TENNIS:ANDY MURRAY is staying in Paris. For how long depends on his tennis, which is in reasonable shape, and the right ankle he rolled badly during his third-round win over the German Michael Berrer, which remains a minor concern. The Scot is happy with his game, less so with his ankle. He is scheduled to be third on Court Suzanne Lenglen against the Serb Viktor Troicki in the last 16 today and, assuming he decides in favour of going ahead, is determined to play through the pain.
Murray’s overriding concern is to leave the French Open fit for Wimbledon after giving as much as he can safely sacrifice on the demanding clay of Roland Garros. He kept a low profile after a scan on the injury on Saturday night and light practice away from the grounds yesterday.
A “click” he heard when he overreached for a volley against Berrer initially gave him concern that it might have been a serious ligament injury but the ATP medical staff are satisfied he will do himself no damage by playing. He has had the measure of Troicki in their three matches – but this is their first on clay and the Serb is sounding not only upbeat about his chances on his favourite surface but willing to exploit any sign that Murray is favouring his ankle. It could be brutal.
Elsewhere spirits rose and fell to the rhythm of this intriguing tournament. The revival of Richard Gasquet ended at the cruel hands of Novak Djokovic on Court Philippe Chatrier. After minor inconvenience against Juan Martin del Potro, Djokovic looked commanding and vibrant in beating the Frenchman 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 and plays the unseeded Italian Fabio Fognini in the quarter-finals tomorrow. He is unbeaten in 43 matches, 41 for the year. “I am playing the best tennis of my life and we’ll see how far I can go,” Djokovic said.
Djokovic will be quietly pleased to learn that Fognini was exhausted on cramped legs as he only just guarded three-match points to limp across the line against the Spaniard Albert Montanes after five brutal sets that lasted four hours and 22 minutes. Fognini saved five match points to defeat Montanes 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 11-9 in an extraordinary match.
But it is Roger Federer who has people talking again. On Court Philippe Chatrier the look on Stanislas Wawrinka’s face as he watched Federer’s sublime top-spin lob clear his static form near the net said it all: the best Swiss in the world is back.
It was not that Wawrinka was playing badly or resigned to a ninth defeat in 10 matches against his compatriot but that Federer had moved, almost unnoticed, on to another level. His is the genius of stealth, in a match and in a tournament, never more so than here.
Federer, seeded three but barely mentioned beforehand or even during his quiet ascent during the first week, won 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 to progress with silky understatement into the quarter-finals.
In the space of a couple of days the debate has switched from Djokovic’s unbeaten run and Rafael Nadal’s comeback from a five-set scare against John Isner in the first round to whether Federer has enough of his old magic left to win the title. When he wrapped up the second set by reaching out to retrieve a backhand from Wawrinka, dinking it at an irretrievable angle, we were reminded that maybe we have come to take his skills for granted.
But from Murray’s ankle to Federer’s chances of winning the tournament uncertainty hangs over Roland Garros again. Barely anyone noticed women’s third seed Vera Zvonareva make an early exit. Zvonareva had to play in front of rows and rows of empty seats on Court Philippe Chatrier as she was knocked out by fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6 2-6 6-2 in a forgettable fourth-round contest.
Men’s Singles
Fourth round: Fabio Fognini (Ita) bt Albert Montanes (Spa) 4-6 6-4 3-6 6-3 11-9, (3) Roger Federer (Swi) bt (14) Stanislas Wawrinka (Swi) 6-3 6-2 7-5, (2) Novak Djokovic (Ser) bt (13) Richard Gasquet (Fra) 6-4 6-4 6-2.
Women’s Singles
Fourth round: (14) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) bt (3) Vera Zvonareva (Rus) 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-2, (5) Francesca Schiavone (Ita) bt (10) Jelena Jankovic (Ser) 6-3 2-6 6-4, (11) Marion Bartoli (Fra) bt Gisela Dulko (Arg) 7-5 1-0 ret, (13) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt (28) Daniela Hantuchova (Svk) 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 6-2
