 It would be way too simple to say that this rollercoaster contest came down to Kaia Kanepi's mental shortcomings versus Caroline Wozniacki's physical limitations. Yes, Kanepi failed to serve it out four times—and wasted four match points—before ultimately prevailing, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-3. And yes, Wozniacki's inability to hit through her stronger opponent contributed to the 5-1 deficits she faced in all three sets.
But before this match is banished to the never-upload-to-YouTube pile, it must be said that it was Wozniacki's assertive play, when Kanepi grew tentative in the second set, that propelled her unlikely rally, and it was the Estonian's persistence that gave her a chance to capture the victory at all. Two years ago at Wimbledon, Kanepi let five match points go and never saw a sixth in a painful quarterfinal loss to Petra Kvitova. She was surely thinking of that when her fifth match point came today against Wozniacki. Something tells me she didn't mind winning the match on a Wozniacki error.
It was a fitting ending, of course, to a match of questionable quality. Still, before it got ugly, Kanepi raced to a 6-1, 5-1 lead, showing the fast forehands and big backhands that make her a popular dark horse pick in tournaments. Against Wozniacki, who can't match her pace, Kanepi's groundstrokes looked even heavier. And when Wozniacki childishly complained to the chair umpire about a misread ball mark—which did look out on replays, and was shown out on NBC's unofficial review—Kanepi looked better in that department as well. "Have you been to school?", Wozniacki asked the official during their stand-off. It wasn't Wozniacki's best day by a long shot.
But as quickly as Kanepi built her 5-1 second-set lead, she lost it, looking less able each game. If her shots weren't landing long or wide, they were boomeranged back by her scampering opponent—Wozniacki played some admirable defense. She also showed some of her best offense on the day during this stretch, catching Kanepi off guard while slowly creeping back to level terms. It all looked for naught when, at 5-5, Kanepi halted Wozniacki's momentum by breaking her, but a lovely backhand cross-court pass from the Dane (off a pretty good Kanepi inside-in forehand) sent the set to the tiebreaker it warranted. There, Wozniacki's all-around game and focus were on full display, along with a funky two-handed slice drop shot winner. To a third they went.
At this point, I was ready to put all my chips in on Wozniacki. The pre-match script had played itself out: Wozniacki had been out-gunned, but had stayed alive long enough to win the mental battle, and Kanepi was now ready to fold. But Kanepi re-raised. Instead of playing a flat third set, she stormed ahead, perhaps a result of not holding the lead.
There was the matter, though, of Kanepi actually having to deal with the lead, which she was forced to up 5-1. Serving for the match in fading light, Kanepi dropped the first two points, and no one would have been surprised if another break, or two or three, was in the offing. Well, one came, shortly after a Kanepi double fault on her third match point. But at 5-3, Kanepi held, a plot twist if I ever saw one. Some might say this match was about who wanted it less. But the heart she drew in the clay (see photo, at top right) after her topsy-turvy performance suggests otherwise.
—Ed McGrogan
 You can’t be brilliant every day, but if you’re light years ahead of your opponent in skill, you don’t need to be. That’s the lesson people who watched Rafael Nadal’s 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Eduardo Schwank in the third round of Roland Garros will probably take away from today’s match.
In his first two matches, Nadal’s play shone as brightly as his shirt, but there was a definite lack of sparkle and intensity in his routine win today. Still, the result was never really in doubt. After Nadal won the first of many cat-and-mouse exchanges at the net to break Schwank in his opening service game—and race to a 3-0, double-break led in 18 minutes—the Argentine already had the dull-eyed, shell-shocked look familiar to many of Rafa’s opponents. A bagel set looked on the cards, but Nadal struggled to shake off his outmatched but determined opponent, missing two relatively routine forehands and botching an over-confident overhead to give up break point. Schwank put in a great lob, one of many fine touch shots, but missed his chance to follow the ball in, then put a tame mid-court forehand in the net. A poor Nadal volley wide gave up a second break point, but it was saved with a timely ace. Nadal held for 4-0, eventually breaking again to take the first set in 46 minutes.
Schwank, once a brilliant junior, is currently ranked No. 196. Better known as a doubles player, his experience in that discipline showed both positively and negatively in his approach to the match. Even with Nadal’s return game not at its best, Schwank won only 60 percent of points on his less- than-fearsome first serve; on the other hand, he had a lot of success (relative to a straight sets defeat) in playing drop shots and approaching the net, two tactics which are generally a death sentence against the Spaniard’s speed and passing shots.
Coupled with a lackluster Nadal serving day—60 percent for the match and only one ace—Schwank earned another opportunity to break in the opening game of the second set. But Nadal held on, broke to lead 2-0, and if the match from that point onwards often felt like something of a slog, it was at least a slog towards ineluctable victory.
Schwank kept the deficit to a single break in both the second and third sets, but that was the most he could accomplish. While Nadal never quite began to peel off forehand winners as we know he can, he did more than enough from the baseline and showed himself increasingly adept at picking up on Schwank’s drop-shots, lobs, and patterns of play at the net as the match progressed. Given that he has still not dropped more than four games in a single set this tournament, it’s hard to be too critical of an energy-saving performance, particularly with bigger names looming in the second week.
—Hannah Wilks
 Today, he was Richard "The Rocket" Gasquet. Recovering his composure—and game—following the loss of a first-set tiebreaker to 34-year old qualifier Tommy Haas, Gasquet produced a breathtaking display of firepower and shotmaking, and this time he appeared to have the determination and desire that doesn't always accompany those assets. He won going away, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-0, 6-0, earning a fourth-round seat opposite No. 4 seed Andy Murray.
Although the match turned into a blowout and will be celebrated throughout France as a spectacular display of Gasquet's skills, credit Haas for the amazing run he's had at this event. Thirty-four years old, ranked No. 112, and coming off the latest in a string of serious, career-threatening injuries, Haas played six matches (including qualifying)—the equivalent of reaching a Grand Slam semifinal.
Sure, those three qualifying matches were best-of-three sets. But it's a great showing by a player who's still trying to round into comfortable, ideal shape. It wasn't surprising that by the end of the second set Haas was running on fumes; the shocker was that he was running at all. Morever, at the start it looked as if he might produce the upset.
Haas broke Gasquet in the very first game and jumped to a 2-0 lead. In the next game, Haas served up a double-fault at 15-30, but wiped away both break points with winners. But he made a forehand error at deuce, and Gasquet leveled the match at 2-2 when he forced another forehand error out of Haas.
Both players settled in after that, and proceeded on serve to the tiebreaker. Haas' spirits had to be lifted when Gasquet played a tiebreaker that could be used as a case study in tennis grad school: What Not to Do in a Tiebreaker.
Due probably to nerves, Gasquet made an unforced backhand error to end the rally during the first point. He mini-broke right back, but Haas went up 2-1 on a service winner to Gasquet's backhand. Haas took the initiative during the next point, driving a passive, retreating Gasquet back off the baseline—so far back that the Frenchman ultimately left the German with a wide-open court into which to smack an inside-out forehand. It was the key moment in the tiebreaker.
With Haas leading 3-1, we had three service holds. But at 2-5—pretty much Gasquet's last chance to get back into contention—he clubbed a double fault. Two points later, Haas secured the set with an aggressive volley that Gasquet drove into the net with his forehand.
That first set took exactly an hour, and while I'm sure Gasquet didn't plan it that way, the duration, and the demands it put on Haas, were bound to come into play downstream—unless Haas found a way to break his opponent's spirit and retain the momentum. It looked as if he might pull it off through the first few games of the second set, but Gasquet was in no mood to quit without a fight.
At 2-2, Haas fell behind, 15-40. He forced a backhand pass error to save a break point, but Gasquet made the most of the second one, rallying until Haas botched another backhand—whereupon Gasquet spun on his heels to face his coaches and friends, clenched his fists, and roared in exultation. It's worth pointing out mostly because it gives us a pretty good idea of just how bound-up and tense Gasquet had been, inside, up to that point.
That roar opened the floodgates. Haas would win just one—ONE—game thereafter, which was his next one, for 3-4. Following a Gasquet hold, Haas scratched through most of a game, saving two break points. The double fault that finally gave Gasquet the break, and second set, was just an omen of things to come.
Gasquet jumped all over Haas to start the third set, and seemed to gain confidence with every swing of his racquet. He had Haas on a string and he produced any number of spectacular shots, confirming once again the theory that if you allow Gasquet to loosen up and get ahead of you, he becomes a regular Rod Laver. It didn't hurt him that the French crowd on the Lenglen court lapped it up, loving every minute of the display Gasquet put on. Out of deference to Haas, we'll just skip the rest.
Today, Gasquet was a rocket, like Laver. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
—Pete Bodo
 Andy Murray spent some time flat on his back in his second-round match. Today, a revitalized Murray flattened Santiago Giraldo in producing perhaps his most complete clay-court victory of the season.
In a strong serving effort that saw him hit nine aces and serve 70 percent, Murray erased the only break point he faced in dusting the 50th-ranked Colombian in the Bullring, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, to reach the fourth round of Roland Garros.
It was a striking reversal from Murray's second-round win over Jarkko Nieminen, when he took treatment for back spasms that had the hobbled Scot contemplating retirement. A much fresher and fitter Murray showed no signs of the injury in playing largely stress-free tennis from the outset.
Back pain slowed his serve in round two; today his serve was the back-breaker for Giraldo: Murray served bigger and bolder to set the tone for the match. An angled drop volley winner gave Murray break point in the first set, and he broke for a 4-2 lead when Giraldo's sometimes unruly backhand found the net. Murray delivered three consecutive love service holds in wrapping up the 28-minute opener.
Emboldened by a 6-1, 6-2 thrashing of Giraldo in their lone prior meeting in Barcelona last month, Murray played with outward confidence. Giraldo is solid in all areas of the game and began belting the high ball to Murray forehand with increasing authority as the match progressed, but lacked a truly imposing weapon. Little was troubling Murray on this day.
Sick of seeing Murray commanding rallies, Giraldo tried to take the first strike, but missed a forehand down the line to face break point, then netted a flat forehand to hand over the break and a 3-2 second-set lead. Murray then crunched a running forehand cross-court to consolidate. Serving for the set, things got dicey when Giraldo smacked a screaming forehand winner down the line to cap a 20-shot rally and earn break point. It's the type of shot that sometimes might make Murray shriek in frustration, or even punch his strings with the palm of his hand. On this day, he got right back to work, saving the break point with an angled backhand. When Giraldo netted a forehand return, Murray collected the 44-minute second set.
If he hadn't become a tennis player, Giraldo said he would have pursued a political career, but his baseline campaign gained no ground in the final set. Murray served 74 percent and won 20 of 23 points on his serve to close a clean out a clean sweep in two hours and two minutes.
The world No. 4, who has reached five straight major semifinals, will face either 17th-seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet—who beat Murray in Rome last month—or German qualifier Tommy Haas for a quarterfinal spot.
—Richard Pagliaro
 Taking the court at just before 8 p.m. Paris time, Novak Djokovic knew he had to win in around 90 minutes or risk having to return tomorrow. In the end, it took an hour and 44 minutes, but the world No. 1 was magnificent in beating the darkness and qualifier Nicholas Devilder, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
Racing the gathering gloom and facing a crowd determined to be entertained, Djokovic was at his most ruthless. He also had to contend with Devilder, of course, who at 32 is enjoying his best-ever run at Roland Garros.
The Frenchman opened the match with a scorching forehand winner down the line. It took Djokovic nine minutes to hold his opening service game, but once he did, the Serb roared into high gear, punishing Devilder’s serve with his own fearsome returns to break to 15. By the time Djokovic led 5-0, it was clear that he was in no humor to waste any time, dictating every rally from inside the baseline and serving out the set in 30 minutes with his fourth ace.
Devilder’s career-high ranking, No. 60, came back in 2008, the only other year he won a main-draw match at Roland Garros (before losing to Rafael Nadal). Now No. 286, the gulf in class between him and his opponent today was constantly in evidence. Devilder had his moments—notably a lovely down-the-line forehand winner to get back on serve for 1-1 early in the second set—but the extravagant gestures with which he celebrated suggested clearly that he was out there to enjoy the experience more than anything.
Djokovic, quick to pick up on his opponent’s tendency to play deep and retrieve from behind the baseline, played incisively and fast, injecting pace off both wings to leave Devilder floundering. He also approached the net 28 times, putting away volley after volley, including a spectacular down-the-line lob volley after pulling Devilder into the net.
In the third set, Djokovic raced to a 4-1 lead before framing a number of forehands, putting himself under pressure on his serve—either as a result of the growing darkness or his own eagerness to get the match done. Devilder had two break points that would surely have ensured that the match continued tomorrow, but Djokovic saved both with aggressive play. Shortly afterwards, the match ended the way it began, with a slapped forehand winner down the line on the run; this time it came off the racquet of the world No. 1 to seal victory. It was his 34th winner for the match.
Devilder’s loss, following that of Fernando Verdasco earlier in the day, leaves just one left-hander in the men’s draw—Nadal. If Djokovic can bring the same focus, aggression, and class that he produced under pressure tonight to his next matches, he gives himself an excellent chance to meet the lone lefty and six-time champion in 10 days’ time.
—Hannah Wilks
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