[Almolfuncomma]

Btw, Yuki Bhambri is out with an ankle injury (http://www.indianexpress.com/news/In...st-time/620213). Grigor Dimitrov's not playing right now because of a wrist injury, and same with Henri Kontinen because of an ankle injury.

[u2ZQGC6b]

Harrison and Berankis, however, are playing and both have reached the 2nd round. del Bonis was a surprise casuality...

[rfceicizgm]

Holy crap, Kanepi. I didn't know you'd sunk so far as to be the 10th seed in qualifying.

[Trotoleterm]

IMO, champions of a Slam have earned the right to special consideration- even if they know they're going to get wiped out in the first round- that's their call. Qualification rounds are meant to prove that you belong. IMO champions have already proven that they belong, and have earned the respect of being placed in the main draw. I'm just into honoring our champions.

And as for the example of Borg- HEY, they gave a singles WC to Navratilova not that long ago- and she had barely played any singles at that point, albeit she had played many doubles matches. Borg has gotten some decent seniors tournament results- and IMO is a PERFECT example of having MORE than earned the right (and is still "young" enough, relatively speaking) to a WC at Roland Garros and Wimbledon- he won them enough freakin' times. In any case, you could certainly otherwise place an age limit on Wild Cards for former champions- which I believe golf has done- albeit, yes, the age limit could be younger than for golf.

AND I promise to reconsider this if there are suddenly mobs of former champs demanding to play Slams- albeit this has never happened in the history of tennis.

Back in the day, BTW, for example, Wimbledon gave singles Wild Cards in the 90's to the likes of Ros Nideffer, Kathy Rinaldi, Pam Shriver, Gigi Fernadez, Lori McNeil and Kathy Jordan- all of whom made it to the SF round in singles at Wimbledon ONE time only, except for Pam, who made three Wimbledon singles Semifinals (and obviously some of whom won multiple doubles Wimbledon titles)- but none of whom ever made a Wimbledon singles final, much less won the thing. So, there IS a precedent for Slams demonstrating an Old-Fart policy of honoring players with former excellent records at a given Slam with a Wild Card. Therefore, I don't think that it's too much to ask to do the same for former champions.

P.S. Roger didn't whiff.

[CathBraun]

Men's Qualifying Day 1 Results:

http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/sc...atch/01qs.html

[Almolfuncomma]

Roger with fighting words!

Bien que vaincu par Rafael Nadal ce dimanche en finale du tournoi du Master 1000 de Madrid, Roger Federer s’estime sur la bonne voie avant le début des internationaux de France la semaine prochaine : « J’ai fait du super tennis cette semaine, a déclaré le champion suisse. Il y a une semaine, je me posais plus de questions. Je connaissais les capacités de Rafa sur terre battue. Je suis sur le bon chemin pour Paris. A Roland-Garros, je défendrai mon titre jusqu’au dernier point. Je suis en confiance. Je sais que je peux le faire. Avec ce feeling, c’est plus facile d’aborder un tel tournoi. » http://www.rtl.fr/fiche/5940817939/r...ier-point.html

Translation:
Although beaten by Rafael Nadal this Sunday in the finals of the Masters 1000 tournament of Madrid, Roger Federer feels on track before the start of the French Open next week: "I played great tennis this week," said the Swiss champion. "A week ago, I asked myself many questions. I know the abilities of Rafa on clay. I'm on the right road for Paris. At Roland Garros, I will defend my title to the utmost. I have confidence. I know what I can do. With this feeling, it's easier to start the tournament."


Sounds to me though that he is trying to convince himself more than anyone else...

[Zvmwissq]

lol That's what I was about to say, rabbit.

Seems like he's hoping Rafa will read that and lose some confidence

[Trotoleterm]

lol That's what I was about to say, rabbit.

Seems like he's hoping Rafa will read that and lose some confidence

Problem is, Rafa ain't Andy Murray.

[Smabeabumjess]

Men's Qualifying Day 1 Results:

http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/sc...atch/01qs.html

Jesse Witten over Marcos Daniel 17-15 in the third!

[kilibry]

Men's Qualifying Day 1 Results:

http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/sc...atch/01qs.html

Good day for the American men--Lester Cook was the only casualty.