French Open 2015: Wednesday Schedule and Predictions for Roland Garros Bracket
After three days of action in the first round, the intensity picks up on Wednesday at this year's French Open. Maria Sharapova and Roger Federer are the headline acts, though they aren't alone as Tomas Berdych, Kei Nishikori and Simona Halep get back on the clay court.
It's been a quiet start at Roland Garros thus far, with no major upsets to speak of. That figures to change in a hurry during the second round, which has produced notable upsets in the past with Serena Williams' stunning defeat against Garbine Muguruza last year.
Here's the full schedule of 32 singles matches, as well as predictions for Wednesday at the French Open.
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| 5 a.m. | No. 8 Stan Wawrinka vs. Dusan Lajovic | Wawrinka wins in straight sets | No. 2 Maria Sharapova vs. Vitalia Diatchenko | Sharapova wins in straight sets |
| 5 a.m. | No. 12 Gilles Simon vs. Martin Klizan | Simon wins in four sets | No. 13 Lucie Safarova vs. Kurumi Nara | Safarova wins in straight sets |
| 5 a.m. | No. 32 Fernando Verdasco vs. Benjamin Becker | Becker wins in five sets | No. 20 Sabine Lisicki vs. Daria Gavrilova | Lisicki wins in straight sets |
| 5 a.m. | Sergiy Stakhovsky vs. Steve Johnson | Stakhovsky wins in four sets | No. 26 Samantha Stosur vs. Amandine Hesse | Stosur wins in three sets |
| TBD | No. 2 Roger Federer vs. Marcel Granollers | Federer wins in four sets | Annika Beck vs. Paula Kania (5 a.m.) | Beck wins in three sets |
| TBD | No. 4 Tomas Berdych vs. Radek Stepanek | Berdych wins in straight sets | No. 3 Simona Halep vs. Mirjana Lucic-Baroni | Halep wins in straight sets |
| TBD | No. 5 Kei Nishikori vs. Thomaz Bellucci | Nishikori wins in straight sets | No. 7 Ana Ivanovic vs. Misaki Doi | Ivanovic wins in straight sets |
| TBD | No. 13 Gael Monfils vs. Diego Schwartzman | Monfils wins in four sets | No. 8 Carla Suarez-Navarro vs. Virginie Razzano | Suarez-Navarro wins in straight sets |
| TBD | No. 14 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Dudi Sela | Tsonga wins in four sets | No. 9 Ekaterina Makarova vs. Teliana Pereira | Makarova wins in straight sets |
| TBD | No. 19 Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Lukas Rosol | Rosol wins in five sets | No. 11 Angelique Kerber vs. Ajla Tomljanovic | Kerber wins in straight sets |
| TBD | No. 21 Pablo Cuevas vs. Dominic Thiem | Cuevas wins in four sets | No. 19 Elina Svitolina vs. Yulia Putintseva | Svitolina wins in three sets |
| TBD | No. 22 Philipp Kohlschreiber vs. Pablo Andujar | Kohlschreiber wins in straight sets | No. 21 Garbine Muguruza vs. Camila Giorgi | Giorgi wins in three sets |
| TBD | No. 24 Ernests Gulbis vs. Nicolas Mahut | Mahut wins in four sets | No. 28 Flavia Pennetta vs. Magdalena Rybarikova | Pennetta wins in three sets |
| TBD | No. 28 Fabio Fognini vs. Benoit Paire | Fognini wins in four sets | No. 29 Alize Cornet vs. Alexandra Dulgheru | Dulgheru wins in three sets |
| TBD | Marcos Baghdatis vs. Damir Dzumhur | Baghdatis wins in five sets | Bojana Jovanovski vs. Donna Vekic | Vekic wins in straight sets |
| TBD | Juan Monaco vs. Teymuraz Gabashvili | Gabashvili wins in four sets | Polona Hercog vs. Elena Vesnina | Hercog wins in three sets |
The Marquee Names
Roger Federer vs. Marcel Granollers
It's interesting to look at the stark contrast between the top men's and women's players in action on Wednesday at the French Open. Federer has historically failed to dominate this event like he did every other major tournament, with the exception of his 2009 title.
The No. 2 seed on the men's side has gotten progressively worse since his appearance in the 2011 final, going from the semifinals in 2012 to the quarterfinals in 2013 to the fourth round last year. Applying that same logic, Federer only figures to have at most two more matches at this year's French Open.
Federer started the Grand Slam season on a down note, losing in the third round at the Australian Open. He did come to Roland Garros with a little momentum on his side, making it to the Italian Open final before losing to Novak Djokovic one week ago.
After his opening win against Alejandro Falla, Federer did note it's easier to take pleasure in wins the deeper into a tournament you go, per the ATP World Tour's official website:
"I think that as we go through the tournament, then we probably feel that we are more and more satisfied. But the first round is a bit like I want to win the first round, to be in the tournament and not to go back home immediately, to be one of the first ten players to go back home. So that's the whole idea about it. That is, you want to play a good match and then focus on the future. That's when I will start enjoying this moment.
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That does give off a sense of urgency and desperation for a player like Federer, who is trying to avoid defeat against a less talented opponent at this stage of the tournament.
Marcel Granollers has made his deepest runs in Grand Slam events at the French Open (fourth round in 2012 and 2014), but Federer has had his number all three times the two have met and has only lost one set. That trend will continue on Wednesday.
Maria Sharapova vs. Vitalia Diatchenko
Sharapova is the defending women's champion at the French Open, and this remains the only Grand Slam event she's won more than once. Her defense got off to a rousing start with a straight-set win over Kaia Kanepi, which Courtney Nguyen of Sports Illustrated wrote is more impressive than it seems:
"The defending champion opens her campaign on Court Philippe Chatrier (third match) against one of the toughest unseeded players in No. 49 Kaia Kanepi. Don't let Kanepi's ranking fool you. The Estonian has made six Slam quarterfinals, twice at the French Open in 2008 and 2012. She hits a big ball and when her shots are clicking she can be virtually unplayable.
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The 28-year-old is certainly in a groove on the clay after her victory at the Italian Open against Carla Suarez-Navarro on May 17. She has been as reliable as any player in this event, advancing to three straight finals, so don't expect an early shocker on Wednesday.
Vitalia Diatchenko does have a history at Roland Garros, making her Grand Slam debut at this tournament in 2009 with a win over Mathilde Johansson before losing to former world No. 1 Dinara Safina in the second round.
The Sochi, Russia, native hasn't been able to build on that success over the years, losing in the first round at this year's Australian Open and the first round at Wimbledon and U.S. Open in 2011. She's entering a new world coming off her victory against Stefanie Voegele in the first round.
Diatchenko is out of her element. Sharapova loves playing at this tournament and will make easy work of her fellow countrywoman on Wednesday.
Player on Upset Alert: No. 24 Ernests Gulbis vs. Nicolas Mahut
The fall of Ernests Gulbis this season isn't getting the same attention as Rafael Nadal's because he's not as big of a star, but the 26-year-old has been awful in 2015. He did battle shoulder problems last year but has admitted the issues this year are more confidence-related.
Here's what Gulbis told the Associated Press (via Fox Sports) following a first-round loss at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in April:
''I was in a great state of mind this week practicing," Gulbis said. ''Everything was really good, except the match. This one last hour was bad in Monte Carlo. All the rest of the week was really unbelievable. It was just this one hour.''
Once confidence starts to go in any sport, winning becomes impossible. Gulbis did get a victory in his first match at Roland Garros, knocking off Igor Sijsling in three close sets, to improve his match record this year to 3-12.
Things were so bad for Gulbis that Sports Illustrated Tennis actually used an exclamation point to provide context for how rare seeing him win is anymore:
It doesn't even matter whom Gulbis is playing at this point; these matches have been alarming, seeing how far he's dropped since reaching a high of 10th in the world rankings last June. He's lost seven of those 13 matches in straight sets.
Nicolas Mahut has had his own issues, losing before the third round of every Grand Slam event he's played since Wimbledon in 2012. This will be his third time playing Gulbis—and he has yet to defeat the No. 24 seed—but this is also their first matchup since February 2014.
Gulbis vs. Mahut isn't going to be a technically proficient match, though it doesn't have to look pretty as long as the score is right at the end. Mahut isn't a superior talent, but Gulbis has to prove he's all the way back mentally before anyone can predict him to win anything.
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