David Ferrer vs Marcel Granollers

First match on Court Central was between Spaniards Ferrer and Granollers. The match started early (at 10.30) so I missed it. 6-1 6-3 for Ferrer who won the Valencia tournament last week.

Kevin Anderson vs Richard Gasquet

Big server Anderson against Richard Gasquet. As often with Gasquet, I got the feeling he only plays a few points, not the whole match and he has absolutely no game plan. A complete waste of talent.

Anderson wins first set at tiebreak:

Gasquet serves for the second set:

Match point:

Sam Querrey vs Novak Djokovic

8-0 in 28 minutes for Djokovic.
At that moment I just wanted this match to end as quickly as possible, but Querrey suddenly woke up, started to make some returns, kept the ball in the court. He somehow managed to win one game, two games, the second set and then the match! And well, let’s say Djokovic didn’t try a lot.

Djokovic serving for the first set:

Querrey serves for the second set:

Match point:

Sam Querrey’s interview after his victory:

Michael Llodra vs John Isner

Last year, Isner beat Wawrinka, Kunitsyn, Lopez and Ferrer on his way to the semifinals, where he held three match points before losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. This year he lost to Michael Llodra in straight sets 6-4 7-6.
It was my first time watching one of his matches and probably (hopefully) the last time. The only thing he can do is to serve. He was totally unable to keep the ball in the court, and he’s ranked number 11… Spectators should be paid to watch him “playing”.

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That’s it for my Paris Bercy recap. I’ll be there back again next year.
If you’re interested in buying some tickets for Paris Bercy 2013, the tickets are already on sale with some exclusive offers until the 30th of November. All the details here.

Schedule nonsense at Bercy on Day 2: on Court Central (14 500 seats): Chardy, Mathieu and Llodra. On court 1 (300 seats): Dimitrov, Melzer, Cilic, Dolgopolov, Querrey and Verdasco. So as you guessed it, I spent most of the afternoon on Court 1.

Grigor Dimitrov vs Jurgen Melzer

The first match on Court 1: “Baby Fed” Dimitrov against 2010 French Open semifinalist Jurgen Melzer.
Both players had a disappointing season: Melzer’s ranking fell from 8 in 2011 to 30 this year and Dimitrov is around the top 50.

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I’ve spent a few days in Paris for the Bercy Masters. Here’s my day 1 recap. Stay tuned for more pics and videos.

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Enjoy a few videos of Paris Bercy 2011 and stay tuned for more pics and videos!

Roger Federer

By winning his first Paris Bercy title, Federer became the only player to reach the final of all 9 Masters events.
The win also made him the second player, after Andre Agassi, to take titles at both Roland Garros and the Paris Bercy Masters.

Novak Djokovic

Suffering with an ailing shoulder, Djokovic withdrew against future runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals.

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The last Masters 1000 of the season, the BNP Paris Masters starts in about a week. I got the chance to attend the tournament in 2010 and 2011 and I’ll be there again this year, so stay tuned for recaps, pics and videos!

Waiting for the 2012 tournament, here are a few pics and videos of the 2010 tournament won by Robin Soderling.

Robin Soderling

The hard-hitting Swede defeated Simon, Wawrinka, Roddick, Llodra and Monfils to capture his first Masters 1000 title, his sixth career title.

“I don’t have a very good record in finals, and especially here in Paris, but I think a final is that one match you really want to win. I’m really happy that I played well today, and now I’m here winning the title. When I won that last point, I just felt so happy and I felt so relieved. I really wanted to win this match so much.”

Following his win, he reached a career high number 4 ranking.

Soderling has not competed since the 2011 Swedish Open in July 2011 due to injuries and illness and his return to tennis is in doubt.

Gael Monfils

2009 runner-up Gael Monfils qualified for the semifinals after victories over Becker, Verdasco and Murray. He then beat Roger Federer in a three set thriller 7-6 6-7 7-6, but Soderling proved too strong in the final.
Monfils, who was sidelined for several months this year with knee problems, has decided to end his season and won’t play the tournament this year.

Michael Llodra

Llodra, then ranked 34, beat two former Bercy champions, Djokovic and Davydenko, to reach the semifinals in Bercy.
And he was just one point away from the final: he got 3 match points in the 12th game of the final set, but Soderling raced to the net each time for winners.

Novak Djokovic

Winner in 2009, Djokovic lost to Michael Llodra in the third round of the 2010 tournament. One month later he lead Serbia to their first Davis Cup victory.

Nikolay Davydenko

Davydenko won his first Masters 1000 title at Paris Bercy 2006 by defeating Dominik Hrbaty in the final. In 2010, he defeated Thomaz Bellucci and Tomas Berdych before losing to Michael Llodra.

Andy Roddick

Despite his powerful weapons, his serve and forehand, Roddick has never done well at Paris Bercy. In 2010, he lost to Robin soderling in straight sets in the quarterfinals.

In the stands:

Former Roland Garros finalist Magnus Norman and Soderling’s coach at the time:

Larry Stefanski, Andy Roddick’s coach:

Amélie Mauresmo:

Guy Forget and Mansour Bahrami:

More pics and videos of Paris Bercy 2010.

We reported to you back in June that Caroline Wozniacki would launch her own underwear collection, here are a few pics of her new line:

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