Incredible Clash at Roland Garros

If you want a tough match to watch at Roland Garros, we'll give you one you are certainly not going to forget. At least that's how the clash between Safin and Gonzalez is being announced by tennis experts. The 26-year old Russian will face the most challenging performance of his 2006 season, when he will set up another match against Chilean Fernando Gonzalez.

After a pretty easy first round for both players, they will surely give the French crowd something to cheer for in the second round. As Marat Safin is concerned, he seems to have the upper hand on the Chilean. Mostly because he has a winning record over him (2-0) in their past confrontations. Still, none of that happened on clay, so Gonzalez is pretty sure he's going to finally break the ice at Roland Garros.

And it could happen, since Safin did not have a great season so far. Most of the tournaments he has played in ended with one ore two-rounded participations. On the other hand, since the clay season started a couple of months ago, Fernando Gonzalez only lost to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. So, it's very likely that his experience on this surface will help him reach the 3rd round in the French capital.

"I have nothing to lose. He's the seeded one, so it's extra pressure for him and I hope I can use this to my advantage. He probably doesn't want to play me. So it will be an interesting match and I hope I have a chance", said Safin before the game. Considering the fact that the Chilean is a very good clay-court player, Safin will really have to work hard for a win.

Let's see how some of the seeded players managed to keep in touch with the Frech tournament so far:

J. Blake - P. Srichaphan 6-0, 6-4, 7-6
N. Davydenko - V. Spadea 7-5, 6-4, 6-4
C. Moya - J.A. Martin 7-5, 6-3, 6-3
D. Nalbandian - S. Wawrinka 6-2, 7-6, 6-4
N. Kiefer - J. Melzer 7-6, 6-3, 6-1
J. Acasuso - F. Santoro 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 1-6, 11-9
N. Massu - X. Malisse 6-1, 7-5, 1-6, 4-6, 9-7