdasco and Tsonga are vying to qualify for a berth at the year-end ATP World Tour Finals starting November 22 in London.

Verdasco, who reached the Australian Open semifinals in January, is currently in seventh place on the list of potential candidates to take the final three spots in the exclusive eight-man tournament.

Tsonga, who helped his cause last week when he won the Japan Open, is sitting in 10th place on the list.