French Open after Two Rounds

Pathetic American performance and Nicolas Almagro's disappointing performance are contrasted with Maria Sharapova's ability to change her game to get the win.

Ok, so somebody finally got to Sharapova, and it’s a good thing or she wouldn’t have made the second round. Sharapova served first serves about 75% throughout her match, making sure that she got it in and took some pressure off of her second-serve. She then relied on her big ground game to overpower Amalie Loit.

It’s too bad for American tennis that Andy Roddick and James Blake don’t have the ability to adapt their games to give them a shot to win at Roland Garros. It’s a sad thing to watch the two top Americans look absolutely lost out there, as though they have no clue as to what it means to adjust your game to the circumstances.

These guys are professionals, right? They ought to know their profession, no? Well why is Andy Roddick trying to blast 140mph serves when it’s so very obvious that it is having virtually no effect on his opponent? Is there any gray matter up there under his cap? How about putting a bit of spin on the ball on serve to move his opponent out of his strike zone on return? Not a clue out there.

And James Blake: Why did he even bother coming to Roland Garros if he had no intention of trying to win a match? He’s got a guy that’s 6’ 10” who is not exactly, uhm, gazelle-like out there. Does Blake make any attempt to adapt his game to the circumstances? Not a chance. Lets just go ahead and play the usual bash-ball and hope for the best. Well, the best bash-ball he could produce wasn’t good enough to get by the big-serving Croation.

My biggest disappointment so far? Without question that would have to be Nicolas Almagro. Nico went out to Frenchman Michael Llodra, ranked No.87 in the world, a player whose only significant win this year was over Dominik Hrbaty in Miami. I was looking for Almagro to make some noise at the French after his performance in Hamburg. No.5 seed Fernando Gonzalez was a surprise, but not a disappointment. I was ready to anoint Almagro the next coming from Spain. Looks like it’s back to the Spanish drawing board. All-righty-then; let’s see what’s happening at Roland Garros today…