Hope that wasn't too confusing! Here's the breakdown:
• The 1 who won: Roger Federer's through to the quarterfinals (and in my opinion, still on track for a final matchup with Rafael Nadal;
vote here if you agree or not) by knocking off Frenchman Julien Benneteau in straight sets. Next up for R-Fed is Fernando Gonzalez, who beat Robby Ginepri (good job in getting that far, Robby), also in straights. Federer's beaten Gonzalez on every surface out there and has a 10-1 record against him. But you never know what could happen with old "Gonzo," who hasn't lost a match on clay this year. I think Roger should get through, but maybe as not as easy as he has in his other matches.
• The 1 who lost: So there goes my French Open pick, Maria Sharapova, down to Dinara Safina (pictured in pure bliss)! I guess if I were to have looked at it realistically, I should have realized Sharapova wasn't ready to get it done on the dirt.
My rationale was that the difficult clay-courters in her side of the draw, namely Safina and Elena Dementieva, wouldn't have even made it that far to possibly upset her. Well, Safina had other plans, and despite my
sometimes criticism of her, she managed to pull off the upset. I guess she's maturing after all, and congrats to her for a great win.
• And the two 1's who lost, too: The Bryan brothers fell in a tough third-set tiebreak to Pablo Cuevas and Luis Horna. I recently wrote something arguing the case the Bryans should be considered
two of the greatest tennis players ever due to their incredible achievements. However, my one knock against them (and I feel like I've said this a million times), they have to win more Slams! And they really shouldn't fall to a team with five titles between them (all for Horna). A very bad loss. Hopefully, they'll bounce back for Wimbledon. Personally, I would like to see them win Olympics Gold, but a major on the way wouldn't be a bad thing.
(Photos: Getty Images)
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