Roland Garros Crisis Center, Day 2

!Gulbis

[Note: as of around 9.15 a.m. TW time, we have opened an Overflow post. Please use the link below to continue your discussions there - RV.]

Overflow

Good morning. This is today's initial space for discussing the tennis that's happening at the Stade Roland Garros. Given the volume of comments that occur during a Grand Slam tournament, we will also be opening a series of Overflow posts to keep the conversation rolling, and not be held up by TypePad's current limitations. Anyone new should note that the Overflows will not be linked from the tennis.com front page; instead the link to the first one will be provided at the top of the current post.

Today's Order of Play can be found here. Anyone with a ticket for Court Philippe Chatrier has a very strong day lined up; the programme begins at 11.00 a.m. local time (5 a.m. TW time or US Eastern Standard Time) with world number one Dinara Safina versus Anne Keothavong, continues with the other world number one, Rafael Nadal, opening his title defence against the Brazilian qualifier, Marcos Daniel, and throws in Roger Federer's first match (versus a claycourter, Alberto Martin) for good measure. The day ends with a match between two Frenchwomen, Marion Bartoli and Pauline Parmentier. After Amelie Mauresmo's exit yesterday at the hands of Anna Lene Groenefeld, at least the host country is guaranteed a Frenchwoman in the second round.

As ever with a Grand Slam, there are a few intriguing encounters happening on the non-show courts - Simone Bolelli and Tomas Berdych on Court 7, Mischa Zverev and Potito Starace on Court 4 (followed by Janko Tipsarevic and Estoril winner Albert Montanes), and Sabine Lisicki up against Lucie Safarova (Court 6).

As always, enjoy the tennis. The weather forecast for today is fine.

-- Rosangel Valenti