French Open 2013

RosyLily

Not long left til the second Grand Slam kicks off! Here's hoping for some surprises and shocks.:)

Starting on a low note though imo. Both Murray and del Potro have withdrawn. Murray's back is still causing pain & Delpo is suffering from bronchial spasm. Both players reached last year's QFs so they'll be losing out on ranking points, 360 points afaik.

So.......Nadal & Serena for the titles??:pac:

Rjd2

Really not excited about this at all, especially the men's side.

Nadal winning this without breaking sweat is an amazing accomplishment but for fans its boring, no tension and that is what sport should be about.

Even a Nadal v Djokovic final doesn't excite me that much, I just want to see someone different in the mix.


Ladies side is a bit more open, but while Serena is an undoubted legend, I can't warm to her and Azrenka is a spoiled brat. I have money on her so I want her to win though:D

The rest? Aggy is in no form, Stosur or Kvitova have not done much recently while Sharpova missed last week because of illness, hope she is ok, actually warmed to her compared to Aza.

RosyLily

Draws were made this morning.

On the men's side, Djokovic and Nadal could meet in the SFs. The Serb will be hoping to win the only Grand Slam that's alluded him so far and David Goffin awaits him in the first round. For me, two players stick out in his quarter- Dimitrov is a potential 3rd round opponent and Haas is lurking further down the draw. Both can give Djokovic a good test and all eyes will be especially on Dimitrov to see if he can pull off another win over The Djoker.
Federer is in the same half as Ferrer & Berdych and could play either of those players in the SFs. He'll begin his campaign for an 18th GS against a qualifier.
Due to Murray's withdrawal, Nadal has been given the #3 seed; the Spaniard will begin the defence of his title against Daniel Brands.

On the women's side, top seeds Serena & Maria are on opposite sides of the draw; Kerber, Aga and Errani are in the American's half of the draw (she won't lose sleep over that I'd say), whereas Azarenka, Li, Stosur and Kvitova are in the Russian's side. Speaking of Maria, she's begin her defence against Su-Wei Hsieh. Kvitova/Stosur could be her QF opponent; she's played each of them twice on clay and won them all.
Serena will be hoping for a better run than last year; she'll play Anna Tatishvili in the opening round. Her recent form has been unbelievable and she's the overwhelming favourite for the title. In about 15 days, we'll probably be seeing Serena lifting the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen...unless someone pulls off a surprise.
Azarenka will be hoping for a better result than last year when she was beaten in straights by Cibulkova. She can go a step towards a calendar GS but it's doubtful.

One particular match that catches the eye is Laura Robson vs. Caroline Wozniacki in the first round. Woz has been having a horrible run of results and Robson likes to collect big name scalps! I wouldn't bet against Laura adding another to her collection.

yerwanthere123

Easy draw for Serena, it's really up to her now. Potential banana skin in the quarter finals against Kuznetsova, apart from that I wouldn't be worried. I think she may struggle in the first week, but if she gets to the second week she'll win it.

On the mens side, I really hope we see a surprise of some form. Dream situation would be Tsonga to get his first grand slam title. In reality though I can't see past Rafa steamrolling his way through the draw for a record 8th title.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

RosyLily wrote: »

One particular match that catches the eye is Laura Robson vs. Caroline Wozniacki in the first round. Woz has been having a horrible run of results and Robson likes to collect big name scalps! I wouldn't bet against Laura adding another to her collection.

Probably the most difficult R1 draw Woz has had for a while and yet she's lost in R1 quite a lot. Could be another early exit or Laura could flop, she seems to do better as the underdog. Probably the most interesting R1 match up.

yerwanthere123

Yeah I'd say Laura will beat Woz alright... Wozniacki has won just one match throughout the entire clay court season this year!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Will miss Delpo, he's my second fave after Tsonga. Not sure I'll miss Murray much but it is funny that after all the hooha about whether they should change Rafa's seed for him he ends up as the #3 seed anyway.

I see Tomic is in the draw so he must be intending to play. Will be interesting to see what kind of reaction the French crowd give him, they're notoriously rude anyway but given it was a French guy that his dad assaulted they could get ugly. Lucky for him he'll probably be way out on some tiny court and unlikely to progress very far, he's terrible on clay.

RosyLily

Delpo is a big loss; he seems fairly popular wherever he goes and he's good on the clay. Missing RG will hopefully be good for Murray. He's got more points to defend at Wimbledon and clay is not his best surface....even though he spent years in Spain training. BTW, is this the same back injury that's been troubling him since around 2011?

On the bright side for Tomic, his dad won't be there. Could you imagine John's reaction if the French crowd give his son a hard time??

yerwanthere123

RosyLily wrote: »

Delpo is a big loss; he seems fairly popular wherever he goes and he's good on the clay. Missing RG will hopefully be good for Murray. He's got more points to defend at Wimbledon and clay is not his best surface....even though he spent years in Spain training. BTW, is this the same back injury that's been troubling him since around 2011?

On the bright side for Tomic, his dad won't be there. Could you imagine John's reaction if the French crowd give his son a hard time??

Tomic's father may not be there but apparently he's still Bernard's coach behind the scenes

Preliminary schedule for Sunday announced, Serena the only big gun playing.

Yellow Lobster

What a dream draw for Federer, he actually has a chance of winning the French Open if he can find his best form. Djokovic is easily capable of beating Nadal in the semi final and then Federer is capable of beating Djokovic in the final. If Nadal were in half is chances would be non existent.

yerwanthere123

Yellow Lobster wrote: »

What a dream draw for Federer, he actually has a chance of winning the French Open if he can find his best form. Djokovic is easily capable of beating Nadal in the semi final and then Federer is capable of beating Djokovic in the final. If Nadal were in half is chances would be non existent.

I don't agree that Novak is "easily" capable of beating Nadal, but I certainly agree overall that if Novak can indeed take out Rafa, then Roger has a shot at winning. I don't really root for Roger normally but I'd be happy to see him win in Paris, it would throw a real curveball in the mix!

yerwanthere123

Tomorrows order of play
http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/scores/schedule/index.html

yerwanthere123

So weird hearing Serena speak French :pac:

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

She sounded quite good too, proper pronunciation and all. I was enjoying it until Inverdale cut it off.

yerwanthere123

Tough loss for Hewitt, winning five games in a row to bring it back to 5-5, then losing eight points in a row to lose 7-5
Great win for Monica Puig, knocking out Petrova. Hope she gets Madison Keys in the 2nd round, would be an interesting match.

yerwanthere123

Oh Venus

Fiskar

Taped 9 hours of Itv 1 coverage expecting Itv to show the Nadal match. No joy, was it on Itv 4?

How do I get the order of play for Itv and Itv 4 coverage ?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Fiskar wrote: »

Taped 9 hours of Itv 1 coverage expecting Itv to show the Nadal match. No joy, was it on Itv 4?

How do I get the order of play for Itv and Itv 4 coverage ?

I don't think you can? At the early stages of the slams there's so many matches they can't really have a schedule of what they show. I'm sure Nadal was on ITV earlier because at one point the 4 channels I have showing it were all showing Nadal, bar ES2.

RosyLily

Nice win for Monfils, knocking Berdych out! Raging I missed it.:( He's playing Gulbis in the next round. I wonder what Gulbis will show up.
Surprised Wozniacki beat Robson...and in straight sets! Was expecting a more competitive match. Kinda disappointed.
Djokovic-Goffin is 2nd on Chatrier tomorrow. I hope it'll be a good match; Goffin played so well last year.

yerwanthere123

Wozniacki match was surprising, Robson was awful, but Caro also gave nothing away.. a very good match by her. She also doesn't have the toughest draw imaginable, if she finds a bit of form a quarter-final showing isn't completely out of the question.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Yeah Laura was pretty poor. She's not good on clay anyway but she just wasn't there today. Played some really great stuff for the first 4 or 5 games but then just disappeared. Shame for her, she could have gotten a seed for Wimbledon with a better run, tough draw for her really, despite Woz's form she's still a top player.

RosyLily

A good few seeds are gone already: Petrova, Venus, Berdych, Makarova, Monaco, Granollers, Goerges, Paszek, Dolgopolov, Mayer, Wozniacki, Pavy, Zakopalova and Safarova.

Heather Watson played a good match against Voegle. She just couldn't capitalise in the 3rd set, probably begin to tire. Glad to see her back. Another good win for Monfils! He'll play Tommy Robredo for a place in the 4th round. I'd fancy his chances in this match; he'd be feeling good from his wins and has nothing to lose.

Haas-Sock could be one to watch tomorrow. The veteran vs. the up-start. Sock wouldn't be the best on the clay but he had a great win over Garcia-Lopez in R1. He's got really good ground strokes & a decent serve Haas is seemingly invincible- coming back from hip and shoulder injuries that would retire the average player. It's last on Court 2 tomorrow. Hope it'll be shown on tv.

Fiskar

Itv 4 showed a great match with local favorite Monfils v Gulis with Monfils into round 3. Needs to be a killer at the net and play the open court to progress.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

RosyLily wrote: »

Heather Watson played a good match against Voegle. She just couldn't capitalise in the 3rd set, probably begin to tire. Glad to see her back.

Funny how it only took Heather a few weeks to recover from glandular fever, or mono as our American friends call it. It took McHale a few months last year, and Soderling's been out for nearly two years with it!

Fiskar wrote: »

Itv 4 showed a great match with local favorite Monfils v Gulis with Monfils into round 3. Needs to be a killer at the net and play the open court to progress.

Monfils makes me so angry. He expends so much unnecessary energy playing stupid shots and running around like an idiot. He could wrap up matches so much quicker than he does.

_Bella_

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Funny how it only took Heather a few weeks to recover from glandular fever, or mono as our American friends call it. It took McHale a few months last year, and Soderling's been out for nearly two years with it!

.

It's a really strange fever like that. I have on friend who got it over Christmas and was out for 6 weeks and another who got it over two and half years ago and they are still battling it. It seems quite prevalent among tennis players, I wonder if its anything to do with the lifestyle.

The two Monfils matches have been the most enjoyable so far. The big three women have all looked pretty solid so far. On the mens side it was nice to see Goffin raise his game at the French Open again as from what I can gather he hasn't had a great year, I feel really sorry for him with the draw he got seeing as he stood to lose a lot of ranking points. Ferrer seems to be playing very well and I could definitely see him reaching the final if he can play some of his best tennis.

Anyone know off the top of their head who Tsonga is set to meet in the quarters?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

_Bella_ wrote: »

Anyone know off the top of their head who Tsonga is set to meet in the quarters?

I believe it's Federer.

_Bella_

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I believe it's Federer.

That could be interesting, would love to see Tsonga or Ferrer in the final!

RosyLily

Mattek-Sands knocked out Li Na in 3 sets 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Great win for the American. She's got a good chance of reaching the 4th round for the first time. Her next opponent is Paula Ormaechea; they've played once before on clay with Paula winning that. I'd favour Bethanie this time after her big win.

Jankovic-Stosur will meet in the 3rd round, possibly on Saturday. They've played 8 times previously, with Jankovic leading the H2H 6-2. However, they've met twice on clay and have one win each. Last meeting was in Stuttgart this year; Jankovic won in straight sets. Hoping for a good match. Both players look good and haven't really been troubled thus far. Not sure who to favour in this one tbh.

yerwanthere123

RosyLily wrote: »

Mattek-Sands knocked out Li Na in 3 sets 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Great win for the American. She's got a good chance of reaching the 4th round for the first time. Her next opponent is Paula Ormaechea; they've played once before on clay with Paula winning that. I'd favour Bethanie this time after her big win.

Jankovic-Stosur will meet in the 3rd round, possibly on Saturday. They've played 8 times previously, with Jankovic leading the H2H 6-2. However, they've met twice on clay and have one win each. Last meeting was in Stuttgart this year; Jankovic won in straight sets. Hoping for a good match. Both players look good and haven't really been troubled thus far. Not sure who to favour in this one tbh.

I'm really happy for Bethanie, but a bit bemused for Li Na. Are there any lingering injuries still, or has she just been playing poorly recently? Either way, glad for Bethanie, and if she can get past Ormaechea then I'd say she's got a decent shot at the quarter finals. Would be delighted for her if she did! Apparently she's after adopting a gluten-free diet too, which is apparently contributing to her resurgence.

Jankovic-Stosur will be interesting, hoping Jankovic can pull off the win! She's been playing so well recently. A lot of good matches tomorrow, hopefully things will get a bit more interesting now. RG has been a bit flat so far, in my opinion

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Jankovic-Stosur will be interesting, hoping Jankovic can pull off the win! She's been playing so well recently. A lot of good matches tomorrow, hopefully things will get a bit more interesting now. RG has been a bit flat so far, in my opinion

That's because even after 5 days of play they haven't gotten past the second round yet! Such a joke this year.

yerwanthere123

Jaysus, I thought Sorana might at least take 4 or 5 games off of Serena
She's seemingly unstoppable!

RosyLily

I don't get why French Open have 3 days of first round matches scheduled! It should put them on 2 days like Wimbledon. Then if the weather is dire, nobody panics. Having 1R over 4 days due to rain would be disastrous!!

Monfils had 4 MPs against Robredo...lost them all! All square atm, 6-6. TB just starting

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Raging I missed Isner/Harrison earlier. Disappointed with the final score too. Looks like Harry tanked it for 2 sets.

RosyLily

The two matches I was most looking forward to tomorrow (Djokovic-Dimitrov and Jankovic-Stosur) are the matches on last on Chatrier and Lenglen!!!:mad::mad:

Stupid family gathering!!!:mad:

Edit: Don't like the blonde hair on Aga. Hope she changes back.

Rjd2

Looking forward to Stan v Jerzy myself and seeing if Nishi can do the near impossible and beat Paire:eek:

yerwanthere123

That down-the-line slice winner by Sharapova was beautiful. Hilarious to think how adept she is at playing on clay now

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Rjd2 wrote: »

Looking forward to Stan v Jerzy myself and seeing if Nishi can do the near impossible and beat Paire:eek:

Nishi did it. Paire showed quite a bit of his old self there, couching violations, shouting at the umpire, being an all round mental case. Still. He showed a lot more focus for the most of his matches. Interesting to see how he goes from here.

walshb

Just heard that Rafa and Novak will meet in the semis if both progress. That's great. Can't wait.

RosyLily

Mattek-Sands is through to her first R16 at Roland Garros. She earlier beat Ormaechea in 3 sets 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. Bethanie will play either Kirilenko or Voegele next; could well be Maria as she just took the first set on a TB.

French hope Bartoli lost in straight sets (6-2, 6-1) to 2010 champion Schiavone. Ouch! The Italian will play Azarenka next, who didn't look great in her match earlier today. Frankie could get a win over her.

messinkiapina

walshb wrote: »

Just heard that Rafa and Novak will meet in the semis if both progress. That's great. Can't wait.

I thought the semis would be 1st seed vs 4th and 2nd vs 3rd?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

messinkiapina wrote: »

I thought the semis would be 1st seed vs 4th and 2nd vs 3rd?

The top 2 seeds are put in the draw first in separate halves. The #3 and #4 seeds are drawn randomly next. So it's random which half they end up in. Could get 1 vs 3, 2 vs 4 or 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3.

Rjd2

Its been an underwhelming start to the week sadly for me, Monfils to his credit provided a lot of entertainment and surprises but not much else really.

Lets be honest, Nadal and Djokovic is a nailed on semi and I can't see Tsonga beating Federer, maybe Almagro or the fast improving Anderson can defeat Ferrer.

Women's side has been dull but at least their is a few possible upsets on the cards, Azarenka or Maria could be beaten and if the Gods on her side, maybe and its a small maybe Vinci could trouble Serena.

Lets hope next week is more exciting.:)

2lazytogetup

Fogini and Monfils are the interesting characters, as usual.

The death of Nadal has begun.

With Djoko injured, and Federer a geriatric, my money is on Tsonga.

yerwanthere123

Serena to face Kuznetsova in the quarters, that will be a tricky one. If Serena can win then the title is surely hers.

Rjd2

Almagro so much more natural ability than most, but no bottle. Mental midget.

Well done Robredo on beating him but I can't see how he beats Ferrer.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Rjd2 wrote: »

Almagro so much more natural ability than most, but no bottle. Mental midget.

Well done Robredo on beating him but I can't see how he beats Ferrer.

Oh. I guess what I'm looking at on Setanta isn't live?

Have to think that the Tsonga/Federer (presumably) QF will be the one to watch, and probably winner of that makes F?

RosyLily

Would love to see Kuznetsova take to Serena in the QFs...maybe even beat her. Svetlana has only won 2 of her 8 matches against Serena, but they are 1-1 on clay and they haven't played each other since 2009. I hope it's a good match; women's side has been a bit meh for me.

John.Icy

Feds lost this game. His head seems gone. Won't recover. Only 3rd set and Simon only one break up, but I can just feel that's Feds gone. Can he recover!?!

Pity. Tsonga will flippin trounce Simon.

Sincerely hope I'm wrong but I dunno...seems nervous after the fall.

John.Icy

Can't believe what I'm seeing after that first set!

Fed has self destructed...and Simon is free to look very good.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I hate Simon.

On the one hand I'd rather Jo didn't have to play Federer, but on the other I hate Simon!

Radwanska/Ivanovic probably won't get on tonight, or won't get finished, unless Simon runs away with this in the 4th.

RosyLily

Federer/Simon match is going pretty quickly. 4 sets finished and they've only been on court for a little over 2 hours.