It was a strange day at the French Open today as we had two huge comebacks by Gonzo and Ljubicic but Federer went through with no problems.

Gonzo was down and out after losing the first 2 sets against Wawrinka. He was also losing 3-0 in the third set but he collapsed to lose the next 3 sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to end the hopes of swish No. 2. Davydenko also had the same type of collapse against Ivan Ljubicic. After dominating the first 2 sets, bad Nicolai returned to drop the next 3 sets against the veteran Croat. Now that got to hurt as Davydenko had a lot of points to defend at the French.

Hewitt vs. Ferrer match was the match of the day though. Both guys went at it for 5 sets and Hewitt should’ve won the match if he was a bit luckier. But it wasn’t to be and Ferrer prevailed 6-4 in the 5th set. But these guys gave it their all. I still believe Stepanek will push Ferrer hard and he should be the favorite to get a rematch against Federer but we shall see in the next 2 days.

If you have been following the French Open on the Tennis channel, you have probably seen the progress of the big guns through the field in Paris. Having said that, the usual suspects Blake, Nalbandian, and Murray have already bowed out of the tournament. Here are the top takeaways from the French Open so far:

• Federer is playing well enough but just. His inconsistency has cost him in the past, and can cost him in the future against the likes of Nadal and Djokovic. Federer has dropped a set already so it’d be interesting to see how he does against a Wawrinka or Davydenko
• Nadal is on a roll really. It doesn’t matter what people throw at him. He goes about business like no one else. He is virtually unstoppable on clay but the blisters might catch up on him again.
• Djokovic has had some tough moments at the French this year, but he seems to be cruising along right now and he is hungry for the No. 2 spot and calendar year slam. Not that he will pull the latter off but he is the only guys with a chance.
• Nalbandian, Murray, and Blake did what they do best. Disappoint! Blake was bounced by Gulbis. Murray lost to a top clay courter, Almagro. But Nalbandian was very disappointing. He lost a 2 set to love lead to lose in 5 sets to Chardy.

Matches to watch for:

Federer vs. Wawrinka

Nadal vs. Almagro

Hewitt vs. Ferrer

Davydenko vs. Ljubicic

Blake finally made a winning start for the Americans at the French Open, and he got some good news when Janko Tipsarevic lost at the first hurdle. But the most notable match of the day was between Djokovic and Denis Gremelmayr which went to 4 sets. But for a while it seemed as though Djokovic was going to have to get it done in 5 sets. After the first day, nothing has really changed expect that Nadal is even a bigger favorite.

Tomorrow will see Federer and Nadal in action. Federer should have not much trouble with Big Sam but you never know, considering that it’s a first rounder and Sam has nothing to lose. You can catch all the action on the Tennis Channel. If you don’t have the tennis channel, use TVU Player or SopCast to catch the matches.

The French Open 2008 draw came out and the top seed got another easy draw this year. Roger Federer not only managed to avoid the likes of Nalbandian and Djokovic, he practically has to face no major player until the quarterfinals. No offense to Same Querrey, but Federer should handle him easily on clay. Nadal on the other hand should go through Nalbandian and Djokovic to get to the final. Of course, we all know that if the real Nadal shows up, he is pretty much the heavy favorite to beat everyone including Federer this year. So here are my predictions for the French Open (and no, I will not pick a dark horse to win the French this year):

Quarters:

Federer vs. Andreev

Davydenko vs. Ferrer

Berdych (this is really tough to pick!) vs. Djokovic

Nadal vs. Nalbandian

Semis:

Federer vs. Davydenko

Djokovic vs. Nadal

Final:

Federer vs. Nadal

Winner: Nadal (4 sets).

So barring a surprise or an injury, this is Nadal’s tournament to lose. Djokovic or Nalbandian will not be able to challenge Nadal in a best of 5 sets match on clay, and that is also the case for Federer. This year is very different than last year as Nadal will also be a favorite to win Wimbledon. We could possibly have a new No. 1 by the end of Wimbledon!

OK. It wasn’t really a domination but a survival. But Nadal again came back from two breaks down (1-5) in the first set to win the Hamburg Masters in three sets 7-5, 6-7, 6-3 against a Roger Federer who showed why he has pretty much no chance of winning the Roland Garros this year. Federer failed to put Nadal away with 2 breaks up and a set point at hand and that cost him the match.

I was so impressed with Djokovic when he closed out Nadal in that second set 6-2, but Federer has now allowed Nadal to take sets off of him when he was up 4-0 and 5-1. That pretty much tells you that Federer is mentally not ready to beat Nadal, and for him to win the Roland Garros, Nadal will have to beat himself.

You can read the story of the match here. Nadal may have used some gamesmanship to disrupt Federer’s rhythm in that 1st set. Having said that, Federer is not a touch better this year. He is godawful and that is why he has only won in Estoril. Novak still remains the main threat to Rafa on clay, but still Nadal should win the French with no major problems given that matches are best of 5. So off we are to Wimbledon!

So here we are yet again, a Roger-Rafa final on clay. Rafa did beat Roger at Monte Carlo a couple weeks back in straight sets. He did lose to Federer last year in Hamburg, but the way he played against Djokovic, there is no question who the favorite is tomorrow. Federer says that he is a touch better than last year, but it is certainly not obvious from his performances this year. Roger will put up a good fight and probably have some leads like Monte Carlo but I can’t see this being anything but a straight set victory for Nadal.

So Djokovic will finally have a real shot at the world No. 2. Win tomorrow, and we have a new No. 2. Worse yet. If Djokovic wins tomorrow, and Federer gets a rough draw at the French, Nadal and Federer could meet in the semis instead of the final, which would be a disaster for Federer as he has shown that he probably doesn’t stand much of a chance of beating Nadal on clay this year. But that wouldn’t really be important as Djokovic would become virtually unstoppable if he manages to clear his last roadblock on clay.

Federer has done his work for this week however. He has defended most of his points but he needs to win to keep his distance with Nadal and Djokovic. There is no question that if Djokovic continues with his current pace, he will surpass Federer by the end of this year, the latest. However, Federer will make it hard for him as he is the defending champion at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

So where does Seppi stand? He shouldn’t really be able to upset Federer tomorrow. He just doesn’t have the game, but I thought Fish wouldn’t be able to do that and he did. So expect anything and everything tomorrow.

If you told me at the end of last year that Nadal’s No. 2 position would be in jeopardy  in May this year, I wouldn’t have believed you. But that’s exactly the case in Hamburg. In essence, if Nadal doesn’t reach the semis and Djokovic wins the tournament, Djokovic will be the new No. 2. Not only that, Djokovic can pave the way for capturing the No. 1 position if Federer fails to reach the semis again.

Unfortunately for Djokovic, he will be No. 3 at the French Open which means he will have to go through Nadal and Federer for the title. He may do that, but it’s too tough of a task for him. But he has shown that unlike Federer, his game is consistent enough to win on clay and possibly at Roland Garros.

Djokovic and Wawrinka both had win by retirement today as Stepanek and Roddick could not finish their matches. Wawrinka is now a top 10 player as a result of reaching Rome Masters Series Final. Djokovic will be the firm favorite, but Wawrinka could cause him problems. I did hear that Wawrinka was also complaining about a problem that he is dealing with right now, so don’t be surprised if Djokovic won tomorrow by retirement.

Poor Andy Roddick. Not only he had to retire against Wawrinka, he had to withdraw from Hamburg as well. This means that Andy may not be ready for the French Open, and that is truly a shame as he had some quality wins against some good players such as Robredo and Bolleli. Either way, Roddick was not going to make it far at the French Open so he can use whatever time off he gets to prepare for Wimbledon, now that King Federer is on very shaky grounds.

Bad Federer again showed up today to lose in straight sets 6-7, 6-7 to Radek Stepanek and lose his golden chance to lift Rome Masters title. Federer was quite solid on serve and played so many great points, but he was passive on most important points and lost solid leads in both tie-breaks to crash out. Blake also crashed out, to another Swiss, Wawrinka in three tight sets.

This tournament now seems to be Djokovic’s to lose, but he will need to beat Almagro. As far as Federer is concerned, he is almost guaranteed not to win the French Open with the sort of performance he showed today against a much inferior opponent.