For a recap of Day 3 action on the women’s side, click here.
The first real upset on the men’s side of the 2015 French Open showed up in a pretty unlikely place on Day 3. Jack Sock took out #10 seed Grigor Dimitrov in impressive fashion on Tuesday afternoon. In a tournament that started poorly for American men–and on a day that looked like it would start poorly for American men–Sock provided a much-needed boost for a country waiting for a reinvigoration of tennis success. Jack Sock might just be able to provide that boost.
Nadal, Djokovic, and Jack Sock (!) Headline Day 3 of 2015 French Open
Who Looked Good:
David Ferrer (defeated Lukas Lacko 61 63 61): Ferrer should win this match easily and he did. He has been in a bit of a slump for a while now and has not achieved the results he really should. His ranking has slipped in recent months and his form is often not up to par. He was back to his usual self today, though, working Lacko all over the court. He definitely has the draw to at least reach the semifinals here. Can he keep up the level of play to do it?
John Isner (defeated Andreas Seppi 75 62 63): Isner was met with a stiff challenge from the start, getting broken by Seppi in his second service game. Seppi was reading the big American’s serve well but Isner adjusted beautifully. The final set was not so competitive because of an apparent hip injury to Seppi, but Isner was well on his way to an important victory before that.
Andrea Amaboldi (defeated James Duckworth 46 67(5) 76(4) 76(2) 60): How can you now love someone who fights so hard? Amaboldi got here by winning his second-round qualifying match in a 27-25 third set and now he just fought for over four hours to come back from two sets down against rising youngster James Duckworth. Amaboldi’s time as a top professional will be very limited. But he has earned a spot here today.
Nicolas Almagro (defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov 63 26 64 76(6)): Almagro has had a bit of a rough year so far. Losses and injuries have knocked his ranking outside the top 100. He played well against Djokovic in Rome, but it was still just a second-round loss. He gets Nadal up next here, but his confidence definitely at least needed this one win–which he really had to fight for to earn.
Jack Sock (defeated Grigor Dimitrov 76(6) 62 63): This was quite a performance from Sock. We knew he had some clay game when he won Houston. But he brought that level and more to this French Open and ended up with the biggest win of his career so far–an upset of a top 10 player at a Grand Slam. The draw is opening up nicely and there really should be nothing stopping Sock from reaching the fourth round here.
Who Looked Bad:
Grigor Dimitrov (lost to Sock 67 26 36): Jack Sock played really well. That cannot be understated. It could be that Dimitrov loses this match even if he brings his very best. But he didn’t. He barely hit more winners than error and could not convert on a single one of his six break opportunities. That’s how you lose Grand Slam matches.
James Duckworth (lost to Amaboldi 64 76 67 67 06): He played well for two sets, but that’s not enough at a Slam. He opened up 14 break point chances in the first two sets. He couldn’t get that far on Amaboldi’s serve in the next two. That’s the story of the match. Fatigue set in and made the sixth set a blowout, but Duckworth got complacent. If he kept up his early level into sets three and four, he wins this without too much trouble.
Match of the Day:
There was no particularly over-the-top great match today, but the Duckworth/Amaboldi match certainly deserves mention. It was our first two-sets-down comeback of the tournament. It started out looking like a runaway in Duckworth’s favor. He was getting into just about every Amaboldi service game and really did what he wanted around the court at will. Amaboldi was fighting tough, but just had nothing with which to consistently challenge the young Australian.
Once the third set hit, though, Amaboldi made the necessary adjustments. He still couldn’t work his way into points on the Duckworth serve, but he protected his serve very well. Neither player saw a break point opportunity until the fifth set. Both tiebreakers (after the 3rd and 4th sets) were tense affairs with Duckworth tightening up and letting Amaboldi take them. From there, Duckworth was just too fatigued to compete on the same level. Amaboldi ran away with a well-earned bagel set after over four hours on court. His run here won’t last too much longer but he has certainly earned being this year’s “marathon man”.
Enjoy what you see? Check out LastWord’s full French Open coverage here. It’s the only place you’ll every need for everything French Open.
Main Photo:
