Two of the Last Men Standing – An Unlikely Pair

With the final sixteen decided, only one man is left for both the United States and France. While unseeded Robby Ginepri now represents the US, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga stands for his country. Tsonga’s latest win also means he’s the last Frenchman standing, period. The US is fairing slightly better, however, with Serena and Venus Williams joining Ginepri in the fourth round.

The latest casualties for the US include some of the biggest names: Andy Roddick and Mike and Bob Bryan. Roddick, according to an Associated Press article, “lost to Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. Roddick threw rackets and argued with the umpire, but the fits of temper failed to produce a turnaround against an opponent ranked 114th.” To be honest, this poor showing on the clay was to be expected. Roddick did not play before coming to Paris, and it is not surprising in the least that he’d fall so soon.

On Tsonga’s side, losses by Marion Bartoli and Aravane Rezai have left him alone. With Gael Monfils exiting the day before, he has the weight of his country to deal with in the coming rounds.

Predictions: I see Ginepri falling in three sets to Novak Djokovic in the next round. Ginepri has done well to make it this far, but his play during the two sets he lost against Juan Carlos Ferrero was unsettling. After playing exceptionally for the first half of the match, the American looked unstoppable. However, he quickly lost his accuracy, and it went to a fifth. He won’t have that sort of mental lapse of luxury against the world’s number three, who is a good clay court player in his own right.

As for Tsonga, I call him getting past Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny in four and finding a tough match against Andy Murray later on.