2009 Rolland Garros Preview

It’s been a while since I’ve followed any tennis on the news or even on television. So now’s the time to do so with the second Grand Slam of the year already underway. The Rolland Garros (or more famously known as the French Open) is played on clay and will always represent our best chances of winning a Grand Slam.

The biggest disappointment about this year campaign is that we will not have David NALBANDIAN. Earlier this month he announced that he will undergo a hip surgery, resulting in not being able to continue for the rest of the season. By all means this has to be a big lost for us as he is still regarded in my opinion as one of our best.

So all Albiceleste hope will rest on the shoulder of Juan Martin DEL POTRO. The fifth seeded will face local hero Michael LLODRA in the first round. We all remember the last time he was action in the Grand Slam (Aussie Open) and how he was humble by Roger FEDERER. But a lot has changed since then as he has defeated Rafael NADAL and Fedex in a couple of ATP tournaments held during the last few months.

Another interesting tie will see 2004 winner Gaston GAUDIO taking on Radek STEPANEK. El Gato enters the tournament courtesy of a wild card entry. Juan Ignacio CHELA will have a tough tie when he takes on 3rd seeded Andy MURRAY.

Here are the rest of the first round fixtures: -

Diego JUNQUEIRA vs. Paul CAPDEVILLE (CHI)
Agustin CALLERI vs. Nicolas ALMAGRO (ESP)
Martin Vassallo ARGUELLO vs. Thomaz BELLUCCI (BRA)
Juan MONACO vs. Marcos BAGHDATIS (CYP)
Maximo GONZALEZ vs. Andres SEPPI (ITA)
Brian DABUL vs. Sergiy STAKHOVSKY (UKR)
Sergio ROITMAN vs. Jurgen MELZER (AUST)
Eduardo SCHWANK vs. Guillaume RUFIN (FRA)
Leonardo MAYER vs. James BLAKE (USA)
Jose ACASUSO vs. Santiago VENTURA (ESP)