French Open: Breaking down the final rounds

The opening week at Roland Garros featured some riveting chaos on the clay. Both of the defending champions were knocked out. Robin Soderling pulled off one of the greatest Grand Slam upsets with his stunning win over Rafael Nadal. What surprises will week two at the French Open bring on the terre battue in Paris?

Door is open for Federer

The reverberations of Nadal’s shocking loss to Soderling are still being felt around the tennis world. Nadal destroyed the Swede three weeks ago in Rome, losing just one game in his straight-sets victory.

Now that the King of Clay has been dethroned in France, the draw has opened up for Roger Federer to finally capture his elusive French Open title and complete the career Grand Slam. Nadal had beaten Federer at Roland Garros each of the last of the last four years.

Federer already had to be feeling fortunate when fourth-seeded Novak Djokovic was defeated by Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round. Djokovic was Federer’s primary threat in the bottom half of the draw after playing extremely well in the clay-court Masters Series events leading up to the French Open.

But Federer is going to have to increase his intensity if he hopes to win his 14th Grand Slam championship and equal Pete Sampras’ mark. The Swiss star has played uneven tennis and has labored with inconsistent shot-making. The former world No. 1 was severely tested by Jose Acasuso and needed four sets to dispatch Paul-Henri Mathieu. In the fourth round, Federer was in major trouble, rallying from two sets down to post a comeback win over Tommy Haas.

Based on his dominance of Andy Roddick, Federer would have been the beneficiary of more good fortune if the American had taken care of Gael Monfils in the round of 16. Monfils has bounced back from a recent knee injury and the Frenchman receives tremendous crowd support from the partisan Parisian fans.

Federer will have to dig deep again in his quarterfinal match against Monfils, but Roger should rise to the occasion knowing that he needs just three more wins to finally prevail in France.

Fifth-seeded Juan Martin Del Potro looms as an imposing figure that Federer could meet in the semifinals after the Argentine defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. It remains to be seen how the rising star would handle the immense pressure of taking on a legend closing in on history.

Murray’s big opportunity

In the top half of the men’s draw, Soderling’s unlikely run at Roland Garros should come to an end when he faces Nikolay Davydenko in the quarterfinals. The Russian shined in his fourth round win over Fernando Verdasco and is primed to return to the French Open semifinals for the third time since 2005.

The other quarterfinal features an intriguing match between Fernando Gonzalez and Andy Murray. The hard-hitting Chilean has not dropped a set in his first four victories in Paris. But Murray has adroitly blended offensive and defensive tennis to reach the final eight. The No. 3 seed spent some of his formative years training in Barcelona and has always moved well on clay. The Scot has a sizeable opportunity to exploit Nadal’s absence and emerge from the top of the draw.

Safina, Serena on collision course

Dinara Safina remains on a mission to win her first Grand Slam championship. The world No. 1 did not yield more than two games in any of her early-round matches. With the early exits of Venus Williams and defending champion Ana Ivanovic, Safina’s road to the singles final has become far less challenging.

But the top-seeded Russian should not overlook her quarterfinal opponent, Victoria Azarenka. The No. 9 seed beat Safina earlier this year at Indian Wells and has displayed the form that has made her a top-10 player so far in Paris. Safina, though, should be able to use her improved versatility and comfort on clay to move on to the semifinals.

In that match, Safina would play either 20th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova or the “dangerous floater” Maria Sharapova. Sharapova’s conditioning will be critical at this stage of the tournament. The three-time Grand Slam champion, playing in just her second tournament after a nine-month layoff because of a shoulder injury, has been extended to three sets three times in her first four matches in the French Open.

In the bottom half of the women’s draw, Serena Williams can only hope her second week in Paris is less eventful than week one. While Serena, who always seems to receive a cool reception from the spectators at Roland Garros, appeared to be correct in her contention that Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez was dishonest in their controversial match, it’s unlikely that the uproar will win Williams any more French fans.

The No. 2 seed made a statement on the court in rolling past Aleksandra Wozniak in a drama-free fourth-round victory, setting up a match against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals. Kuznetsova has responded to the guidance she’s been receiving from new coach Larisa Savchenko, winning in Stuttgart and reaching the singles final in Rome, and has the power to match Williams’ barrage of baseline groundstrokes.

Nevertheless, Williams’ mental toughness should be enough to propel her into the semifinals. If she makes it that far, Serena won’t have to face fifth-seeded Jelena Jankovic, who was beaten by Sorana Cirstea in the fourth round. It’s looking more likely that Williams will shine again on another big stage and take on Safina for the women’s championship.

French Open: Breaking down the final rounds

Incoming search terms:

• keisuke honda drawing