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By Chris Oddo | Wednesday May 25, 2016

 
Svetlana Kuznetsova Roland Garros

Is Svetlana Kuznetsova positioning herself for a deep run in Paris? This and more in our Day 4 musings.

Photo Source: Dennis Grombkowski/Getty

A quick rundown of the happenings of Day 4 of the French Open…

More: Murray/Simon and the Art of Grand Slam Survival

1. Andy Murray and Gilles Simon are incredible superhuman drama kings Murray (5-set record 22-7) and Simon (5-set record 19-11) showed incredible resolve in coming back from deep, puzzling-yet-seemingly-unavoidable deficits against players who were zoning in real, tangible, mind-bending ways. Murray handed over the keys of his match to Frenchman Mathias Bourgue, and the kid very nearly drove the car off a cliff in irreverant, James Dean-ish fashion. He would have created a tragic wreck (a.k.a. upset city) the likes of which we haven’t seen in a long, long time at a major, but Murray rallied to notch another soul-quenching victory.

Simon also rallied, and quenched his soul, too. The Frenchman wobbled and looked woozy, but he never looked dead (though close), as the French faithful urged him on with loud cries of Gillou! Gillou! It was a beautiful scene and a beautiful Houdini act by Simon, who will face Viktor Troicki next.

2. Dr. Ivo is Kind of Legendary Much fuss was made about 37-year-old Radek Stepanek who qualified for Roland Garros and nearly upset Andy Murray in round one (he was awesome in that match, despite losing). But how about Dr. Ivo Karlovic? The bomb-serving Croatian survived a five-setter with Australian Jordan Thompson to become the oldest man to make the third round of a major since Jimmy Connors in 1991.

“It's the only time when being old is okay,” said Karlovic of his milestone. “So, yeah, I like.” He’ll face Andy Murray in the third round.

3. Simona Halep dodged a bullet—or did she? Japan’s Naomi Osaka took out Mirjana Lucic-Baroni on Day 4, which means that Simona Halep avoided having to face the woman who has knocked her out of majors the only two times she has faced her (2014 USO and 2015 Roland Garros). Instead of Lucic-Baroni, Halep gets an opponent who could prove to be even more confounding: the rapidly improving, cool-as-a-cucumber 18-year-old Naomi Osaka. The pressure will be on Halep to win this match, while Osaka can just hit out and have some fun. “I have never played this tournament before, and I'm kind of happy to win two rounds,” Osaka said after beating Lucic-Baroni. Sounds like she’s relaxed enough to make this challenging for Halep…


4. Kuznetsova ramping up? One former champion is looking like she could be ready to make another run. Well, one that isn’t named Serena Williams. Svetlana Kuznetsova reached the third round with a win over Heather Watson on Wednesday, setting up an all-Russian showdown with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a spot in week two on Friday. If Watson’s assessment of Sveta’s game is any indication, the 30-year-old could be a real factor in Paris. “She played really well,” Watson said. “First set I thought she was pretty flawless. Second set I had a couple chances here and there to get even, get back in there. But, yeah, she just played really well on the important points… Like there wasn't much I could do. I fought the whole way through and tried. I think she also tactically played me smart. I didn't get chances to run around and hit my forehand. She was just keeping it on my backhand consistently.”

5. Who is in better form, Richard Gasquet or Nick Kyrgios? Actually, you don’t have to answer that question. Let’s just let them decide themselves when they meet in the third round on Friday. Neither player has dropped a set thus far in Paris. Kyrgios needed just 70 minutes to assault Igor Sijsling on Day 4, while Gasquet put the hurt on American Bjorn Fratangelo, 6-1, 7-6(3), 6-3. Fitness is always a consideration for these two oft-injured players, so it’s great to see them come into their showdown relatively well-rested.

6. Top Tweet


7. Number Fun

Murray’s win over Stepanek on Day 3 was his 9th career comeback from 0-2 down – putting him in joint-3rd place on the Open Era list for the most 0-2 comebacks with Vitas Gerulaitis, Todd Martin and Roger Federer. Only Aaron Krickstein and Boris Becker have achieved more 0-2 comebacks at Tour-level in the Open Era with 10.

 

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