2007_French_Open

Ads

2007 French Open

The 2007 French Open (Roland Garros) was held in Paris, France from 27 May through to 10 June, 2007. Followed two weeks later, as usual, by Wimbledon in London, United Kingdom. Rafael Nadal became the first man to win the tournament 3 times consecutively since Bjorn Borg, 1978-81; and maintained his unbeaten run at Roland Garros. Justine Henin also equaled Monica Seles' record of three consecutive wins.

Timeline

Day	Comments	Highlights¹	Completed Play
	2007 Roland Garros Timeline
1	The tournament was almost entirely rained out. However, some matches were completed, and Janko Tipsarevic, Serena Williams, and Marat Safin were victors. Safin started as the first winner of the 2007 season.	1	2
2	Again, most of the day's play didn't happen. Rain postponed first round action, however, Venus Williams was one of the few winners on that day.	1	2
3	Day 3 finally prevailed dry. Most of the 64 men's singles first round matches were completed, as well as a few women's victories. Dominik Hrbaty, Julien Benneteau, Florian Mayer, Fernando Gonzalez, Robin Soderling and Agustin Calleri were other upset seeds on the men's side, and Nadia Petrova was one of the major upsets on the women's side.	1	2
4	On Day 4, a lot of women's matches were played. The remaining of the men's matches were finished and some of the women's winners were Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo and Venus Williams.	1	2
5	Day 5 saw the start of women's, men's and mixed doubles competitions. In addition, Gaston Gaudio, the 2004 champion, was up 6-4, 6-3 on fourteenth-seeded and former number one Lleyton Hewitt, but ended up losing the match in five sets. Hewitt came from behind two sets to defeat Gaudio.	1	2
6	On Day 6, Jelena Jankovic ousted Venus Williams 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. A repeat of last year's mixed doubles final came this year in the first round, and the defending champions Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjic beat last year's runner-up team Elena Likhovtseva and Daniel Nestor in three sets, 6-2, 5-7, 10-7. Filippo Volandri, seeded 29th, at the time the most recent person who defeated number one Roger Federer, upset the 7th seed Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, and he will play Tommy Robredo in the fourth round.	1	2
7	Lucie Safarova upset Amelie Mauresmo for the second consecutive time at a major before the quarterfinals. Serbian Novak Djokovic and last French male representative Olivier Patience battled in a marathon five-set long match that resulted in the qualification of Djokovic, although he himself confessed that "his opponent had played better than him." According to the NBC French Open coverage, Albert Montanes and defending champion Rafael Nadal battled over ten deuces in one of the games in the first set.	1	2
8	The women's fourth round was played out. The four quarterfinals are between Justine Henin, and Serena Williams, between Jelena Jankovic and Nicole Vaidisova, between Ana Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova, and lastly between Anna Chakvetadze and Maria Sharapova, of whom saved two match points against Patty Schnyder today. Two quarterfinal matches in the men's draw have been made, where Roger Federer will play Tommy Robredo, and Guillermo Canas will play Nikolay Davydenko.	1	2
9	The men's quarterfinals took shape. Rafael Nadal beat Lleyton Hewitt 6-3 6-1 7-6(5) and will face Carlos Moya. The doubles and juniors tournaments also continued. Marcos Baghdatis was knocked out by Igor Andreev, of whom will meet Novak Djokovic in a quarterfinal.	1	2
10	The first of the quarterfinals were completed. For the men, Roger Federer defeated Tommy Robredo in four sets, marking his first set lost in a Grand Slam since the 2006 US Open final. Also winning his match was Nikolay Davydenko, who beat Guillermo Canas. On the women's side, Ana Ivanovic defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova; Justine Henin took out Serena Williams; Jelena Jankovic beat Nicole Vaidisova, and Maria Sharapova was victorious over Anna Chakvetadze.	1	2
11	The final two men's quarterfinals were played, with Rafael Nadal defeating fellow Mallorcan Carlos Moya; and Novak Djokovic beating surprise quarter-finalist Igor Andreev.	1	2
12	Ana Ivanovic made her first Grand Slam singles final, and any Grand Slam final of any type, when she beat Maria Sharapova. Justine Henin beat Jelena Jankovic, and Ana Ivanovic and Justine Henin will meet in the final.	1	2
13	Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have made the finals, both for the second consecutive time. Federer beat Nikolay Davydenko and Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic.	1	2
14	Justine Henin defeats Ana Ivanovic in straight sets to capture the women's singles championship.	1	2
15	Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer in 4 sets to win the men's singles title for the 3rd consecutive year at the French Open.	1	2
	Roland Garros Homepage

Notable stories

Day by day

Day 1

Most of the day's matches were canceled due to rain. Serena Williams and Justine Henin both won on the women's side. Marat Safin won his match, and was the 2007 French Open's first victor. Other winners include Dinara Safina, Tamira Paszek, Potito Starace and Janko Tipsarevic.

Day 2

Most of the day was again canceled due to rain. However, Venus Williams, Michaella Krajicek and Nikolay Davydenko were amongst that day's winners.

Day 3

The third day saw almost the entire men's draw completed, with only seven of 64 matches yet to play. The top half of the women's singles draw also completed their action. The Americans struggled; only two of the eleven Americans in action are still in the tournament, one of nine men and one of two women. The only American woman to advance was Shenay Perry, who survived a loss of the first set against Olivia Sanchez. The other American man still in the tournament was Robby Ginepri, who didn't even advance yet. He split sets with Diego Hartfield before play was suspended. Spanish players enjoyed the opposite fortune, with six of eight men and the only woman all winning their matches. Ernests Gulbis, who became the first Latvian man in the main draw of a Grand Slam, saw off Britain's only representative, Tim Henman.

The longest match of the men's singles draw was Philipp Kohlschreiber's clash with Lukas Dlouhy where the fifth set was eventually taken by Kohlschreiber, 17-15. Eight male seeds left the tournament:

Andy Roddick (3) lost 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 4-6 to Igor Andreev.
Fernando Gonzalez (5) lost 2-6, 2-6, 4-6 to former top ten player Radek Stepanek.
James Blake (8) lost 6-4, 4-6, 5-7, 5-7 to Ivo Karlovic.
Dominik Hrbaty (24) lost 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(3), 4-6, 3-6 to Czech qualifier Bohdan Ulihrach.
Robin Soderling (25) retired after being a set and 1-4 down in the second set to Albert Montanes.
Agustin Calleri (26) lost in four sets to lucky loser Mariano Zabaleta 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 5-7.
Julien Benneteau (30) lost in four to Carlos Berlocq.
Florian Mayer (31) lost to Paul-Henri Mathieu in straight sets.

Also, the injured Russian eleventh seed Nadia Petrova went out 5-7, 7-5, 0-6 to Kveta Peschke. Nicole Vaidisova and Jelena Jankovic defeated their opponents in straight sets.

Day 4

Tenth seed Tomas Berdych failed to turn his overnight two-set deficit against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, and became the ninth men's seed to bow out in the first round. The conqueror of Fernando Gonzalez, Radek Stepanek, lost in five sets to wildcard Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the second round. Justine Henin, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova and Amelie Mauresmo won through as well. The unseeded Kristof Vliegen was able to beat eleventh seed Richard Gasquet in straight sets, 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-1.

Day 5

Gaston Gaudio, the 2004 champion, was up 6-4, 6-3 on fourteenth-seeded and former number one Lleyton Hewitt, but ended up losing the match in five sets. Hewitt came from behind two sets to defeat Gaudio. Also, Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and other players advanced, however rain once again stopped play around 6 P.M. Andreea Ehritt-Vanc and Anastasia Rodionova were amongst the first to win their doubles match today.

Day 6

On Day 6, a repeat of last year's mixed doubles final came when Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjic beat Elena Likhovtseva and Daniel Nestor 6-2, 5-7, 10-7 in the first round. Number four seed Jelena Jankovic beat Venus Williams 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in the third round. Filippo Volandri, seeded 29th, then the most recent person who defeated Roger Federer (at the 2007 Rome Masters), upset the 7th seed Ivan Ljubicic 6-4, 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the third round, and he will play Tommy Robredo in the fourth round, which is his best French Open of his career.

Day 7

On Day 7, there was no rain delay. According to coverage on NBC, a game in the first set between Rafael Nadal and Albert Montanes went to over ten deuces, and thirty two points. Today, number five seed Amelie Mauresmo lost to Lucie Safarova for the second time at a major in a row.

Day 8

On Day 8, the women's quarterfinal draw took shape. Two men's quarterfinals also took shape, and many matches in doubles and juniors were also played. The four women's quarterfinals are:

World number 1 Justine Henin against Serena Williams.
Jelena Jankovic against Nicole Vaidisova.
Ana Ivanovic against Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Anna Chakvetadze against Maria Sharapova, who survived two match points to win 3-6, 6-4, 9-7 over Patty Schnyder, shown on NBC.

The men's quarterfinals that have been formed by winning their fourth round matches are:

Roger Federer against Tommy Robredo
Guillermo Canas against Nikolay Davydenko.

Day 9

The last two men's quarterfinals were formed. Junior singles and doubles matches as well as other senior doubles matches were played. The men's quarterfinals are as so:

Roger Federer (who beat Mikhail Youzhny) against Tommy Robredo (who beat Filippo Volandri)
Guillermo Canas (who beat Juan Monaco) against Nikolay Davydenko (who beat David Nalbandian)
Igor Andreev (who upset Marcos Baghdatis) against Novak Djokovic (who beat Fernando Verdasco)
Carlos Moya (who beat Jonas Bjorkman) against Rafael Nadal (who beat Lleyton Hewitt).

Day 10

In the men's singles quarterfinals, Roger Federer beat Tommy Robredo, and Nikolay Davydenko beat Guillermo Canas. Federer will meet Davydenko in the semifinals.

Day 11

The last men's semifinal was formed. Novak Djokovic beat Igor Andreev, and Rafael Nadal beat Carlos Moya, and these two winners would take each other on in the semifinals.

Day 12

In the women's semifinals Ana Ivanovic beat Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2 to make it to her first Grand Slam singles final and Justine Henin beat Jelena Jankovic, and still hasn't lost a set in over two years at the French Open. The first champions were Nathalie Dechy and Andy Ram after finals victory over the 2006 champions Katarina Srebotnik and Nenad Zimonjic in mixed doubles.

Day 13

Finalists of men's singles are Roger Federer (who beat Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 7-6, 7-6) and Rafael Nadal (who beat Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-4, 6-2). 17th seeded Alicia Molik and Mara Santangelo beat Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama, the seventh seeds, to win the women's doubles championship.

Day 14

Justine Henin beat Ana Ivanovic in straight sets, and is the three-time champion who has not lost a set since the 2005 fourth round when she saved match points against Svetlana Kuznetsova. The men's doubles and juniors doubles finals were played.

Day 15

Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer in 4 sets to win his 3rd straight French Open title. Nadal has now won 3 French Opens. He won all of twenty-one matches playing on Roland Garros.

Seniors

Men's singles

Rafael Nadal def. Roger Federer 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

Women's singles

Justine Henin def. Ana Ivanovic 6-1, 6-2
Justine Henin has not lost a set in over two years at the French Open, since her 2005 fourth round when she saved match points against Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Men's doubles

Mark Knowles / Daniel Nestor def. Lukas Dlouhy / Pavel Vizner 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
This marked the first French Open win of Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor.

Women's doubles

Alicia Molik / Mara Santangelo def. Katarina Srebotnik / Ai Sugiyama 7-6 (5), 6-4

Mixed doubles

Nathalie Dechy / Andy Ram def. Katarina Srebotnik / Nenad Zimonjic 7-5, 6-3
Dechy and Ram beat the defending champions.

Juniors

Legends

Legends Under 45 Doubles

Arnaud Boetsch / Guy Forget def. Henri Leconte / Cedric Pioline 6-3, 3-6, 1-0(14)

Legends Over 45 Doubles

Anders Jarryd / John McEnroe def. John Fitzgerald / Guillermo Vilas 6-1, 6-2

Wheelchair

Wheelchair Men's Singles

Shingo Kunieda def. Robin Ammerlaan 6-3, 6-4

Wheelchair Women's Singles

Esther Vergeer def. Florence Gravellier 6-3, 5-7, 6-2

Wheelchair Men's Doubles

Stephane Houdet / Michael Jeremiasz def. Shingo Kunieda / Satoshi Saida 7-6(4), 6-1

Wheelchair Women's Doubles

Maaike Smit / Esther Vergeer def. Florence Gravellier / Mie Yaosa 6-1, 6-4

Seeds

The seeded players are listed below. Players in bold are still in the competition. The players no longer in the tournament are listed with the round in which they exited.