French Open 2015: Results, Highlights, Wednesday Scores Recap from Roland Garros
Wednesday's quartet of matches at the 2015 French Open was unquestionably headlined by a clash of men's tennis titans in top-seeded Novak Djokovic and nine-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal.
A magnificent showdown between two living legends unfolded in Paris, with Djokovic storming out of the gates and ultimately defeating the King of Clay in straight sets.
Check out the full results from Wednesday's action in the table below, followed by an overall recap of the four singles matches that determined two semifinalists from the men's and women's draws.
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| Quarterfinals | (1) Novak Djokovic | (6) Rafael Nadal | 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 |
| Quarterfinals | (3) Andy Murray | (7) David Ferrer | 7-6 (4), 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 |
| Quarterfinals | (1) Serena Williams | (17) Sara Errani | 6-1, 6-3 |
| Quarterfinals | (23) Timea Bacsinszky | Alison Van Uytvanck | 6-4, 7-5 |
Wednesday Recap
Djokovic was almost flawless in the first four games of his match with Nadal to set the tone, exploding to a 4-0 lead. It wasn't even that Nadal was playing a low quality of tennis—The Serbinator was just that good.
Perhaps better than anyone in the history of the game, though, Nadal has a knack for focusing on each individual point. This unique trait allowed him to climb back into the match, responding to Djokovic's hot start with four unanswered games.
Former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt praised Djokovic afterward in light of that development:
It took six set points, but Djokovic at long last broke his talented adversary to take the opening set 7-5. Even at that point, the match was far from decided, as the New York Times' Christopher Clarey suggested:
Once Djokovic took the second set with less of a challenge at 6-3, it was evident Nadal was in danger. The only loss he'd had previously at Roland Garros came in 2009, but even then he didn't trail two sets to none as he did to Djokovic on Wednesday.
ESPNTennis highlighted just one of the many stupendous shots Djokovic hit amid his landmark victory:
"This shot by Djokovic late in the second set is emblematic of his level in today's win over Nadal. http://t.co/EeZJfnQ3Er #RG15
— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) June 3, 2015"
Throughout the match, Djokovic complained to umpire Cedric Mourier about the dried out court conditions, per Erik Gudris of Tennis Now:
Frequent imploring finally led to Djokovic's request being granted prior to the third set. As brilliant as he played in the first two, it seemed to put Djokovic at ease, as he broke Nadal to begin his bid for a straight-sets romp.
Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated observed how Djokovic prevented Nadal from being the aggressor, rendering incapable of mounting a legitimate comeback:
Trailing 0-40 in his next service game, Nadal showed some fight to pull within a point of deuce until Djokovic's forehand return clipped the tape and barely fell over.
It just seemed to be Djokovic's day at that critical juncture as he seized a commanding 3-0 lead. The same thing happened on the final point of the next game for Djokovic to hold—another tape-clipped forehand to clinch the game. From there Nadal had no chance.
The New York Times' Ben Rothenberg passed along a telling anecdote:
ESPN's Howard Bryant weighed in on Djokovic's impeccable form:
Despite such a tremendous track record, Nadal couldn't help but concede defeat afterwards:
The man Djokovic will meet in the semifinals is Andy Murray, who weathered a 7-4 first-set tiebreaker and a third-set loss against gritty Spaniard David Ferrer in what was otherwise a rather resistance-free run to the semis.
BBC Scotland's Kheredine Idessane was blown away by how Murray broke Ferrer to start:
But Murray needed to pull out some magic later on in the first, saving two set points to get into the tiebreaker before cruising thereafter in a 6-2 second set. As is his calling card, Ferrer didn't give up when he was down 3-0 in the third, saving a match point on serve and trailing 5-4 and then taking the set 7-5.
The third was entertaining off the bat, with Murray surviving multiple lengthy rallies and ultimately breaking Ferrer on a ripped backhand to go up 2-0 on serve.
Ferrer just didn't serve well enough Wednesday, losing approximately two-thirds (19 of 55) of second-serve points and committing 11 double faults therein.
On the women's side, Serena Williams reasserted herself as the one to beat at Roland Garros. After dropping the first set 6-1 in her previous match against Sloane Stephens, Williams left no doubts in Wednesday's 6-1, 6-3 trouncing of Sara Errani.
ESPN Stats & Info noted how Williams exorcized some prior French Open demons—and did so in style:
Errani couldn't get enough on her serves to keep Williams honest, as she devastated Errani with punishing groundstrokes en route to taking 30 of 54 return points overall to go with 10 aces.
No. 23 seed Timea Bacsinszky continued an inspiring run in Paris, taking care of business against unseeded upstart Alison Van Uytvanck. Bacsinszky had a big edge in winning 67 percent of second-serve points, compared to just 41 percent for her opponent.
Taking big swings and playing a fearless brand of tennis, it was most impressive Bacsinszky managed to hit 39 winners and avoid enough mistakes to pull out two tight sets.
It's going to be a far taller order for Bacsinszky to keep her momentum going against a superstar in Williams who appears to be firing on all cylinders at the moment. Williams knows better than to overlook her upcoming fixture, though:
Infostrada Sports referenced how stellar Djokovic and Murray have been on clay this season:
Whoever wins the impending matchup between them has an excellent chance to claim his maiden French Open title. The implications would be huge for both men—Murray would achieve three-fourths of the career Grand Slam, while Djokovic would complete all four legs.
What Wednesday proved once more is when Djokovic and Williams are at their best, no one can touch them. Now they're two matches away from taking both major tournaments to start 2015.
The question moving forward is whether they can complete the calendar Grand Slam. To see the best players in both the men's and women's game have a shot at that promises to make the rest of this event and the season all the more exciting.
Note: Stats courtesy of RolandGarros.com unless otherwise indicated.
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