I finally find some time to breathe some life into this blog, neglected due to different journalistic assignments that, unfortunately, had nothing to do with Tennis.
But a Grand Slam is a Grand Slam.
It's when Champions write history, and underdogs become heroes.
On Day 2, Federer and Djokovic eased into the second round. It's not the moment to go into detail there.
Day 2 was rather marked by the rise of the almost-forgotten. Those players, who were blessed by nature with incredible talent, but all too often had to give in to injuries.
I am talking about Tommy Haas, Paul-Henri Mathieu and Brian Baker.
Each one of them had career-threatening injuries and several surgeries along the way that kept them out for months, or in the case of Baker, for several years.
The first two have had admirable careers so far. Haas, a former World No.2, is 34 years old now, but when he is in shape, he plays stunning tennis. His 2012 season has been quite good so far (semifinal in munich after beating Tsonga and Baghdatis), and now he leads Volandri by 2-1 sets and 4-2 games (play suspended due to darkness).
Haas had to play the evil qualifying rounds here, survived them, and is now one step away from reaching the second round.
Mathieu was another of France's big hopes many years ago. Thanks to his brutal forehand he almost made it into the Top 10 back then. In 2006, he played one of the all-time great matches in French Open history against Rafael Nadal, losing in four tight sets.
Now he returns in style from a long injury lay-off, beating Germany's eternal first-round loser Bjorn Phau in five sets, after being 0-2 down. The atmosphere on Court 2 was amazing as the local crowd carried their hero to victory.
Brian Baker from the USA. What a story. Could become Hollywood material ! I am not gonna tell you about his career history so far. His re-appearance is being hyped so much that you can easily find out about his story on the internet.
After so many years of absence, to beat the veteran Xavier Malisse in straight sets is nothing short of a wonderful accomplishment. Kudos to that, and keep us dreaming Brian!
Tomorrow, Day 3, Rafa time. The king rules.
Twitter: @AtleticoDave
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