French Open 2018

lostcat

Hello
Mens Draw:

https://www.rolandgarros.com/en-us/results/1?type=SM

some Nadal fella looks to have a reasonable draw and has a decent shot at making the 3rd round......

lostcat

proper link to draw (I hope)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_French_Open_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_Singles#Draw

Chivito550

Only 2 lads who have a chance of beating him (Zverev and Thiam) are in the one quarter on the opposite side of the draw. If one of them played him in the quarters you’d think maybe, but in a final you just know they’d bottle it on the big occasion and lose 6-1 6-3 6-2.

Nadal to romp home unfortunately.

Boring.

jr86

Yeah looks like nothing to see here really, given his draw Nadal should canter this and probably won't even drop a set

Maybe two sub plots of note, can Zverev break his QF duct and can Novak make a manageable semi?

Floppybits

If Djokovic can find some form in the early rounds he could win this. Slams give players who are out form time to come into some form. We seen glimpses in Rome.

lostcat

Floppybits wrote: »

If Djokovic can find some form in the early rounds he could win this. Slams give players who are out form time to come into some form. We seen glimpses in Rome.

I don't think he is fit enough, and his serve doesn't currently look reliable enough to ensure he wont see a few early dragged out matches. He certainly isn't the player at this stage who can throw in a 4.5 hour 5 set fourth rounder and just plough on.

If he does get past the first week, not many will fancy meeting him though.

I still cant fully grasp that if Nadal wins this he moves to 17 slams, once upon a time when Federer had 17 it looked unsurpassable...

RosyLily

Ostapenko lost the first set to Kozlova. 3 all in the second. She's almost to 40 UFEs already. Ostapenko hits a great shot....then follows it up with a howler.

RosyLily

Defending champion Ostapenko is out. Beaten 7-5, 6-3 by Kozlova.

mickmackey1

Osty is such a basket case, gone already.

mickmackey1

lostcat wrote: »

I still cant fully grasp that if Nadal wins this he moves to 17 slams, once upon a time when Federer had 17 it looked unsurpassable...

Having nearly twice as many on clay as the other surfaces combined makes it looks very skewed though.

yerwanthere123

Presumably OP forgot to link the women's side of the draw, so here it is :pac:

Oh Alona I wasn't expecting her to defend her title or anything but I thought she'd make it past the first Sunday!

Alona and Venus gone from that section, great news for Azarenka if she's up to it. Path is pretty clear until the QF's.

Rjd2

https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/44266035

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Rjd2

https://twitter.com/simonrbriggs/status/1000789293642780673

Dire comments from Konta. This is elite sport and her form recently and long term on clay has been absolutely wretched. Letting it get her down so much is worrying for any of her fans.

Rikand

So many withdrawals in this tournament already. The Lucky loser is extremely well represented in the draw

yerwanthere123

Rjd2 wrote: »

https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/44266035

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Ha. Konta is hopeless on clay. Been pretty bad all year, ranking will drop even further after Wimbledon.

mickmackey1

Out goes Azarenka...

Pistachios & cream

mickmackey1 wrote: »

Out goes Azarenka...

Not too surprised, Azarenka was never that good on clay and Siniakova is a good player who's id expect to get through the first round against mot opponents.

yerwanthere123

ahayes84 wrote: »

Not too surprised, Azarenka was never that good on clay and Siniakova is a good player who's id expect to get through the first round against mot opponents.

Well she's not bad on the surface either, a RG semi-finalist previously. She should easily be beating the likes of Siniakova, lack of match play is the problem.

Really cool story from yesterday, Krygios' withdrawal freed up a spot in the draw, and with most already far away from Paris the only one could make it back on the day was Marco Trungelliti... who was in Barcelona! Him, his brother, mother and grandmother made the nine hour drive back to Paris and arrived at ten minutes to midnight, to play Tomic at 11.30 in the morning.

https://twitter.com/FueBuena/status/1000857211873251330

It's a match he should be losing, but he's serving for it now!

jr86

We can't be far away from Tomic completely packing it in surely

From the outside it would seem he'd be better off too

lostcat

jr86 wrote: »

We can't be far away from Tomic completely packing it in surely

From the outside it would seem he'd be better off too

well, he still made 40k this week, around 39.25k more than I made..

mickmackey1

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

the only one could make it back on the day was Marco Trungelliti... who was in Barcelona!

He's just got demolished in the 2nd round but a worthwhile trip alright!

Gwynplaine

They may as well just give Nadal the trophy.

yerwanthere123

Great to see another closely contested Nadal match at RG. I eagerly await his progress through the draw.

Joe_ Public

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Great to see another closely contested Nadal match at RG. I eagerly await his progress through the draw.

One of the tournament tips in the Racing Post last week was for Nadal to win the title conceding 70 games or less I think it was, at even money or thereabouts. Thats just an average of 10 games per round which seemed a bit ambitious to me, but he'll still be on track after this anyway.

jr86

Wawrinka out of the top 200.

Is that the end of him I wonder?

He'll get enough wildcards I guess but given his attitude in non-slams over the years he never really struck me as someone who would graft all year round. Lets see I guess

I'm still amazed he has 3 slams tbh

yerwanthere123

Dimitrov flopping at a slam again

mickmackey1

Sasha squeaks through in 5. He's a million miles from challenging Nadal in this form, the difference between the fast clay in Madrid and the RG treacle is stark.

Djoker in a dogfight against RBA, I don't think he'll have the stomach for the battle.

Rjd2

mickmackey1 wrote: »

Sasha squeaks through in 5. He's a million miles from challenging Nadal in this form, the difference between the fast clay in Madrid and the RG treacle is stark.

Djoker in a dogfight against RBA, I don't think he'll have the stomach for the battle.

Dnazo blew it sadly.

Svitolina gone, another Slam she has underwhelmed in.

mickmackey1

mickmackey1 wrote: »

Djoker in a dogfight against RBA, I don't think he'll have the stomach for the battle.

Thankfully I gave up gambling a while ago

jr86

Could be a turning point for Zverev in slams. Grinded out 2 wins now in tough 5 setters.

I don't see him going too much further here but it could certainly add the steel he needs going forward to win ugly which is crucial for winning slams

yerwanthere123

Svitolina still useless at the slams then

Rikand

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Svitolina still useless at the slams then

Cant get used to the longer format of the games

lostcat

jr86 wrote: »

Could be a turning point for Zverev in slams. Grinded out 2 wins now in tough 5 setters.

I don't see him going too much further here but it could certainly add the steel he needs going forward to win ugly which is crucial for winning slams

Can't see him being fit to wag here by the time he meets Thiem.
Djokovic building nicely here, to my slight surprise

mickmackey1

Kvitova knocked out again. For a player with so much ability and so many titles, her Slam record is dreadful.

Rjd2

I said it in the other thread, she won't go far for numerous reasons. Kontaveit in great form was always a danger today.

Pistachios & cream

And pliskova out. Just need Serena to beat Görges for a Sharapova/Serena 4th round match.

Rjd2

LOL at all those who said Rafa would not be tested before the final.:pac:

Gasquet really putting him under pressure right now, definitely could go either way.:P

Hunchback

Well, he's got a few games under the belt now and at least appears to be loosening up!

Rjd2

Hunchback wrote: »

Well, he's got a few games under the belt now and at least appears to be loosening up!

My muck post seems to have jinxed him for the better.:pac:

RosyLily

Williams-Goerges just starting.

Pleasantly surprised with how Djokovic has played. Wasn't expecting that...he seems to be finding his form at the right time.

Rjd2

RosyLily wrote: »

Williams-Goerges just starting.

Pleasantly surprised with how Djokovic has played. Wasn't expecting that...he seems to be finding his form at the right time.

Julia looks slightly overwhelmed by the aura of Serena tbh. Serena clearly vulnerable, but not really sure Julia has the stones to get it done.

Berens a lot of people's dark horse a set down by Kerber in what is a very close match so far. Winner plays Garcia:o

RosyLily

Women's side is more interesting. Muguruza looked in great form - the past two matches in particular!! A definite favourite along with Halep and Kerber imo.

BarryD2

Rjd2 wrote: »

Julia looks slightly overwhelmed by the aura of Serena tbh.

I increasingly find Serena's on court attitude to be distasteful - over past 2-3 years. She doesn't show much respect for her opponents in her body language. Sort of alternates between slouching and prowling around. Not even clear if she's enjoying it.

That said, lots of fans still seem to like her. Not my cup of tea though.

Rikand

BarryD2 wrote: »

I increasingly find Serena's on court attitude to be distasteful - over past 2-3 years. She doesn't show much respect for her opponents in her body language. Sort of alternates between slouching and prowling around. Not even clear if she's enjoying it.

That said, lots of fans still seem to like her. Not my cup of tea though.

It's her against the world out on the tennis court

Rjd2

Rikand wrote: »

It's her against the world out on the tennis court

It works for her to be fair!:pac:

I am torn on Serena here, it would be amazing if she won this, but tbh it would also would not reflect well on the ladies side that someone could just rock up as cold and Serena and win such a tough Slam. Thankfully I don't think she will win:P

yerwanthere123

Wow, the women's last 16 is so strong. Same with the men's actually.

Still haven't watched a single match in full, will be off Monday and Tuesday so hopefully then. As inevitable as the results tend to be, I'm still look forward to Serena-Sharapova matches. If there's any hope left for Sharapova ever beating Serena, it'll certainly be extinguished for good if she loses Monday. And even if she does beat her, would it even really matter? Sharapova's been dominated pretty much in every way anyone can be dominated, and this win would always be asterisked by Serena's return from pregnancy. It'd be really cool just to see it happen though, I didn't follow tennis back in 2004 so I've never seen it. I had just started secondary school when it last happened!

Hunchback

yerwanthere123 wrote:

Still haven't watched a single match in full, will be off Monday and Tuesday so hopefully then. As inevitable as the results tend to be, I'm still look forward to Serena-Sharapova matches. If there's any hope left for Sharapova ever beating Serena, it'll certainly be extinguished for good if she loses Monday. And even if she does beat her, would it even really matter? Sharapova's been dominated pretty much in every way anyone can be dominated, and this win would always be asterisked by Serena's return from pregnancy. It'd be really cool just to see it happen though, I didn't follow tennis back in 2004 so I've never seen it. I had just started secondary school when it last happened!

I would love to see this happen. And I am a massive fan of both players. ( Some people think you must only like one or the other).

In reality though, I'd expect a comfortable straight sets victory for the legend that is Serena, and assuming she beats Masha, I'd like to see her win the tournament

BarryD2

Hunchback wrote: »

, I'd like to see her win the tournament

It's hard to know at this stage whether she's a force for good or ill in the women's game? To win a tournament match against her, an opponent not only has to out muscle her but also overcome her very considerable force of character and court craft.

Was it this tournament 3 years ago maybe when she faced a young woman in the final who outplayed her brilliantly in the 1st set. Serena then did her slouching and pouting thing, seemed to lull her opponent into a false sense of hope and wham, bam - she went through her like a bull. That was the game when I lost respect for her. Not a fan as you can guess! But I'm sure she hardly cares what the public think.

To some extent it's the same for Nadal and Federer this past couple of years, not the gamesmanship as such but the force of personality and crowd appeal.

RosyLily

Zverev working on his stamina again. He is down 2 sets to 1 against Khachanov and it's going on serve in the 4th.

Thiem making easy work of Nishikori so far. He's up 6-2, 6-0 and it's on serve in the 3rd.

BarryD2

RosyLily wrote: »

Zverev working on his stamina again. He is down 2 sets to 1 against Khachanov and it's going on serve in the 4th.

He looked very good winning the fifth Has he the game and strength of mind to challenge Nadal?

Rikand

BarryD2 wrote: »

He looked very good winning the fifth Has he the game and strength of mind to challenge Nadal?

Nope