Roland Garros 2009: Upset Saturday—The Day the Seeds Began To Fall...

It was bound to happen sooner or later—the upsets began to unfurl and some big names at the 2009 French Open were gone.

Today, the grounds at Roland Garros just opened up and swallowed No. 4 seed Novak Djokovic.  The tennis world is stunned. 

Here was the man that was to challenge the rock solid Rafael Nadal for the championship—excused in the third round by No. 29 seed Phillipp Kohlschreiber. 

Kohlschreiber played a perfect match against Djokovic whose stamina seemed questionable and whose motivation remained invisible. 

Novak arrived at the ball just a split second late and his decision to stay back behind the baseline during the majority of the exchanges was at best short-sighted.

His will and his energy were lacking today and Kohlschreiber held his nerve and took it to the No. 4 seed in straight sets.

The Serbian seemed dazed at the conclusion wondering what happened.  He will now have time to consider the consequences of his play today as he packs his bags and heads home.

This opens up the draw on the bottom—Federer’s side. 

Now Juan Martin Del Potro will face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tommy Robredo will face Phillipp Kohlschreiber while Andy Roddick meets Gael Monfils and Roger Federer goes up against Tommy Haas as we head into the second week of the tournament.

Friday saw the number three seed on the women’s side of the draw dismissed.  Venus Williams lost to Agnes Szavay from Hungry, 6-0, 6-4.  In her defense, Venus’ previous matches were extended over two days in both singles and doubles. 

Venus just never found her game or the energy level to match Szavay, who pounded away and never gave up pushing the No. 3 seed who could not find an answer. 

The loss in singles was definitely a disappointment to the elder Williams sister determined to seize that No. 1 ranking again.

Today also saw the defeat of the No. 4 seed on the women’s side—Elena Dementieva.  She lost to Australia’s Samantha Stosur, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. 

Stosur served lights out and played risky tennis in order to upend the heavily favored Russian.  Stosur will move on to the fourth round.

Another upset on the women’s side was the No. 10 seed Caroline Wozniacki who lost in a very tight contest to Sorana Cirstea from Romania, 7-6, 7-5. 

Caroline led in the first set but was not able to hold back her opponent who also happens to be one of her best friends.  Cirstea is making a name for herself at this year’s French Open.  She will face Jelena Jankovic in the round of 16.

Though not a loser, Victoria Azarenka had to struggle mightily to advance over Carla Suarez Navarro, a clay courter from Spain. 

Azarenka’s match was called on account of darkness the day before with Azarenka down a set [7-5] and a break. 

When play resumed today, Azarenka had her work cut out for her.  She quickly took control of the second set and won it, 7-5, and polished it all off by taking the third set, 6-2.  It was tense action and the crowd wasn’t crazy about the antics of Azarenka.

Serena Williams also struggled but managed to come through in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. 

Her match was controversial because her opponent Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez won a game in the first set after a ball struck the Spaniard on her right arm and then bounced off her racquet held in her left hand, and onto Williams' side of the net for a winner.

Since the ball struck a body part before it made contact with her racquet, the point should have been awarded to the American, who wound up down a break when the chair umpire missed the call.

The second-seeded Williams dropped the first set against Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez before fighting back for a victory against her Spanish opponent.

Roger Federer also had his hands full against Frenchman Paul Henri-Mathieu.  He won the contest in four sets, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.  But the Frenchman left nothing on the court.  He played hard and gave the world No. 2 a real contest.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils were the French favorites who moved on today and they will be prohibitive crowd favorites on the French red clay as the tournament progresses. 

Tomorrow’s matches seem very interesting with Rafael Nadal vs. Robin Soderling, always a dangerous opponent.  Fernando Verdasco will face Nikolay Davydenko and Andy Murray will meet the enigmatic Marin Cilic.  Finally, Fernando Gonzalez will face Victor Hanescu.

On the women’s side Dinara Safina will face Aravane Rezai, a Frenchwoman who is bound to have the support of the crowd.  Victoria Azarenka will meet Ana Ivanovic.  This should prove once and for all if Ivanovic is truly back.

Agnes Szavay, who knocked out Venus Williams, will face Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia while Maria Sharapova, unseeded, meets Na Li. 

The landscaped changed a little today with some leveling at the bottom.  After round four, the true character of this tournament will be revealed...