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Brian Swartz · 01-26-2023, 11:55 PM

Year 102 Roland Garros

There were a few low seeds losing in the second round, but nothing that didn't really make sense. Then came this third-round result:

(25) Hector Mendias d. (2) Leon Polychroniadis, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(5), 7-5.

Polychroniadis just finished being the runner-up in all three clay Masters events coming in. He was a finalist here last year as well, and hadn't lost this early at a Slam in six and a half years. It's the kind of thing that makes you go hmmmm ....

(15) Dominic Stricker, (11) Eddy Copperfield, and (10) Davide de Laurentiis also were sent out. Given the year that de Laurentiis has had, he was the biggest surprise of that trio and made it two real shockers in the round of 32. Patrick Rask of Sweden knocked him out in an 8-6 5th set.

Ok then. On to the fourth round. (7) Themis Xanthos waves bye-bye here, going to five with Joss Fraikes of the US only to eat a bagel once he got there. Mendias was pushed out here, straight-sets by Goya Banqueria.

Banqueria is seeded 12th, Fraikes 16th. The six others in the quarterfinals were supposed to be there. Starting to normalize a bit, but still feels weird without Polychroniadis. Fraikes was the first to be at all competitive with Faille, though he still was beaten in straight sets. All-Spanish matchup between Toni Bardales and Ene Caballero ended decisively in the younger player's favor once again, Oleg Urazov took advantage of the situation to send Banqueria packing in straight sets, and a fine match between Jochen Weigle and Renke Cananis was the talk of the round. 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(1), 7-6(5) was the final. For once, we can't blame Weigle for being a pushover. He just couldn't contend the mental prowess of Cananis in the tiebreaks.

Caballero impressively took a set from Ben Faille in the first semifinal, but he also had a bagel and a breadstick to feast on, so ... perhaps it should have ended in three. Cananis kept going in straight sets over Urazov, though arguably he wasn't the better player outsisde of the key moments. He just dominated when he needed to, and that earned him this:

6-2, 6-2, 6-3. 7 break chances for Renke in the final. 7 failures. Don't see that from him much, while Faille was 6 of 11. There's a considerable gap between the players on clay, in France - and this match was even less competitive than it should have been.

01-26-2023, 11:55 PM	#1368
Brian Swartz Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2006	Year 102 Roland Garros There were a few low seeds losing in the second round, but nothing that didn't really make sense. Then came this third-round result: (25) Hector Mendias d. (2) Leon Polychroniadis, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(5), 7-5. Polychroniadis just finished being the runner-up in all three clay Masters events coming in. He was a finalist here last year as well, and hadn't lost this early at a Slam in six and a half years. It's the kind of thing that makes you go hmmmm .... (15) Dominic Stricker, (11) Eddy Copperfield, and (10) Davide de Laurentiis also were sent out. Given the year that de Laurentiis has had, he was the biggest surprise of that trio and made it two real shockers in the round of 32. Patrick Rask of Sweden knocked him out in an 8-6 5th set. Ok then. On to the fourth round. (7) Themis Xanthos waves bye-bye here, going to five with Joss Fraikes of the US only to eat a bagel once he got there. Mendias was pushed out here, straight-sets by Goya Banqueria. Banqueria is seeded 12th, Fraikes 16th. The six others in the quarterfinals were supposed to be there. Starting to normalize a bit, but still feels weird without Polychroniadis. Fraikes was the first to be at all competitive with Faille, though he still was beaten in straight sets. All-Spanish matchup between Toni Bardales and Ene Caballero ended decisively in the younger player's favor once again, Oleg Urazov took advantage of the situation to send Banqueria packing in straight sets, and a fine match between Jochen Weigle and Renke Cananis was the talk of the round. 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(1), 7-6(5) was the final. For once, we can't blame Weigle for being a pushover. He just couldn't contend the mental prowess of Cananis in the tiebreaks. Caballero impressively took a set from Ben Faille in the first semifinal, but he also had a bagel and a breadstick to feast on, so ... perhaps it should have ended in three. Cananis kept going in straight sets over Urazov, though arguably he wasn't the better player outsisde of the key moments. He just dominated when he needed to, and that earned him this: 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. 7 break chances for Renke in the final. 7 failures. Don't see that from him much, while Faille was 6 of 11. There's a considerable gap between the players on clay, in France - and this match was even less competitive than it should have been.