French Open Highlights Du Jour: Day 5
Staying on Course for an All-Serbian Semi
Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic both came through yesterday and advanced to the third round. Though there's still a ways to go, the two Serbs are on course for a repeat of their Roland Garros semifinal clash in 2008. Ivanovic came out on top in that encounter and went on to win the title. Ivanovic has the tougher road to the semis; she'll eventually need to get through one of two former Grand Slam champions—Svetlana Kuznetsova or Petra Kvitova—and probably rising star Simona Halep as well. JJ's quarter is much easier thanks to the early departure of Li Na and Caroline Wozniacki. Her most formidable competition looks to be former French Open finalist Sara Errani.
All-American Matchup
Americans Jack Sock and Steve Johnson faced off yesterday, guaranteeing that at least one more American man would advance to the third round. Sock advanced in straight sets over his countryman and should have a good chance in his next match. He'll face off against Dusan Lajovic of Serbia who is ranked 83rd in the world. Donald Young also advanced yesterday in a surprise straight-set victory over Spanish veteran Felciano Lopez and he'll next face Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. John Isner advanced on Wednesday. On the women's side, Sloane Stephens advanced to join fellow American Taylor Townsend in the third round.
One Hit Wonders
After two rounds of competition the men's ace leader is (unsurprisingly) John Isner with 58. Milos Raonic is second with 47, followed by Ivo Karlovic with 46. On the women's side, Lucie Safarova has hit 13 aces through two matches, but is currently tied for the top spot with Frenchwoman Amandine Hesse, who also has 13 aces but only played one match. Kristina Mladenovic trails Safarova and Hesse with 11 aces.
Country Scoreboard
With the second round in the books and men's and women's singles fields narrowed down to thirty-two competitors, here's how each country stacks up:
- Spain has the most players remaining in the draw with 11 (7 men and 4 women).
- France has the second-most players remaining with 6 (4 men and 2 women).
- The United States is in third with 5 players remaining (3 men and 2 women).
- Five countries are tied with 4 players remaining—The Czech Republic (2 men and 2 women), Russia (1 man and 2 women), Slovakia (1 man and 3 women), Serbia (2 men and 2 women), and Germany (1 man and 3 women).
More Fun with Numbers
Of the 192 men's and women's singles matches played through the first two rounds, 62 of them required more than the minimum number of sets. During all of the matches so far, a total of 546 sets were played, comprised of 5,145 games and 33,086 points. The longest rallies of the tournament so far occurred yesterday and featured 30 shots. Those rallies belonged to Donald Young/Feliciano Lopez and Andrea Petkovic/Stefanie Voegele.
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