Ted Robinson’s Matchpoints

Sunday reaffirmed greatness in men’s tennis. There are three above the rest, far beyond the field and two of them, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic, emphasized that gap in consecutive matches at Roland Garros.

Djokovic methodically dismantled top Frenchman Paul Henri Mathieu. There was terrific crowd support and huge momentum for Mathieu. But after one set, it was clear that he had no weapon with which to hurt Djokovic. Equally, Djokovic has no weakness for a foe to attack.

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Thus, the result was inevitable. And it is just as apparent that Djokovic will be better prepared to fight Nadal if they arrive at their anticipated semi.

Djokovic moves beautifully and is not fazed by clay. As intimidating as Rafa’s RG record can be, Djokovic has an enhanced court presence after joining the ranks of Champions in Australia.

Rafa had a bizarre match with Fernando Verdasco, dominating for a set before rain stopped play in the second game of the second set. After 45 minutes, and 10 minutes after play resumed on the other show court, Nadal sat on his chair, munching bananas and calling for the trainer. Word from courtside was that Nadal felt the footing was not suitable and was simply stalling to give the clay more time to dry.

When play finally resumed, Verdasco barely moved, bothered by a right leg injury. Verdasco’s lack of effort created a phenomenon never before seen at RG — Nadal playing before a crowd no more than 4,000.

This was Rafa, the marquee star of Paris. The undefeated champion of RG who is always scheduled in “prime time,” late afternoon into early evening, was now playing in a quiet arena against a hobbled foe.

The deathly silence carried into the third set, when Verdasco received treatment that allowed him to play with some verve.

The point is that Nadal never wavered in play despite the rain, the court, a hobbled opponent and no energy in the crowd. The man is simply a rock at Roland Garros, winning 25 straight matches losing only 7 sets. In this week’s 4 matches, his foes are holding 30 percent of their service games. That absurd number can’t continue but reflects Nadal’s utter dominance as he enters the final three matches.

What I didn’t know is that the U.S .has the No. 1 seed in the junior girls play, Melanie Oudin. More on her later in the week.

And the Bryans defeated fellow Americans John Isner and Sam Querrey to advance in the men’s doubles.

The regard with which Andy Roddick and his US teammates hold Davis Cup was clear this weekend in Winston-Salem.

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How other great players around the world regard it was also seen in the attitude of Richard Gasquet.

Roddick clinched the tie; he is 10-0 in such matches, with a pulverizing straight set win over Paul-Henri Mathieu. The American closer, every bit as strong in that role as Mariano Rivera has been in baseball, never gave the French any hope.

His win pushed the US into the semi-finals, a road tie in Spain. And Andy addressed that tie in a post-match interview heard by the entire arena, “Even though Spain may put down a surface that is not to my strength, I guarantee one thing: I will be there.”

In contrast, we offer Gasquet. Wildly talented and equally erratic in mind, Gasquet came to North Carolina in a slump, and appeared disinterested in playing after experiencing the quick indoor court in practice.

After the Clement-Llodra doubles win Saturday, captain Guy Forget was seen in an animated conversation with Gasquet. A psychic was not needed to understand the purpose of this chat: to play or not to play, that was the question Gasquet had to answer.

Forget said he provided the answer on Friday, that Gasquet did not inspire any confidence from Forget that the player wanted the assignment.

But now France had a live Sunday with Mathieu, dispirited from his 5-set loss to James Blake, and a fatigued Llodra who would be challenged to play well on three consecutive days.

Gasquet practiced Saturday night and again Sunday morning. But it was decided that Mathieu would oppose Roddick and, if France produced an upset, that Gasquet would play the fifth match.

Roddick rendered the fifth match irrelevant. But the real point was the coercion needed to get Gasquet on the court.

It’s been a recurring theme in Gasquet’s life, and we won’t play amateur psychologist but we hope somehow a player with Gasquet’s skills can achieve some strength of mind. But Davis Cup should be an honor, not an obligation or burden.

For that, Roddick, as well as Blake, Mardy Fish and the Bryans, should be praised. They play anywhere, anytime and utter not a complaint.

Andy wrote another chapter in what is becoming his tennis legacy– his Davis Cup brilliance. Utterly confident, he smashed the No. 12 player in the world, winning his 29th Cup match, just one behind Andre Agassi for 2nd on the U.S. list.

Although they all know that clay and Rafael Nadal await them in September, this U.S. team will not need any persuasion to get them on the plane or in their clay-court shoes.