Can you believe that there is pro-tour level tennis being played this week? Does anyone really need more clay court preparation? I feel like I could get through some qualifiers, with all the tennis I’ve been watching, lately!

Andreas Seppi played in Portschach today (after going down to Roger in Hamburg on Saturday) and WON in three sets against Ernests Gulbis. How’s that for being match tough?

Besides the tourny in Austria (click here for Kolya’s blog from Portschach), there are ATP events in Casablanca (Tsonga, Aynoui) and Duesseldorf (something called the World Team Cup featuring big names like Blake, Berdych and Ferrer.) Why, may I ask, did Ferrer play this week? He looked weary enough in Hamburg, losing to Verdasco in the third round. Then he plays Kohlschreiber in Dusseldorf and gets thumped 6-1, 6-0. That’s not preparation, that’s stupid! Relax David, you’ve earned it.

Speaking of weary bodies, it looks like Andy Roddick’s pulled from the French with a shoulder injury. This is really sad news considering how well he was playing on clay and how much momentum he’s been building up since the beginning of the year. Get well soon, Andy!

The women are also wearing themselves thin, playing this week in Istanbul (Dementieva, Radwanska) and Strasbourg (Bartoli, Peer). Not surprisingly, the Williamses, Maria and the Serbs are all taking this week off after a bruised and battered showing in Rome.

I too, am taking a (blogging) break this week, since I’ll be out of town and fairly unconnected to all things tennis. But please continue to check in for Roland Garros themed videos-of-the-day!

Tomorrow we’ll start with some highlights from last year’s men’s final.

À bientôt!