French Open 2015

RosyLily

French Open kicks off next Sunday. Draws will be made on Friday. Qualifying begins on Tuesday. Djokovic and Federer are seeded #1 and #2 respectively in the men's. Williams and Sharapova are top seeds in women's draw.

Wildcards for Men's Singles: Quentin Halys (FRA), Maxime Hamou (FRA), Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS), Nicolas Mahut (FRA), Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA), Lucas Pouille (FRA), Edouard Roger-Vasselin (FRA), Frances Tiafoe (USA)

Wilcards for Women's Singles: Louisa Chirico (USA), Océane Dodin (FRA), Fiona Ferro (FRA), Amandine Hesse (FRA), Mathilde Johansson (FRA), Alizé Lim (FRA), Virginie Razzano (FRA), TBC

I'll be keeping a very close eye on where Nadal ends up in the draw. Might even watch the draw live!:)

the_monkey

Is James McGee playing in the qualies?

RosyLily

He's not on the list for qualifying here. Can't find the official draw on the FO's website. His last tweet yesterday said he was excited for Roland Garros.

He's hardly straight into the main draw, is he??

the_monkey

RosyLily wrote: »

He's not on the list for qualifying here. Can't find the official draw on the FO's website. His last tweet yesterday said he was excited for Roland Garros.

He's hardly straight into the main draw, is he??

Doubt it , he's outside top 128, unless he got a wild card ...here's hoping

yerwanthere123

Didn't know there was a thread, you should have told us Rosy! :pac:

Just gonna quote my own post from the main thread

Can't believe RG is next week, haven't even had time to think about it. What are our predictions? I'm not seeing it for Serena on the women's side, she hasn't played enough on clay and didn't even win a title on the surface this year. It's hard to imagine who she might lose to, but I think she'll slip up. Then again, if she does win she'll be three-quarters of the way towards another Serena Slam, so she should be motivated. All in all though, I think we're headed towards another Sharapova victory. She hasn't had a very good clay season thus far by her high standards, but she righted the ship in Rome, albeit with a very easy draw. I think she'll will her way to another victory and clinch grand slam #6, provided of course she avoids Serena. Halep can win if she avoids both Serena and Sharapova, but that's a tall order. Carla Suarez-Navarro is in terrific form right now so she's a dark horse. Muguruza was my wildcard pick to win it at the beginning of the year, although she's had a pretty measly clay season thus far, so it's hard to see here doing too much. Hope I'm wrong though.

On the men's side, I'm going for a Nadal victory. Yes I know he's not in form, but he'll be playing at the tournament where he's only ever lost one match and the conditions suit his game best. He'll probably have a scrappy first week, maybe dropping a couple of sets, but I can easily see him playing himself back into form. Will be extremely difficult, perhaps more so mentally, for anyone to beat him over a best of 5 sets format. If/when he gets to the second week, I think he'll be back in business. So yeah, I think he'll win #10. At the very least I think he'll get to the final. I'd love to see Murray do something incredible on the clay, but obviously difficult to see him winning. Would love to see him reach the final though.

Also, completely forgot that Fed is the #2 seed. Can't see him reaching the final at all, so it would be fascinating to see who makes the final from the bottom half if Nadal is in the top with Djokovic.

StillIntact

the_monkey wrote: »

Doubt it , he's outside top 128, unless he got a wild card ...here's hoping

McGee wouldn't have got a wildcard but he must be in the qualifying draw. The official website is worse than useless, according to twitter the draw will be on there shortly!

It looks to be McGee against James Ward in the first round.

Cannot post links yet but it is the official site /en_FR/draws/index.html

yerwanthere123

James McGee vs James Ward in R1 of RG qualies.

StillIntact

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

James McGee vs James Ward in R1 of RG qualies.

First on Court 16 tomorrow

RosyLily

Tough opener for McGee. I thought he'd be seeded for FO qualifying since he's played so well past few months.

StillIntact

RosyLily wrote: »

Tough opener for McGee. I thought he'd be seeded for FO qualifying since he's played so well past few months.

He's had some good results but he really needs to break into the top 150 and maybe a little higher to be seeded in qualifying. It's certainly possible given the last number of months and performances.

Ward can be dangerous on clay like in the Davis Cup against the USA but in terms of seeds it's an ok draw. He could have faced a number of the opponents he has lost to on clay in recent weeks and months.

the_monkey

Ward wins 1st set 6-1 ... seems a tough match .
best of 3 ?

StillIntact

the_monkey wrote: »

Ward wins 1st set 6-1 ... seems a tough match .
best of 3 ?

Yes, best of 3. McGee has responded well in the second set though!

the_monkey

bummer ... 4-0 to Ward in the decider ..

RosyLily

6-1, 1-6, 6-0 to Ward.:( Seriously topsy-turvy match.

the_monkey

Shame, Irish tennis really needs some initiative .. all this GAA bollix

StillIntact

Looking at the main draw it's going to be very interesting to see where Nadal is seeded. For me Djokovic is the favourite as Nadal's form over the last few months and particularly the clay court swing is nothing like other years.

As for Irish tennis it is an achievement to have somebody approaching the top 150 in the world! If McGee could qualify for Wimbledon it would give a major boost.

walshb

Worth a quick read to nail home just how great a player and competitor Federer is

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2015/05/20/Roland-Garros-Federer-Stats.aspx

whiterebel

Raonic out injured. C'mon Fed, just one more.....

StillIntact

whiterebel wrote: »

Raonic out injured. C'mon Fed, just one more.....

The draw has increased Federer's chances being on the opposite side to Nadal and Djokovic. Potential Nadal v Djokovic quarter and Murray is in the same half of the draw! Great chance too for Nishikori or Berdych to get to the final.

Serena v Azarenka in the 3rd round.

walshb

Fed has no chance against Nadal. He has some chance against Nole.

StillIntact

I don't think he was any chance against Djokovic either and if Wawrinka was in top form I would back him to beat Federer.

walshb

StillIntact wrote: »

I don't think he was any chance against Djokovic either and if Wawrinka was in top form I would back him to beat Federer.

You could be right. I just think that his style matches up better against Nole. Last week's loss to Nole was as much Roger being flat as it was Nole being very good.

yerwanthere123

So disappointed Murray got top half! I don't believe Federer is going to get to the final on the bottom, huge chance for Wawrinka, Nishikori or possibly even Berdych here.

RosyLily

A potential Halep-Sharapova SF?:) It would be great if it lived up to last year's final. That match was one of my favourites of 2014! Friends who don't even watch tennis were engrossed in it.

The top halves in men's and women's seem really seed-heavy to me. Nadal, Murray, Djokovic, Ferrer all on one side. Wasn't expecting that tbh. Williams Sisters, Petkovic, Azarenka, Errani and Wozniacki in women's. Could make for some great early round matches though!

Not expecting much from Bouchard this time round. She could be taken out by Mladenovic in the first round. Or Kuznetsova/Pliskova might knock her out.

Any particular match-ups people are looking forward to?

RosyLily

Order of play for tomorrow.Coverage begins at 9.30am on ITV4 and Eurosport. Radio Roland Garros is also on the air.

RosyLily

No real surprises on Day 1. Majority of seeds are through to Round 2.

Federer and Wawrinka not impressed though. A fan jumped onto court for a selfie with Roger. You'd think security at Slams would be very tight. Obviously not the case.

The official RG website had an article up more about Wawrinka's personal issues than his current form.

Floppybits

Bit of a dull start to the tournament. The Stephens vs Venus Williams match might be one to watch today.

RosyLily

Radwanska beaten by Beck in 3 sets. The slump continues.

yerwanthere123

First grand slam R1 loss since the Australian Open 2009. Oh dear. I wonder if this is just a rough patch or if she's done?

RosyLily

Maybe she's just drained, emotionally and mentally. Aga doesn't seem to have that magic touch anymore. She should take a long break from tennis and get herself together.

StillIntact

Otherwise it's been largely as expected so far. I'm not a fan of splitting the first round over three days, it takes longer for the tournament to gain momentum.