2019 French Open

Pighead · 07-06-2019 1:02pm

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Roger is playing well ,backhand is holding up well .
Not sure how Nadal won that first set, Federer played the better tennis.

Played well for the first half of the set but was very passive in the last few games. Thought he would be doing a lot more serving and volleying.

Dirkziggler · 07-06-2019 1:09pm

Pighead wrote: »

Played well for the first half of the set but was very passive in the last few games. Thought he would be doing a lot more serving and volleying.

Doesnt work aswell on the clay as on clay players stand way back of the baseline on receiving so send it long it's alot harder to volley on a heavy clay court with the distance quite far off the net.

Dirkziggler · 07-06-2019 1:11pm

Now go Roger go go go

josip · 07-06-2019 1:11pm

Broke Nadal in the 2nd, 2-0 up and serving.
(That's 5 games to Federer

)

Pighead · 07-06-2019 1:12pm

Dirkziggler wrote: »

Doesnt work aswell on the clay as on clay players stand way back of the baseline on receiving so send it long it's alot harder to volley on a heavy clay court with the distance quite far off the net.

Yeah but he's been doing it all tournament to great effect.

Dirkziggler · 07-06-2019 1:13pm

Pighead wrote: »

Yeah but he's been doing it all tournament to great effect.

A little against Rafa I'd imagine though haha

josip · 07-06-2019 1:15pm

Can play be suspended due to wind or just rain?

Dirkziggler · 07-06-2019 1:17pm

josip wrote: »

Can play be suspended due to wind or just rain?

Break back bloody hell

Dirkziggler · 07-06-2019 1:18pm

josip wrote: »

Can play be suspended due to wind or just rain?

Wind can suspend it on player request and agreed

MisterAnarchy · 07-06-2019 1:43pm

Roger will have to win this set to have a chance.
Ah Roger you clown ,40-0 up and you blow it.

Dirkziggler · 07-06-2019 1:49pm

That was a disgusting way to choke that game

MisterAnarchy · 07-06-2019 1:52pm

Dirkziggler wrote: »

That was a disgusting way to choke that game

He threw that game and set away ,just when it looked like he was getting on top.
His volleying is awful today,he plays a good drop shot ,Nadal does well to scoop it back and Roger continuously makes a mess of it.

Chivito550 · 07-06-2019 1:53pm

Seemed like that horrendous first serve at 40-0 up killed all his momentum. Didn’t hit another first serve after that.

Royale with Cheese · 07-06-2019 1:56pm

Can Federer take 3 games in this set is about the only interesting thing left here.

Rob2D · 07-06-2019 1:56pm

Fed is too nice. If that were me at the net in those conditions the other guy would be getting the ball hit right through him!

Chivito550 · 07-06-2019 1:57pm

Who do people think has the better chance of beating Nadal in the final? Djokovic or Thiem?

Thiem has beaten Nadal 3 times on clay in last 3 years including this season but was pummeled twice at RG during that time. Djokovic on other hand lost to Nadal in Rome.

Royale with Cheese · 07-06-2019 1:58pm

Chivito550 wrote: »

Who do people think has the better chance of beating Nadal in the final? Djokovic or Thiem?

Thiem has beaten Nadal 3 times on clay in last 3 years including this season but was pummeled twice at RG during that time. Djokovic on other hand lost to Nadal in Rome.

In a 5 set match? Djokovic.

Pighead · 07-06-2019 2:00pm

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

He threw that game and set away ,just when it looked like he was getting on top.
His volleying is awful today,he plays a good drop shot ,Nadal does well to scoop it back and Roger continuously makes a mess of it.

Jesus, it wouldn't kill you to give Nadal a bit of credit! He's played some unreal tennis today.Bit of a stretch to say that Roger threw both sets away.

MisterAnarchy · 07-06-2019 2:00pm

Wilander is obsessed with serve and volley .
Does he realistically think that will work on Clay against Nadal ?

MisterAnarchy · 07-06-2019 2:05pm

Pighead wrote: »

Jesus, it wouldn't kill you to give Nadal a bit of credit! He's played some unreal tennis today.Bit of a stretch to say that Roger threw both sets away.

Federer was 4-4 and 40-0 up on serve and he lost the game mostly due to unforced errors ,he threw that game away and in doing so the set was gone.
I see nothing wrong with my statement .
I never mentioned anything about throwing away the first set.

Rikand · 07-06-2019 2:11pm

How does Rafa just keep getting the ball back in the court. Some of those shots from roger are so far out wide, they'd be winners against anyone else

Pighead · 07-06-2019 2:12pm

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Federer was 4-4 and 40-0 up on serve and he lost the game mostly due to unforced errors ,he threw that game away and in doing so the set was gone.
I see nothing wrong with my statement .
I never mentioned anything about throwing away the first set.

My point re the first set is that you didn't give Rafa any credit there either! You said you weren't sure how Rafa won the first set. Answer to that question is he played some pretty good tennis and forced Roger into making mistakes! I'm guessing you're not a big Rafa fan!

josip · 07-06-2019 2:14pm

Ooh, EagererBeaverer looking good

Pighead · 07-06-2019 2:32pm

Dominant from Rafa. He looks in great nick. Will be very interesting to see if he can maintain this level through the grass and hard court swings.

Next match should be a cracker. Novak narrowly beat Thiem in Madrid but he had lost his previous two matches on clay against him. Tough to call. I'm edging towards Thiem.

Dirkziggler · 07-06-2019 2:35pm

Pighead wrote: »

Dominant from Rafa. He looks in great nick. Will be very interesting to see if he can maintain this level through the grass and hard court swings.

Next match should be a cracker. Novak narrowly beat Thiem in Madrid but he had lost his previous two matches on clay against him. Tough to call. I'm edging towards Thiem.

I don't think it was dominant at all. Both under ,70% first serve winners.

lostcat · 07-06-2019 2:39pm

Pighead wrote: »

Dominant from Rafa. He looks in great nick. Will be very interesting to see if he can maintain this level through the grass and hard court swings.

Next match should be a cracker. Novak narrowly beat Thiem in Madrid but he had lost his previous two matches on clay against him. Tough to call. I'm edging towards Thiem.

Djokovic doesnt like windy condtions, not sure how Thiem feels about them but it might give him a chance. Otherwise Djokovic should be too good over best of 5.

Pighead · 07-06-2019 2:40pm

Dirkziggler wrote: »

I don't think it was dominant at all. Both under ,70% first serve winners.

He won it at a canter! Fed knew the game was up after the second set. Most of the key moments were won by Rafa. Thought he served very well today when he needed to.

EagererBeaver · 07-06-2019 2:42pm

Dirkziggler wrote: »

What really hahah. You bets lost

Oh hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Dirkziggler · 07-06-2019 2:44pm

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Oh hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Well done on your bet mate. But fed threw the second set away

jr86 · 07-06-2019 2:46pm

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Oh hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

Haha thought of you when I saw the score - well played

was fairly sure Nadal would thump him myself!

velo.2010 · 07-06-2019 2:46pm

Managed to watch the second set on ITV. Nadal will face either of his toughest challengers on clay on Sunday. I'd like to see him win a twelfth title but the final may see a change in clay court dominance.

EagererBeaver · 07-06-2019 2:47pm

Dirkziggler wrote: »

Well done on your bet mate. But fed threw the second set away

Cool cool, I'll file "Fed threw the second set away" in my "things I don't give two ****es about" box.

Dirkziggler · 07-06-2019 2:48pm

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Cool cool, I'll file "Fed threw the second set away" in my "things I didn't give two ****es about box".

You can file it away in whatever you like.

MisterAnarchy · 07-06-2019 2:50pm

Dirkziggler wrote: »

Well done on your bet mate. But fed threw the second set away

Its disappointing that Federer almost threw in the towel in the 3rd set .
Is it mental ,you'd expect more fight out of arguably the GOAT ,guys like Jimmy Connors ,Djokovic would fight to the end.

Chivito550 · 07-06-2019 2:55pm

Ruiz Jr wrote: »

He beat Nadal the previous 5 times in a row, I don't think it's mental anymore, he's simply playing a formidable clay court player that. The windy conditions also helped Nadal in this match up.

Which would have been 6 in a row had Nadal not pulled out of IW.

It’s hardly a surprise that Rafa beats him on clay.

MisterAnarchy · 07-06-2019 3:00pm

Chivito550 wrote: »

Which would have been 6 in a row had Nadal not pulled out of IW.

It’s hardly a surprise that Rafa beats him on clay.

Yes thats true ,it was always going to be a huge ask for Federer to win on clay.
I thought he played fairly well in the first two sets ,backhand was not letting him down ,volleying was poor today though.

EagererBeaver · 07-06-2019 3:03pm

Ruiz Jr wrote: »

Who was the person that thought Tsistipas was the new "Guard" because he won a match a few matches at the Australian open?

Tsitsipas is clearly part of the new guard. He's the youngest player in the top 10 by over a year, has been consistently on the rise. He made the last 16 here, in line with his ranking and only losing to a three time GS champion. What more do you want from him before he can be part of the new guard?

Dirkziggler · 07-06-2019 3:06pm

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Tsitsipas is clearly part of the new guard. He's the youngest player in the top 10 by over a year, has been consistently on the rise. He made the last 16 here, in line with his ranking and only losing to a three time GS champion. What more do you want from him before he can be part of the new guard?

I don’t class the “new guard” as much. Sasha, Tsitsi and Dom haven’t stepped up yet I’m my opinion.

EagererBeaver · 07-06-2019 3:08pm

Ruiz Jr wrote: »

How exactly will it be "very interesting" to see if he maintains his level on grass and hard court.

We already know he won't from the past 7 years and from the hard court earlier this year.

Nadal peaked in 2008-2013, he's 6 years past had best. It's unlikely he gets past the first week at Wimbledon and it,'s unlikely he wins any hard court tournaments this year. This is the same old boring story we've seen for the last 7 years. It's not interesting at all.

You know he got to the Wimbledon semifinal last year, losing 9-7 to Djokovic in one of their best matches, yes?

EagererBeaver · 07-06-2019 3:11pm

Dirkziggler wrote: »

I don’t class the “new guard” as much. Sasha, Tsitsi and Dom haven’t stepped up yet I’m my opinion.

Surely new is simply a matter of time and generations rather than success though. Will they be as good or successful as the big three? No. Or as good as Murray or Stan? Perhaps. They're definitely way more talented then Raonic, Cilic, Kyrgios etc.

EagererBeaver · 07-06-2019 3:22pm

Thiem an early break up. Complete collapse coming I expect.

josip · 07-06-2019 3:29pm

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Thiem an early break up. Complete collapse coming I expect.

Looks like it, will serve now for the 1st set.

07-06-2019 3:30pm

tough conditions at RG.

Djokovic not handling them well so far and wants play stopped!

EagererBeaver · 07-06-2019 3:34pm

josip wrote: »

Looks like it, will serve now for the 1st set.

I'd still favour Nole but this makes it very interesting alright.

If thiem was to win, I don't think the final would be as one sided as some of their previous RG meetings.

07-06-2019 3:41pm

as regards people bemoaning the lack of new generation grand slam winners the fact that sportspeople in certain sports and particularly in tennis have changed their mindset and motivation on retirement age and on age-ability to compete (barring injury).

people used say and players believed that you were pretty much finished at 30/32 in terms of winning grand slams. only Agassi to a certain extent proved that wrong before. that is obviously not the case as Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have proven. Although Fed is probably finished now at GS winning level but still very competitive. this is a recent enough development.

these guys are obviously very exceptional players also so that mindset change coupled with sports science advances (smarter training, diet etc) has produced longevity not seen before with these exceptional players and meant that it has been harder for the younger guys to mark their mark.

the newer guys are not as exceptional as the out-going guys either so that is also a factor.

josip · 07-06-2019 3:42pm

glasso wrote: »

tough conditions at RG.

Djokovic not handling them well so far and wants play stopped!

Yeah, his head is gone

Dirkziggler · 07-06-2019 3:43pm

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Surely new is simply a matter of time and generations rather than success though. Will they be as good or successful as the big three? No. Or as good as Murray or Stan? Perhaps. They're definitely way more talented then Raonic, Cilic, Kyrgios etc.

I'd have Del potro, Raonic(Fit) above them with Cilic and a prime Tsonga at their level currently.

I feel it's a huge mental block for the nxtgens to Excell while the usual suspects are around cause maybe too much respect is shown.

It will be great to see Andy playing doubles at Queen's hopefully he doesn't rush it.

07-06-2019 3:47pm

Dirkziggler wrote: »

It will be great to see Andy playing doubles at Queen's hopefully he doesn't rush it.

is there any serious hope of Murray getting back to the highest level - not really seeing anything approaching that hope being expressed?

would love to see it but looks all rather like a ceremonial type return at this point - we'll see.

07-06-2019 3:50pm

what happened Goffin - he used to be neck-and-neck with Thiem in the rankings.

down at 29/30 in the world now

Dirkziggler · 07-06-2019 3:52pm

glasso wrote: »

what happened Goffin - he used to be neck-and-neck with Thiem in the rankings.

down at 29/30 in the world now

Injured his knee on clay 15 months ago hasn't gotten back there yet. Regarding Murray he's playing doubles in Queens and Wimbledon but possibly WC for Wimbledon depending on queens.

2019 French Open

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