Game, set and match Djokovic: 6-2, 7-5, 6-2
The beginning of the game is interrupted by the crowd doing a Mexican wave, while being applauded by Nieminen to the amusement of the umpire. And you thought Wimbledon had a monopoly on well-to-do people laughing at things that aren’t particularly funny, eh?
The match passes the two-hour mark just as Djokovic makes it 30-30 and he earns a break point as Djokovic completely miss-hits a forehand from the baseline, sending the ball spinning into the top tier of the stand, from where a chap in the front row came perilously close to exiting in the grisliest possible manner as he attempted to catch it. Djokovic earns himself a second match point with a volley from the net and then advances to the second round through another long baseline shot from Nieminen. Djokovic wins 6-2, 7-5, 6-2, while his opponent returns to the dressing room having entertained the crowd and hit another couple of shots that ought to make his showreel.
Third set: Djokovic 5-2 Nieminen* (sets: 3-0)
“Trente, quarante,” announces the umpire, heralding Djokovic’s first match point. Nieminen saves it to restore “egalite”, then nicks an advantage that Djokovic cancels out with more merciless punishment of the Finn’s unbelievably weak second serve. He attempts to win the match second time around with an audacious drop-shot from the base line that ends up in the net. Nieminen laughs and waves a fist in faux triumph. He survives another break point, takes the advantage and wins the game with a cheeky backhand volley from an impossibly tight angle that prompts more applause from the crowd and another beaming grin from Nieminen. Djokovic will serve for the match.
Third set: *Djokovic 5-1 Nieminen (sets: 2-0)
Djokovic zooms into a 40-0 lead, before winning the game when Nieminen sends another one needlessly long. He’ll have appreciated the work-out he’s been given today by a rival who’s refused to give up, but hasn’t troubled him unduly apart from threatening effort in the second set. Djokovic’s response was ominous, it must be said, but this has not been a tennis match into which too much should be read.
Third set: Djokovic 4-1 Nieminen* (sets: 2-0)
Nieminen wins to love to make it 4-1. Good on him.
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Third set: *Djokovic 4-0 Nieminen (sets: 2-0)
Nieminen might be going down, but he’s going down swinging haymarkers. After an exchange at the net at 15-15, he was lobbed by Djokovic but managed top sprint back towards the baseline and play a passing shot through his legs. Sadly it passed into the tramlines to make it 30-15 to Djokovic, but his heroic effort in the face of almost certain defeat earns him Jarkko a well-deserved round of applause from all present. Djokovic closes out the game.
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Third set: Djokovic 3-0 Nieminen* (sets: 2-0)
Some exquisite drop-shottery from Djokovic bamboozles Nieminen, who saves a break point to make it deuce with a fine backhand winner. He gifts Djokovic another break point, sending a shot long, but rescues himself again. Not for the first time in this game, Djokovic screams with the anguish of a man who has somewhere else he needs to be. He wins advantage and takes the game at the third opportunity: 3-0.
Third set: *Djokovic 2-0 Nieminen (sets: 2-0)
A belting forehand from the Finn makes it 15-15 and he soon finds himself 15-40 ahead, but once again the dogged Djokovic claws his way back and takes advantage and then the game, when his opponent hits long. Without wanting to sound patronising, this is a spirited effort from Nieminen on a surface that quite clearly isn’t his forte, but he simply isn’t good enough for a man of Djokovic’s powers. There’s no shame in that, of course - few are.
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Third set: Djokovic 1-0 Nieminen* (sets: 2-0)
Oh dear. Nieminen goes a break down in the opening game of what one suspects might be the final set.
Second set: *Djokovic 7-5 Nieminen (sets: 2-0)
Djokovic is merciless, winning the game to love to win the set 7-5, having been a break down. He’s shown his mettle there and no mistake. This is the klind of play that sorts out the men from the boys. It’s difficult to see Nieminen raising much resistance in the wake of the spirit-sapping experience of Set Two: The One That Got Away.
Second set: Djokovic 6-5 Nieminen* (sets: 1-0)
Bish! Bosh! Bash! Pretty well ... it would seem, as he races into a 40-0 lead, showing some nifty footwork in the process. Djokovic pulls a point back, then another, leaving Nieminen looking disconsolate: 40-30. Djokovic makes hay off another feeble 70mph serve, forcing Nieminen wide to make it deuce and then give himself advantage. He forces the error to win the game and give himself the chance to serve for the second set.
Second set: *Djokovic 5-5 Nieminen (sets: 1-0)
Spare a thought for Nieminen, who looks to have visibly deflated after passing up that opportunity to nick a set from Novak Djokovic. Short of hoisting a white flag of surrender, he couldn’t have put up less resistance in this Djokovic service game. Let’s see how he goes with his serve in this next one ...
Second set: Djokovic 4-5 Nieminen* (sets: 1-0)
Djokovic breaks back. He doesn’t make life easy for himself, fluffing his third second service return of the match to send Nieminen 30-0 up. (Trust me, those second serves are seriously slow). He makes it 30-30 and plays some wonderful defence to force the error from Nieminen at the end of one of the longest rallies of the game to give himself break point. Boom! Another long rally later, he takes it and I suspect we may not be hearing much from Mr Nieminen from this point on. That was quite the slap-down for his impertinence of that earlier service break.
Second set: *Djokovic 3-5 Nieminen (sets: 1-0)
Djokovic gets a bad bounce out of a footmark and sends a backhand wide, allowing Nieminen to make it 30-30. Djokovic wins the next and closes out the game with a smash at the net that Nieminen does well to get a racket to, but can’t control. Never mind, he’ll serve for the set.
Second set: Djokovic 2-5 Nieminen* (sets: 1-0)
Nieminen holds serve to go within a game of levelling the match. I must confess, I didn’t see this coming as he looked well out of his depth in the first set.
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Second set: *Djokovic 2-4 Nieminen (sets: 1-0)
Well, this is a turn-up for the books. Djokovic dumps a straightforward volley into the net, putting Nieminen 15-30 ahead. Sensing blood or some manner of upset, the crowd begin a slow handclap, prompting the underdog to smile wryly. He repays their faith with one of the points of the match so far, advancing to the service line, where he returns a wonderful overhead backhand volley before forcing Djokovic long to make it 15-40. Sadly, Djokovic wins three consecutive points, breaking a string in the process of taking the game to advantage. Nieminen restores parity, forcing Djokovic wide before winning the point with a forehand down the wide open court. Djokovic aces and then wins the game at the second time of asking. He’s still a break down.
Second set: Djokovic 1-4 Nieminen* (sets: 1-0)
Riding high on the confidence of having broken Djokovic, Nieminen goes 30-0 up, eventually winning to 15. He’s injected a noticeable and much-needed bit of venom here and leads 4-1 in the second. Let’s see what you’re made of, Novak.
Second set: *Djokovic 1-3 Nieminen (sets: 1-0)
Nieminen earns himself a round of applause for going 15-30 ahead, prompting Djokovic to call for his towel and give himself a wipe down. A bruising, well disguised forehand down the line makes it 15-40 and suddenly the unfancied Finn has two break points. He converts the first of them with a backhand bullet down the line to go a break up in the second set.
Second set: Djokovic 1-2 Nieminen* (sets: 1-0)
Nieminen holds his serve again. Here’s how he reacted to being drawn against Djokovic on his personal website. I’d imagine his actual reaction was slightly more concise and possibly potty-mouthed.
“He has started this season incredible well by winning almost every single tournament,” wrote Jarkko. “His first half of the season must be one of the most convincing ever. Novak is playing better than ever and so far he has been a step or two ahead of other players so obviously it won’t be easy task to challenge him. At the same time it will be fun, I’m always up to challenges and the match will be guaranteed on a sold out stadium which is great. I will go out there, enjoy the moment as much as I can and fight hard. The match will be on Tuesday.”
Second set: *Djokovic 1-1 Nieminen (sets: 1-0)
Another routine service game for Djokovic, whose overhead shots are posing Nieminen all sorts of questions he simply can’t answer.
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Second set: Djokovic 0-1 Nieminen* (sets: 1-0)
Jarkko Nieminen holds serve to get the second set off to a good start. It wasn’t shown on television, as they were visiting other courts to see what’s going on elsewhere. A lot of tennis matches, you’ll be unsurprised to hear. On Court Three, Novak’s compatriot Jelena Jankovic is struggling badly against Bulgaria’s Sesil Karatantcheva in a potential upset.
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*Djokovic 6-2 Nieminen. Djokovic wins the first set
Djokovic serves with the new balls and wraps up the first set without much fuss, with Nieminen netting two and sending his final shot of the set long. First set to Djokovic.
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Djokovic 5-2 Nieminen*
Nieminen loses the first point, sending the ball long and prompting the line judge to shout so loudly that the crowd burst out laughing and Djokovic to look at him quizzically as if to say: “Oi! Mind my eardrums!” The camera cuts to the relevant line judge, who remains completely impassive. At last, some drama! Djokovic breaks to 15 to make it 5-2 and he’ll serve for the first set.
*Djokovic 4-2 Nieminen
Having gone 30-15 up, a rare unforced error by Djokovic sends the ball into the net to make it 30-30. Djokovic goes 40-30 up before winning the game when Nieminen sends a forehand from the baseline a couple of centimetres long.
Djokovic 3-2 Nieminen*
Wonderful play from Nieminen, who performs heroics to reach a Djokovic drop shot and somehow pass his opponent down the line with a wonderful shot. Djokovic applauds his effort, prompting the Finn to raise an arm in triumph and salute the crowd. He holds serve to make it 3-2 in the first set, but remains a break down.
*Djokovic 3-1 Nieminen
Djokovic holds serve, with a superb overhead shot to make it 30-0 the highlight of the game. Having found himself 40-0 down, Nieminen bravely pulled it back to deuce ... then lost anyway. Poor Jarkko.
Djokovic 2-1 Nieminen*
Jarkko Nieminen holds serve to 15. I’m not sure what else to say, really. It’s been a while since I’ve done a tennis game-by-game report and you’ll probably discover there’s a good reason for that in the coming games of this match. Please feel free to mail in your musings on tennis, the French, the meaning of life or anything else that takes your fancy in the hope that we may be able to veer off tangent and enliven proceedings.
*Djokovic 2-0 Nieminen
With two baseline merchants pummelling the ball back and forth here, this match could go on some time before Nieminen’s inevitable defeat. Djokovic is a righty with a double-handed backhand, while Nieminen is a leftie, who also employs a double handed backhand. The Finn takes Djokovic to deuce in his first service game, but hits long to give the Serb advantage. Djokovic needs no second invitation to conlidate his early break.
Djokovic 1-0 Nieminen* (denotes server)
Novak Djokovic has taken to the court wearing an orange T-shirt, black shorts, white socks and white trainers. His Finnish opponent is wearing a lilac T-shirt, with blue and purple patterned shorts,black socks and blue trainers. He’s also sporting a black baseball cap and looks suspiciously like he got dressed for today’s match in the dark. Djokovic breaks his serve at the second time of asking after Nieminen survived a break point.
Some of today's results ...
Mens Singles 1st round
(7) David Ferrer (Spa) bt Lukas Lacko (Svk) 6-1 6-3 6-1
(9) Marin Cilic (Cro) bt Robin Haase (Ned) 6-2 6-4 6-2
Joao Sousa (Por) bt Vasek Pospisil (Can) 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-1
Daniel Gimeno-Traver (Spa) bt Joao Souza (Bra) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 6-4
Jerzy Janowicz (Pol) bt Maxime Hamou (Fra) 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-4 6-4,
Yen-Hsun Lu (Tpe) bt Blaz Kavcic (Slo) 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 6-1 7-5
(23) Leonardo Mayer (Arg) bt Jiri Vesely (Cze) 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 5-7 6-2
(15) Kevin Anderson (Rsa) bt Tim Smyczek (USA) 6-4 6-4 6-2
Jeremy Chardy (Fra) bt Michael Berrer (Ger) 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4
(6) Rafael Nadal (Spa) bt Quentin Halys (Fra) 6-3 6-3 6-4
Womens Singles 1st round
Tereza Smitkova (Cze) bt Taylor Townsend (USA) 6-3 6-4
(18) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt Kiki Bertens (Ned) 6-1 4-6 6-2
Julia Goerges (Ger) bt Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 6-2 5-7 6-1
(4) Petra Kvitova (Cze) bt Marina Erakovic (Nzl) 6-4 3-6 6-4
(32) Zarina Diyas (Kaz) bt Dinah Pfizenmaier (Ger) 6-4 6-1
(5) Caroline Wozniacki (Den) bt Karin Knapp (Ita) 6-3 6-0
Silvia Soler Espinosa (Spa) bt Pauline Parmentier (Fra) 6-4 6-3
(23) Timea Bacsinszky (Swi) bt Lara Arruabarrena (Spa) 6-3 6-4
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Won’t be too long now. Rafael Nadal has just served out his match against 18-year-old French wildcard Quentin Halys to win 6-3, 6-3, 6-4, so we can expect to see Messrs Djokovic and Nieminen out on court shortly.
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Hello everybody. Welcome to our game-by-game coverage of the first round clash between world No1 Novak Djokovic and ageing Finnish superstar Jarkko Nieminen on the orange clay of the Philippe-Chatrier Court at Roland Garros.
Twice a beaten finalist in this tournament, Djokovic will be hoping to take advantage of Rafael Nadal’s surprisingly poor form on clay this season to complete his collection of Grand Slam titles. He begins his campaign against Nieminen, who has only won one match so far this season on clay. This is the sixth meeting between the pair and Djokovic leads their head-to-head series 4-1. Their last meeting was in Monte Carlo last season, when Djokovic won in straight sets.
