French Open Betting / Editor / 03 June 2008 /

John Talbot nominates David Ferrer's win over Lleyton Hewitt as the match of the tournament so far with Ljubicic's win over Davydenko comig a close second. But which upsets are just around the corner?

This year's men's draw at Roland Garros has once again produced some classic match-up's, with the promise of more twists and turns to come in the final six days of the tournament.
The highlight of the event so far for my money would have to be the third round clash between Stanislas Wawrinka and Fernando Gonzalez.

The erratic Chilean world number 25 went into the match holding a 4-0 lifetime advantage over the rising Swiss star, however Wawrinka looked like he was about to convincingly overturn that form when he surged into a two sets to love lead.

Gonzalez has been a bit of a slump in recent times and since reaching the Australian Open final under the tutelage of Larry Stefanki, he has appeared to be constrained to an unnaturally negative style of play.

All that changed though once he went two down to Wawrinka and we were treated to the Gonzalez of old as instinct took over and he blasted the world number 10 off the court in a vintage display of shot-making. It was fantastic entertainment, as Gonzalez came through in five.

Another unlikely comeback in round three came from Ivan Ljubicic, who stunned Nikolay Davydenko by pouncing from two down to take out the Russian, who had hitherto been in sublime form in taking out Marat Safin and Thomas Johansson.

Davydenko gave Federer a tough time in the semis here last year and having been victorious in Austria en route to Roland Garros, he looked set for another good run.

The Croatian had other ideas though, as he defied his own recent declining fortunes by finding his first serve and backhand again, which was all too much for the occasionally mentally fragile Russian, who crumbled to a five set defeat.

Talking of mentally fragile and a man who pretty much invented the phrase, Paul-Henri Mathieu, had to stretch every sinew to come back from a seemingly impossible position against Spaniard, Oscar Hernandez.

Unless he does something quite spectacular in the remainder of his career, Mathieu will always be remembered as the man who chucked away the Davis Cup by squandering a two set lead to Mikhail Youzhny. However, on this occasion he was able to turn the tables on Hernandez in the end in a highly entertaining encounter.

If car crash television is your bag then David Nalbandian v Jeremy Chardy would certainly have sufficed.

I once had the privilege of watching the Argentine come back from two sets and 5-2 down against Janko Tipsarevic in Melbourne. However the boot was firmly on the other foot this time as Nalbandian blew a similar lead to crash out to the French world number 145.

After initially cruising, against an opponent who had only ever won two matches on the main tour before this week, Nalbandian imploded and limped out 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 in the final three sets after matched at Betfair's minimum price of [1.01].

However, my final highlight so far would have to be David Ferrer's marathon victory over Lleyton Hewitt, which lasted over three and a half hours, with the Spaniard eventually emerging victorious in a war of attrition of the type that the Australian so often comes out on top in.
It was definitely one for the purist, as grinding rallies were the order of the day.

Looking forward, the men's quarters are as intriguing as ever and arguably the most interesting clash will be Nicolas Almagro v Rafael Nadal.

The reigning champion is yet to be even vaguely tested, after bloodless wins in his first four matches, but Almagro should provide a decent test at around the [16.0] mark.

The pair haven't met for a couple of seasons, in which Almagro has improved out of sight and although he can't be advised as a bet against the unbeaten (at Roland Garros) Nadal, Almagro should give us all a better idea of Nadal's current level.

The other quarter that has the look of a potential classic about it is Roger Federer v Gonzalez, where the Chilean is a tempting [11.0]

Although the world number one owns his opponent 10-1 in the head-to-head, Gonzalez finally snapped the 10-match losing streak in their last meeting in Shanghai at the end of last season and is not without a chance if he plays with the freedom he showed against the Swiss number two.

However, the result should be another victory for the overwhelming [1.06] favourite, but with the Swiss maestro not at his best this season, it promises to be an unmissable few hours.

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