Roland Garros

It ain't easy playing against the cream of the crop

by Paul Myers

Article published on the 2008-06-01 Latest update 2008-06-01 15:58 TU

Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns the ball to France's Paul-Henri Mathieu
(Photo: Reuters)

With all the players reciting the mantra that there are no easy matches at this level, I’ve been getting a tad suspicious.

The second seed Ana Ivanovic emerged from annihilating Petra Cetkovska 6-0 6-0 on Sunday morning to say the scoreline was deceptive.

What’s that?

“Well,” said Ivanovic, “I still had to work hard for every point and you have to fight for everything. Even though someone has lost 6-0 it’s only one set and they can come back.”

This much is true. I witnessed two men’s matches on Saturday in which there were comebacks from two sets to love down.

The most spectacular was Ivan Ljubicic against the Russian fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko.

OK, OK - so there are no easy matches at the top level.

Cue Takanyi Garanganga: He’s playing in the junior boys’ event, and at 17 years and eight months, he only has four months left on the junior circuit before he starts to make his way on the men’s circus.

While hearing his story about leaving his parents back home in Zimbabwe to perfect his talents in the United States, I asked him if there were any easy games at the junior level.

The answer was the same: None. “You’ve got to remember,” he told me, “that the lads playing at Roland Garrros are the cream of the crop from their respective lands.”

Garanganga, who’s from Harare, had just got past the French boy Constantin Belot in two sets.

As the Zimbabwean served at a crucial moment during the first set tie breaker, a roar went up from the crowd on Court Suzanne Lenglen as Michael LLodra was taking on the 19-year-old Latvian Ernests Gulbis.

I asked Garanganga whether he wanted that kind of adulation in a few years.

“Well, yes.” And who knows, he might well get it.

Gulbis at 19 is in his second year on the men’s tour, and he’s destined for big things (top ten).

He has advanced past some pretty good players, such as seventh seed James Blake, to reach his first grand slam quarter final.

He’s also becoming a cult hero in Latvia where tennis has long played second fiddle to the national sporting passions of basketball, football and ice hockey.

Gulbis said that when he hit the top 100, the sports writers started to take notice of his burgeoning prowess. Now he’s into a grand slam quarter final, they’ll sit up indeed.

If he gets past his next adversary, the Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic, the sports writers will have to start fishing out the superlatives.

And of course it won’t be an easy match.