Week 20 Semifinals and French Open Qualifying

The week before a grand slam tournament is always a bit confused, as everyone's eyes are turned towards the big events starting next week. On the other hand, there's always a few tournaments taking place, not to mention the qualifying tournament for the grand slam. It's tough to say how motivated players are in the tournaments that take place the week before a major like this. Robin Soderling probably wanted to get a bit more experience on clay before he tried to equal his run to last year's final, and he certainly didn't expect to lose to Olivier Rochus in the second round. But he probably didn't want to play all the way through Saturday, either.

Rochus, by the way, would be a top five player if it weren't for his short stature. He can play some spectacular ball, as demonstrated in his wins this year over Soderling and Djokovic - but he's also lost to Richard Gasquet in the last three tournaments he's played. Gasquet is into the semis in Nice, and looks likely to face Fernando Verdasco. They're facing Starace and Leonardo Mayer, who have already notched big wins - Starace beat Kubot and Monfils, while Mayer beat Bellucci and Baghdatis. But they've got be worn out after those wins, and Gasquet and Verdasco have enough experience to come through, in my opinion.

In Dusseldorf, I am still a bit baffled by the format - some of the teams seem to have three players, others as many as five. It's not clear to me what to expect, but the results have been surprising. The American team, composed of Sam Querrey, John Isner, the Bryan Brothers, and Robby Ginepri, are just one win away from the finals. They beat Spain, the Czech Republic, and an Australian team that fielded Lleyton Hewitt. Impressive performances from the good ol' boys. They'll face either Argentina or France in the final, which should be an interesting match-up.

In any case, looking at the French Open, the qualifying tournament is into the final round, so everyone who's still standing needs only to win a single match to make it into the main draw. Here are some interesting things to look at it in the draw. There are a surprising number of Americans still alive - Ryler DeHeart, Jesse Witten, Michael Yani, Ryan Harrison, and Alex Bogomolov Jr. That's a pretty good ratio, so far. And I think that most of them have a good chance of getting through.

Other players who I think are likely to make it through are Somdev Devvarman, of India, and Jose Acasuso of Argentina. The most interesting match-up in the final round of qualifying is Simone Bolelli against Marsel Ilhan. Should be interesting to see how that shakes out. The only really notable loss was Gaston Gaudio, former champion, who lost pretty easily to Thiago Alves. It's a shame, since he just won a challenger event recently. There are a couple players I was surprised not to see in the draw - Donald Young and Grigor Dimitrov, to name two. But there's so much that could be going on with those guys, it's tough for me to say anything - I'm just sorry that I can't watch them in action.

There should be plenty of other action to enjoy, though. I am very excited.