Nieminen through in four sets to 2nd round at Roland Garros

Mystery virus has hampered game since Australian Open

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In a match that was first postponed and then twice interrupted by rain, Finland's tennis No.1 Jarkko Nieminen eventually came through victorious in his first round encounter with Spain’s Marc Lopez at the French Open, the second Grand Slam event of the season.
      After losing the first set, Nieminen recovered to win 2–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–3.
      The match, originally scheduled for Monday, was first interrupted at 3-3 in the second set, and after a three-hour break on Tuesday afternoon the players came back on court for long enough between the showers to allow Nieminen to take the second and third sets and get to 2-2 in the third, with two break points on Lopez’s service.
     
When matters recommenced on Wednesday, the Finnish left-hander got into his stride quickly and immediately broke Lopez for 3-2 and later took his opponent’s service to love to win the fourth set comfortably 6-3.
      The match lasted 2 hours 47 minutes, though from start to finish it was more like a whole day.
      Nieminen, who is not renowned for the ferocity of his serving, fired down a reasonable eight aces, and his first service went in 74% of the time, but he won no more than 63% of the available points with his first serve. He will also need to tighten up on unforced errors, where he outscored Lopez 35 to 24.
     
In the next round, Nieminen, who is seeded 26th in the tournament, will face the 27-year-old Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello.
      Arguello’s current ATP ranking is 107th, and despite a string of disappointing performances lately, Nieminen is still 26th on the ATP lists. The pair have not met on court before.
     
Rankings are one thing, but staring too intently at them can be misleading.
      Marc Lopez was a lowly 177th in the world, and his recent performances in more modest Challenger Series tournaments have been nothing to write home about, so by rights Nieminen - who has in the past enjoyed some success on the clay surface used at Roland Garros in Paris - should have breezed past him without much trouble.
      It was not quite like that - and certainly not in the first set, where the Finn was comprehensively outplayed.
     
“On Tuesday I played utterly dreadfully until the first rain-break”, Nieminen admitted afterwards. “Fortunately the rains came and I was able to pull myself together. Tuesday evening and the second session after the stoppage was already better tennis all round”, he commented.
      “I have to say I’m quite happy with the way things went today. I had decided to be a different man on court from the one who started the match. And I was”, laughed Nieminen, who also had time during the two-day contest to consult with his personal coach, Joakim Nyström.
      “Yes, plenty of it. On Tuesday I was at the ground from nine in the morning until nine at night. You have plenty of opportunity in 12 hours to think stuff through.”
     
Nieminen was probably relieved at the original postponement, as he came to Roland Garros nursing the after-effects of a high temperature that had prevented him from training at the weekend, and he had requested his first game be on the Monday rather than the opening Sunday.
      He was also doubtless not sorry that he had to face Lopez rather than his original opponent, Nicolas Kiefer of Germany. Kiefer - a former world No.4 and a dangerous unseeded “floater” in the draw - was forced to withdraw with a sore throat.
     
After a splendid start to the year, in which he reached the final in Adelaide and the last eight at the Australian Open in January, Nieminen’s form of late has been anything but encouraging.
      His win on Wednesday was only the third he has recorded in eight matches on clay this season.
      His overall singles won and lost record for the season is now 12-14.
      “I have been dogged by some kind of mystery virus. Normally I would be feeling off-colour maybe one or two times a year, but now in the last four months I have been sick six times”, sighed Nieminen.
      “Right now I feel OK, but for how long, I can’t say.”
      Nieminen reported that after the Paris tournament he plans to fly back to Finland for a thorough medical check-up.
     
If he comes through against the Argentine Arguello, Nieminen will need to be at least 110% fit and at the top of his game to make any impression on his probable third-round opponent, Spain’s Rafael Nadal.
      World No.2 and tournament second-seed Nadal is the reigning champion at Roland Garros, the winner of the title on the past three occasions, and on Wednesday he recorded his 22nd consecutive win in Paris.
      In fact Nadal has never been beaten at the French Open, and the clay court specialist is strongly fancied to make it four titles in a row.
     
A victory for the Finn would be news of global dimensions, not least because on their four previous meetings the Spaniard has emerged on top.
      They last met on clay in Barcelona in 2006, when Nieminen did at least manage to rattle Nadal’s cage and take a set off him. Nadal it was who ended Jarkko Nieminen's promising run at the Australian Open in Melbourne four months ago.
      But Nadal is in the future: Nieminen has to overcome Arguello on Thursday first.
     
Jarkko Nieminen is also taking part in the men's doubles tournament in Paris, with his regular partner Robert Lindstedt of Sweden.
      The pair have enjoyed some success on the doubles circuit, and won their first ATP title in Mumbai last year.
      They open their account against Ivo Minar and Jiri Vanek of the Czech Republic, probably on Friday.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Jarkko Nieminen hires Joakim Nyström as a coach (8.4.2008)
  Efficient Nadal brings an end to Nieminen´s Melbourne campaign (22.1.2008)

Links:
  Jarkko Nieminen at Roland Garros
  ATP: Jarkko Nieminen

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