mtenis.com.pl

The biggest story of the Roland Garros qualifying tournament came when Andrea Arnaboldi won a 52-game final set to beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert, setting a new record for the most number of games played in a qualifying match at Roland Garros.

The match took four hours and 26 minutes over two days, with the Italian finally prevailing 6-4, 3-6, 27-25 to reach the final round of qualifying. On Friday, the 27-year-old's record-breaking win was even sweeter after he successfully qualified for his second straight Roland Garros. Last year, he lost in the first round to compatriot Simone Bolelli. This year, he will face Aussie James Duckworth in the first round.

Arnaboldi's compatriot Luca Vanni, a finalist in Sao Paulo in February (l. to Cuevas), is one of five players who qualified for their Grand Slam main draw debut. The other four players (and their first round opponent) are: Christian Lindell (No. 14 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga), Germain Gigounon (No. 20 seed Richard Gasquet), Nikoloz Basilashvili (Thanasi Kokkinakis) and Kimmer Coppejans (Nicolas Mahut).

Five players will make their Roland Garros main draw debut, including (and their first round opponent): Yoshihito Nishioka (fourth seed Tomas Berdych), Taro Daniel (No. 32 seed Fernando Verdasco), Matthias Bachinger (Marcel Granollers), Kyle Edmund (fellow qualifier Stephane Robert, 35, who previously reached the second round at Roland Garros in 2011), and Elias Ymer (Lukas Rosol).

ATP World Tour veteran Michael Berrer, 34, who beat Rafael Nadal in Doha in January, had his best showing at Roland Garros in 2011 when he reached the third round (l. to Murray). He will face Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in his opening match.

Igor Sijsling, who beat second seed Alexander Zverev 7-6(7), 2-6, 7-5 in the second round of qualifying, advanced to his fourth main draw in Paris with a straight sets victory over Marius Copil. The Dutchman’s best showing at Roland Garros was in 2014, when he reached the second round (l. to Robredo). Sijsling will open against No. 24 seed Ernests Gulbis.

Rounding out the 16 qualifiers are Gastao Elias (who will open against Benoit Paire) and Illya Marchenko (who will face Carlos Berlocq in the first round), who both look to notch their first main draw wins at Roland Garros.

Andy Murray has warned it would be "stupid" to write off Rafa Nadal at the French Open, despite the Spaniard's recent dip in form.

Nadal may have only lost once in 10 years at Roland Garros but a combination of injury, illness and disappointing results at the start of the clay-court season has seen him fall to seventh in the ATP Tour world rankings.

The nine-time champion faces a potential quarter-final meet with world No.1 Novak Djokovic, who already has five tournament victories to his name this year. Murray could face either in the semi-finals, should the Scot get that far, but believes Djokovic is favourite in Paris.
Favourites to win the French Open

Novak Djokovic 3/4 with Unibet
Rafael Nadal 7/2
Andy Murray 9/1
Roger Federer 11/1
Kei Nishikori 13/1
Stanislas Wawrinka 27/1
Tomas Berdych 40/1
David Ferrer 60/1
Gael Monfils 80/1
Fabio Fognini 100/1

"(Nadal's form) changes things. Novak for me goes into the tournament as the favourite now," Murray, who will face Argentinian qualifier Facundo Arguello in round one, said.

"But on that court Rafa's record is ridiculous. It's completely possible that he gets out there and feels great, especially if he gets himself into the tournament and wins his first few matches.

"He's going to feel better and better. He obviously loves the conditions here, although the courts this week have been extremely slow.

"If it gets warmer and starts to speed up, obviously he loves the conditions here. It would be stupid to write him off or suggest that he can't win the event - it's definitely possible that he could do that."

Murray goes into the year's second grand slam as a genuine contender, having ended his long wait for an ATP Tour title on clay. The British No.1 enjoyed back-to-back triumphs in Munich and Madrid; at the latter, he earned his first ever victory over Nadal on the terracotta surface.

However, he finds himself in the same half of the draw as Nadal and Djokovic and will potentially have to overcome the likes of Nick Kyrgios, John Isner and clay-court specialist David Ferrer along the way.

"I'm in the same half of the draw as Rafa and Novak, so that's hard," Murray added.

"Ferrer is someone I have never beaten on clay before, that's tough, and then Isner is the other seed, and Kyrgios, who obviously has had some huge wins in slams.

"It's certainly not an easy draw, that's for sure. But many times I have played in slams where draws appeared extremely difficult, and after a couple of losses all of a sudden everyone tells me it's an easy draw.

"You just have to play the matches in front of you and see what happens. I would love to be in that position to have made the semis - for me that's a great result at this event.

"It could work both ways. If Nadal and Djokovic play a five-hour marathon, then whoever plays against them in the semis is happy about that.

"But if either one of them goes on the court and crushes the other one, they can be pretty confident going into the semi-finals as well. I hope I'm there. There are certainly no guarantees that will be the case, I will have to play really, really well to get there."

Murray reached the semi-finals in Paris last year, before he was beaten in straight sets by Nadal. The Briton has also lost his last seven meetings with Djokovic, most notably in the Australian Open final last January.

afael Nadal could face top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the French Open quarterfinals, the toughest draw the nine-time champion has faced at Roland Garros.

Nadal has fallen to No. 7 in the ATP rankings since coming back from injuries, dropping his seeding to sixth, the lowest it’s ever been at the clay-court major.

That left him more vulnerable than usual in Friday’s draw, and bad luck put him in the same quarter as both Djokovic and 10th-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, and in the same half as Andy Murray.

“Everyone expects so much of Rafa at this time of year. He loses a few matches, but to put so many question marks, I think it’s almost disrespectful,” defending French Open women’s champion Maria Sharapova said, according to Agence France-Presse. “His will and motivation to keep doing it and to keep proving to himself that he can do it again is pretty remarkable. It’s actually been a little bit sad because if I was in his shoes I’d be a pretty accomplished and satisfied player. He is grinding away and proving everybody wrong.”

Nadal has faced tough draws before. In 2011, 2013 and again last year, he beat three top 10 players to lift the Musketeers Cup. His record on the red clay of Roland Garros is 66-1, with his only loss coming in the fourth round in 2009.

“Everybody had their eyes on this potential clash between Nadal and Djokovic,” tournament director Gilbert Ysern said. “It will be tough for the loser, because they seem to be the best players on clay at the moment.”

But this season, Nadal arrived in Paris with his reign looking shaky. He has lost five times on clay this season, his worst run-up ever to tennis’ second major.

Ysern said there was never any thought of bumping up Nadal’s seeding to better protect him in the draw.

“I don’t think it (the draw) was going to be bad for Rafa because he’s looking at defending his title whoever he has to play,” Roger Federer said, via AFP. “It’s going to affect Novak more in my opinion in that regard than Rafa really.”

With Djokovic, Nadal, the third-seeded Murray and 2013 runner-up David Ferrer all in the same half of the draw, the road for Federer on the other side opened up.

To reach what would be his sixth final in Paris, and first since losing to Nadal in 2011, the 17-time Grand Slam champion could have to overcome 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals.

In the women’s draw, 19-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams faces a potential third-round match against former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, seeded 27th.

Williams will face a qualifier in the first round. Her sister Venus, however, was drawn to open against Sloane Stephens, a semifinalist at the 2013 Australian Open who has reached the fourth round for the last three years at Roland Garros. Sharapova will begin her campaign against 49th-ranked Kaia Kanepi.