Roll on Garros - 2018 French Open

The draw is now out. Nadal gets a comfortable, though not quite 'cakewalk' draw, with the likes of Dologopolov, Pella, Seppi and Gasquet awaiting in first few rounds. Djokovic, Thiem and Zverev are all in the other half and Edmund has a couple of winnable matches before the mercurial Fognini. Djokovic's draw looks tough, likely 2nd round with Ferrer and 3rd round with Bautista Agut. If he gets through those matches unscathed that will do wonders for his confidence and match-sharpness. Not seen a huge number of eye-watering 1st round clashes to be honest (looks better for 2nd/3rd round) but Troicki vs Dimitrov could be one to watch if you're looking for a 1st round upset.

In the womens, pick of the 1st round matches has to be Muguruza vs Kuznetsova, and Serena and Sharapova can potentially meet in 4th round. Wonder if Halep can finally win her maiden slam this time round?

For anyone who's interested there's a couple of contests out there that work in similar way to Fantasy Football - Tennis Dream: tffdreamteam.com - I've set up a group for people who want to have a go - the name is 606 and password is 4ab6526aa3207314e29eb18abed39ed5

On the Roland Garros website itself they are also running a contest - https://www.rolandgarros.com/en-us/article/roland-garros-2018-contest-take-part-in-the-tournaments-official-fantasy-tennis-game. This one is bit different - you choose players for each round and are rewarded for picking an unfancied player to create an upset. I've set up a group for this - name is 6062018 and password is PPB7V

Finally - also on the Roland Garros, a nice short documentary on Gustavo 'Guga' Kuerten and his first win back in 1997 - I forgot how many tough claycourters he beat - Medvedev, Muster, Kafelnikov, Bruguera - https://www.rolandgarros.com/en-us/video/o-guga-the-legendary-victory-of-gustavo-kuerten-at-roland-garros-1997-french

Here is the draw for Roland Garros 2018. Tournament starts tomorrow Sunday 27th May:
https://www.rolandgarros.com/en-us/results/1?type=SM

Apart from Nadal aiming for title number Eleven, this is another opportunity to see how the older generation are recovering from being out injured (Djokovic, Wawrinka ...) and another opportunity to see how well the NEXTGEN progress. Can Alexander Zverev make it past a fourth round of a grand slam for the first time?

I see that both Bernard Tomic & Ernests Gulbis made it through qualifiers to reach the main draw. Tomic is drawn against Kyrios in the first round.

Bit quiet here for 1st day of a slam.  Wins for Dimitrov, who faced a lucky loser instead of Troicki, and Nishikori, whilst Kyrgios pulled out due to injury.  In the womens, its a familiar tale for Johanna Konta, who lost in straight sets to a lower ranked opponent.

Venus Williams also crashes out and David Goffin is in deep trouble trailing Robin Haase by two sets to love.

Defending champion Ostapenko is out too - wonder if she'll turn out to be a one slam wonder. The Goffin v Haase scoreline is a surprising one - Haase is always a dangerous opponent in early stages of slams but is not at his best on clay, whereas Goffin is an accomplished claycourter.

Goffin not done yet though. He is on the verge of winning the third set. If he does that then he goes favourite to win.

You may well be right Craig, Goffin has gone a break up in 4th set, with Haase losing his cool. The Dutchman is a talented player with some big shots but his temperament has always let him down.

And Goffin does win in five sets.

Rafa, Djoko, Stan and Thiem among those in action today (Monday). After Ostapenko crashed out (have you noticed how people always "crash out" of tennis tournaments?!) Caroline W has a tricky match against Collins who has had some good results this year.
The outcome of the women's event this year is in complete contrast to the men's in that almost anybody could win it. With the men the real interest will be who can emerge from the bottom half to face Rafa in the final!

Cameron Norrie through to the second round after his opponent) don't ask me to spell his name) withdrew when trailing 1-6 0-2 with injury.

Novak on serve at present leading Dutra Silva 4-3.

Novak takes the first set 6-3. First serve speeds still down but rest of him game looking decent. Stan Wawrinka into a fifth set against Garcia-Lopez.

Stain Wawrinka losed in five sets to Garcia-Lopez in the First Round. At least he got through the match I suppose but did nedt treatment on court for the knee mid-match.

Wawrinka out against Garcia-Lopez. Sadly I think there is a chance that Stan may call it a day soon - a pity as he's brought so much to Roland Garros over the last 5 years or so. Djokovic doing OK against Dutra Silva but still hardly firing on all cylinders, and the 2nd/3rd round matches will be tough for him.

Kvitova thru after a tough three-setter while Cameron Norrie's opponent retired in the second set.
The Man had treatment for what he said was a knee problem unrelated to his overall knee problem. He then lost in five after being two sets to one up. Djoko had a tough match but came through in straight sets. Saw a bit of it. Flashes of the old Djoko but not quite back to his best.

Did anyone read about Trungelliti, the Argentinian journeyman lucky loser opponent Tomic lost to? http://www.skysports.com/tennis/news/32455/11388257/lucky-loser-marco-trungelliti-makes-french-open-road-trip-from-barcelona-to-paris-to-beat-bernard-tomic
The world no. 190 only found out on Sunday he was going to play due to a spate of 1st round withdrawals and other lucky losers ahead of him being unavailable but managed the 9 hour drive over from Barcelona to Paris just in time and managed to see off Tomic despite the journey and lack of preparation. His tournament won't last much longer probably but its a nice story.

Rafa was 3-1 down in the second set before coming thru 6-3 and is now 3-0 down in the third. This is bad news for everyone else. Rafa is having a good workout in the very first round.
Mind you, all this is fairly academic. Barring injury Rafa will win RG.

Berdych is currently down in his first round match 6-7 6-7 1-1 to Jeremy Chardy.

Age has caught up with 36 year old David Ferrer who loses to 21 year old compatriot Jaume Molnar: 6-3 6-3 6-7 6-7 5-7.

Ernests Gulbis, who made it through qualifying, beats 29th seed Gilles Muller in four sets: 2-6 6-3 6-4 6-3

There are three matches to be completed in the men's singles first round.

Meanwhile, Serena Williams dresses up as a Wakanda super hero to defeat the evil Kristyna Pliskova and the BBC go bonkers promoting the story to their homepage.

Very solid start for Edmund. After a dip following the AO he's come back to some decent form, and looks to have a game well suited to clay. Obviously not good enough to be a serious contender for the title, but R4 or QF would represent a decent run. Seeded to play Cilic in R4, where I give Kyle a chance on clay, and J-MDP in the QF (and Rafa if he gets through both of those...)

Edmund has improved enormously over the last couple of years. His backhand is now quite impressive and he looks a top-20 player. Fognini lies waiting for him at RG, however, and the Italian can be quite brilliant but sometimes really awful.
Delpo got off to a shaky start but came thru last night. Saw a bit of Serena. Her movement - never that wonderful at the best of times - was fairly dreadful but her ballstriking and powerful serving were good. Can't see her going deep, though.
Sharapova's shrieking for the few moments I dared turn the sound on was horrendous. It's enough to turn people away from the women's game.

Djoko thru in straight sets but both Dimi and Zverev lose their opening sets. Chardy bt Berdych in five. Halep thru in three after losing first set 6-1.

Zverev was a set and a break down but has broken back - still, this is not going to be easy and Lajovic is playing well. Goffin's gone a break down, whilst its currently on serve for Dimitrov in his match against Donaldson. Thiem vs Tsitsipas looks an interesting match later on.

We could see a few seeds fall today. We've already lost Berdych, and Nishikori, Dimitrov and Zverev are all 2 sets to 1 down, though the latter has just broken Lajovic in 4th set.

Cliff-hanger right now between Dimitrov and a tiring Donaldson (cramp ?) locked at 8-8 in the decider.

Dimi thru 10-8. Simon takes out Querrey. Nishi also won in five.

Later: Thiem two sets to one up when play suspended. Cameron Norrie 2-1 down to Pouille overnight. The Briton lived to fight another day by taking the third set 7-5.

I had a day off work today so was fortunate to see a few of the matches, and ITV4 were v good in their choice of matches they were covering. Donaldson resorted to a couple of under-arm serves against Dimitrov in 5th set (and won the point from one of them). In the end Grigor's superior physical conditioning saw him through, but again he's looking far from convincing and I don't see him getting much further in the tournament.

Zverev was pushed v hard by Lajovic - he ultimately did step it up when I had to and showed some good mental strength but he needs to be bit more aggressive to keep his matches shorter - otherwise it will catch up with him in the 2nd week.

The Thiem v Tstitsipas match has been an entertaining one so far - its nice to see these players and the likes of Shapovalov, all with single-handed backhands. Thiem ought to win it in 4, but the young Greek player is showing plenty of promise.

Djokovic still looks like he is in 2nd gear - doesn't look entirely convincing but at least hasn't expended too much energy so far and he had a straight sets win today.

Finally, was good to see Nishikori prevail in 5 sets, and a fightback from Norrie - in all likelihood there's too much left for him to do against a player of Pouille's class, but who knows - Pouille can tighten up in matches.

Edmund wins first set 6-0 but then loses the second 6-1. Cilic after a good start was taken to four but has just won. Thiem has just won in four but Shapovalov 2-1 down in sets.

Shapovalov goes out.

Highest-ranked player - and only seed - left in Rafa’s half of draw is Gasquet. As smooth a run to Final as he could possibly imagine.

lags72 wrote:Shapovalov goes out.

Highest-ranked player - and only seed - left in Rafa’s half of draw is Gasquet. As smooth a run to Final as he could possibly imagine.

Erm, you mean only seed other than Cilic, Del Potro and the numerous other seeds still in Rafa’s half of the draw? He’s still on to face his scheduled R3, QF and SF opponents. Only his scheduled R4 opponent out so far. Hardly the carnage suggested!

@ Born Slippy - apologies, you’re right. My bad there !!

(Would it have made more sense if I had said quarter rather than half ? Or have I got that wrong too ??!)

Moving on swiftly (!!)..... Edmund goes through after a solid performance, albeit with a wobble in set 2. But Norrie sadly goes out, having come so very, very close to squaring the match and almost forcing a decider from two sets down overnight.

Sorry to see Shapovalov go out and sorry to see Sharapova go thru mainly due to the decibel levels.
A pity that Edmund now has to face Fognini who can be a real handful on clay. Mug, Pliskova, Thiem and Anderson among others who came thru today.

It's mainly seed v seed today (Friday), with some tasty match ups in prospect. Djoko takes on RBA which might be tricky. Dimi plays (Can You Hear The Drums) Fernando, while Goffin is pitted against Monfils.
  Keys v Osaka could be interesting.

Later - Dimi is out, beaten in straights by Verdasco. Another desperately disappointing result for the Bulgarian who chucks in these horror shows far too frequently.
Zverev is two sets to one down against (Monty) Dzumhur. Keys bt Osaka after almost mucking up the second set.

Zverev survives a five-set thriller after Dzumhur had an MP late on. Djoko having his work cut out against RBA- now one set all and 5-5 in the third. Nishi thru but fourth seed Svitolina beaten in straight sets.

Djokovic makes it past BA.

Kyle Edmund first up today against Fognini. Difficult to know what to expect from the Italian. He can be brilliant one match and almost-give-up hopeless the next.
Sharapova v Pliskova could be a good match, especially if you turn the sound down to avoid Sh's quite dreadful shrieking.
Also on today is Jurgen Zopp, 30, who has beaten Sock and Bemelmans. Have to confess I'd never heard of him.
Saw quite a bit of the Djoko match yesterday. Djoko had to be patient as RBA is very steady and runs everything down without having a really big weapon. Zverev got through by the skin of his teeth.

Anyone watching? Fognini v Edmund has gone into a 5th set. Fognini has played some great stuff at times but Edmund has been pretty solid - impressed with his mental strength so far. If Edmund can pull this one off then its arguably one of the best wins of his career so far in my opinion. Schwartzmann v Coric is 1 set all and may go the distance, whilst Sharapova beat Pliskova in a surprisingly one-sided match.

Edmund out as Fognini takes the final set 6-4. The most annoying thing is that Fognini will probably be complete rubbish in the next match when he takes on Cilic or Johnson.
Surprised that Shriekapova won so easily. Sloane Stephens was taken to a 10-8 final set. Mug thru comfortably.

Fognini wasn't that great today, to be honest. An opportunity missed for Edmund.

According to the press Gasquet is close friends with Nadal, considering how Nadal hammers him for fun just imagine if they weren't close friends...

On paper, a 5 set loss on clay to Fognini is respectable. However, this was a missed opportunity for Kyle as although Fognini produced some of his trademark showreel shots, he did hit a lot of unforced errors. Edmund had some good chances to break in the 5th set, but didn't do enough on his returns.

Still, onwards and upwards for Edmund - a respectable claycourt season, and if he can get his serving percentages up a bit he ought to do well (4th round at least) at Wimbledon.

Meanwhile, its the usual story for poor old Gasquet against Nadal, Schwartzman is up 2 sets against Coric and Goffin has just fended off some match points against Monfils who now looks a bit injured (again).

This Marterer boy? is he that good?

I dont think nadal likes to play against people he hasnt played before...

his start against bolelli was not very promising but he looks well in his path now

Goffin saw off Monfils in the fifth set. Monfils is such an infuriating player. All the talent in the world and yet has had an underwhelming career.
Petkovic ran down everything but still lost the first set against Help, while Cilic looks to be well on the way to victory in his match.

sirfredperry wrote:Goffin saw off Monfils in the fifth set. Monfils is such an infuriating player. All the talent in the world and yet has had an underwhelming career.

Monfils had MPs in the fourth set. Despite the talent, lack of discipline (and injuries) has been his downfall. Between Monfils, Tsonga and Gasquet, I will take Tsonga any day.

Sascha Zverev struggling once again. If he somehow makes the final he'll be knackered with all these long matches in the first half of the tournament

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:Sascha Zverev struggling once again.  

Thiem may put an end to his misery.

Goffin in another tough match - this time against surprise package Marco Cecchinato. Just looked up the Italian - he's never previously won a slam match but this year at Roland Garros he's managed to come back from 2 sets down in 1st round and went on to beat Carreno Busta in 3rd round. Expect we'll see more of Cecchinato (mainly on the clay) in the future.

What does everyone make of A Zverev? He's certainly got fight, but should a top three player be struggling to win early round GS matches? He's certainly doing it the hard way.
Shriekapova possibly has her best chance in 14 years to beat Serena on Monday. Could be a particularly noisy encounter best watched with the sound down.

I was surprised by the Djokovic result - though Verdasco would cause him a lot of trouble on the clay. Was Novak showing signs of being back towards a high standard, or was he simply the less bad of two poor players?

Zverev it must surely be a mental thing, as he's quite capable of seeing these players off in 2 sets in a best of 3, Perhaps it's a concern about his fitness that means he starts slower than he would in a shorter match, but surely he is going to run out of steam in the next couple of rounds.

Still looks as though injury is the biggest challenge to Rafa's next RG title...

Halep made short work of Mertens, while Caroline W has been ousted by Kasatkina. Anderson played a horrible game while serving for the match against Schwartzman and paid the price by being taken to a fourth set.
Rafa lost his opening service game against Marterer but it's back on serve early in the first set.

Regarding Djokovic, I saw his match with Verdasco yesterday. It started with some very long drawn-out games, but later on, despite hitting some very flashy winners, Verdasco hit too many errors. I didn't catch the serving percentage for Djokovic but I thought he looked pretty good on the whole - still not playing his very best but looked sharper on the big points than previously, and his claycourt movement is excellent as ever.

I think that come next Sunday we're highly likely to see the trophy biting Spaniard winning but Djokovic is the most likely to stop him (if he gets there of course) though its probably going to be a Thiem v Nadal final - I can see the Austrian beating Zverev and Djokovic back-to-back but can't see him beating Nadal in a best of 5 set match on clay.

Nice to see Schwartzman taking it to a 5th set - I really like his battling spirit - kind of like a (slightly less successful) modern day David Ferrer.

In the womens, I think it'll be Halep v Muguruza - I'm not convinced with either Serena or Sharapova despite their decent form in this tournament.