Day 2 of the French Open belonged to Stephane Robert, the Frenchman who is ranked number 140 in the world. Yes, 140. He made it through qualifiers, and as the prize, he drew Tomas Berdych, the number 7 seed and defending semifinalist. Through the first two sets, it appeared to be going according to script. Berdych won the first two sets rather comfortably, 6-3, 6-3. Then everything went awry for the tall Czech player. Robert (the "t" is silent) began finding the magic he needed. Hitting winners, and especially backhand down the line winners, turned the tide in his favor, winning the next two sets 6-2, 6-2. The fifth set was an instant classic, and Berdych had a match point on Robert's serve at 6-7. Robert hit perhaps his biggest serve of the match, and at 7-7, he broke Berdych. He then coolly served out the match to win it 9-7, earning himself the biggest win of his career and sending Berdych hurdling out of the top 10. After the jump, the rest of the results.
The other men's first round matches went according to seed. Novak Djokovic destroyed Thiemo De Bakker 6-2, 6-1, 6-3. The Dutchman was never in the match. Roger Federer dispatched Lopez with a solid, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 victory. The ninth and tenth seeds, Gael Monfils and Mardy Fish each won their matches in 4 sets. The 2009 U.S. Open champion, Juan Martin del Potro, defeated Ivo Karlovic in 4 as well. Our personal favor, Milos Raonic, was unfortunately eliminated in 4 sets. On the women's side, there were no upsets, and the two highest seeds who played today, Caroline Wozniacki and Francesca Schiavone each only gave up 2 games in their demolition of their opponents. Later tonight we'll have the preview for day 3, and the 1st round match everyone is looking forward to.
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