The French Open 2020

First topic message reminder :

With the draw about to be made for RG, I thought I would get this topic going.

For me - and I say this every year - Rafa is clear favourite, although the strange nature of all sport this Covid-19 year might mean someone else (Thiem? Djoko?) might have a chance.

Halep stands out as the women's favourite, particularly as some of the top women are not appearing. More on this after the draw.

Stan the Man dropped the third set but came roaring back (lots of BH winners) to take the 4th, and the match, 6-1.

Svitolina was given a good workout by a wee, feisty Mexican before coming thru.

Doubt whether Serena, who has had to pull out, would have won in Paris, anyway. I'm not sure she's really got another Slam win in her.

Serena hasn't had the mobility to win another slam for a few years now, partly down to becoming a mother and also down to general wear and tear. I didn't think it was a good look for the women's game that she was waltzing through slams despite being nowhere near the athlete she once was, that she's still making finals and semis isn't a good look either.

Wawrinka through in four. Thiem now underway against Sock and Nadal underway against McDonald. Cannot see either of the seeds being extended too much here.

Nadal leading 3-1 and Thiem leads 5-1. Giustino who won that marathon six hour plus match the other day is feeling the effects Swhwartzman leads him 6-1 2-1.

Bertens saved an MP v Errani who was having the yips with her service action, before Bertens won 9-7.

But then there were TV shots of Bertens having to leave the court in a wheelchair and appearing to be in great discomfort.

sirfredperry wrote:Bertens saved an MP v Errani who was having the yips with her service action, before Bertens won 9-7.

But then there were TV shots of Bertens having to leave the court in a wheelchair and appearing to be in great discomfort.

Yes that was very weird.

Nadal and Thiem still on course for straight sets wins - both leading by two sets to love.

Genie Bouchard beat former top 20 player Gavrilova today after dropping the first set.

The Canadian had dropped well down the rankings before getting to the final in a pre-RG tourney. Two GS match wins will take her ranking up even higher.

Nadal batters McDonald 6-1 6-0 6-3.

Key moment in the Thiem-Sock match and the Ch24 link goes down! Sock has set points.

Back with it....and Thiem from 3-6 down in the tiebreak has taken the set and match!

Thiem was made to work for the third set but he completes a 6-1 6-3 7-6 win. He'll be relieved to win in straight sets as he had to save three set points in the third set tie-break.

CC. You beat me to it with the Thiem result. He looked mighty relieved, as he was no doubt expecting at least one more set.

More on that extraordinary Bertens-Errani match with the Italian accusing Bertens of faking injury.

Meanwhile, Zverev is a break down at the opening of his match v Herbert.

Herbert takes first set 6-2 v Zverev

Really good comeback from Zverev to take the second set 6-4 after Herbert had a point for 5-1.

Nip and tuck third set in the Zverev match, with little in it until the tiebreak.

Then Zverev comes back from 1-4 to take it 7-5 for a two sets to one lead.

Nishi's excellent fifth-set record somewhat dented as he loses to Italian Travaglia.

Herbert a break up in the fourth. Are we heading for a fifth there?

Never known a player that plays as many 5 setters as Nishikori. He is constantly battling out deciders when he should be winning matches sooner.

Zverev into 5th set. Too many hopefuls being dragged into 5 setters in the early rounds. You rarely see Federer, Nadal and Djokovic expending unnecessary energy in early rounds.

slashermcguirk wrote:Never known a player that plays as many 5 setters as Nishikori. He  is constantly battling out deciders when he should be winning matches sooner.

I think that is down to the type of game he has. A bit like Zverev ....peaks and troughs so drops more sets than he should.

slashermcguirk wrote:Zverev into 5th set. Too many hopefuls being dragged into 5 setters in the early rounds. You rarely see Federer, Nadal and Djokovic expending unnecessary energy in early rounds.

Agreed. It will hurt them at the business end of the tournament if they should play the likes of Nadal and Djokovic.

Some lovely play from Herbert to break back in the fifth set. Back on serve.

I've watched Herbert a few times in doubles and always found him a bit of an enigma - plenty of talent but some real flakiness at key moments which can hold him back (also has a weird serve).

Watching this I feel pretty confident still that Zverev will win. Often there's a reason why some of these talented doubles specialists struggle in singles - lacking the mental toughness at key moments. Zverev as we know is a real warrior in 5 sets.

As I finish typing this Zverev has just broken.

Zverev through in five sets in just under four hours. Feel for Herbert.

Herbert should really have won in straight sets. He had chances to win both the second and third sets and managed, twice, to get it back on serve in the 5th.

Not sure just how much Zverev has taken out of himself with this five-setter. He now plays Cecchinato who beat Djoko at the French in 2018 but has done little since at GS.

Another Italian to keep an eye on is Sinner who is poised for a two sets to love lead in his second-round match.

Zverev v Ceccinato looks a real tasty encounter - the Italian who had to come through qualifying is something of a claycourt specialist, though he'll be tired himself after all those hours on court through qualifying. The Italians are certainly doing v well this year - loads of players in the draw and good strength in depth. Currently watching another Italian, qualifier Trevisan in a tough 3 setter with Gauff.

Meanwhile, with the 1st round defeat of Fognini, and Nishikori now out, Nadal's path to the quarters looks even smoother.

MrInvisible wrote:Zverev v Ceccinato looks a real tasty encounter - the Italian who had to come through qualifying is something of a claycourt specialist, though he'll be tired himself after all those hours on court through qualifying.  The Italians are certainly doing v well this year - loads of players in the draw and good strength in depth.  Currently watching another Italian, qualifier Trevisan in a tough 3 setter with Gauff.

Meanwhile, with the 1st round defeat of Fognini, and Nishikori now out, Nadal's path to the quarters looks even smoother.

Ceccinato is strongest on clay and has shown that in the past. I would still expect Zverev to come through but cannot see him overcoming the likes of Nadal, Djokovic or Thiem on clay.

Djoko, Dimi, Shapovalov and Tsitsipas among those in action today.

I know some don't like the balls/conditions but it seems the tennis has been a lot more exciting at the RG this year.

Good to see drop shots and volleys rather than endless baseline rallies. Players seem far happier coming in to the net than they have been. There were huge numbers of net approaches in the Zverev match yesterday.

Arguably, the most interesting match today may be the first on court - Ostapenko v Pliskova.

2017 RG champ Ostapenko has taken the first set 6-4 v Pliskova.

Later: Os'ko is now 3-1 up in the second set. Can Pliskova fight back?

Ostapenko - looking very dangerous - knocks out Pliskova 4 and 2. Very impressive performance and no one will fancy facing her on this form.

Kenin thru after losing first set and having a little wobble at the end.

Shapovalov is two sets to one down against C-Baena.

Shapovalov loses 8-6 in the 5th after twice serving for the match.

Djoko thru with very little trouble. Other winners today include Kvitova and Dimi but seeds Khachanov* and Sloane Stephens are out.

*My mistake. Khachanov came thru in four.

Tsitsipas playing well against the cussed Cuevas. Perhaps emerging from that first round scrap has given him a new lease of life.

Very impressive win by Tsitsipas today. New name to me - 19-yr-old French player Clara Burel - won in straight sets.

Last match to finish yesterday saw Berrettini beat Harris in four.

Thiem has had a tough draw so far and it doesn't get any easier today as he takes on fast-rising star Casper Ruud.

Zverev plays Cecchinato, who I seem to remember took out Djoko at RG two years ago. Stan and Rafa should have little difficulty.

Away from RG, I've just seen that GB tennis player Bobby Wilson has died, aged 84.

The older among us will remember Wilson for some sparkling Wimbledon displays and some stirring performances for GB in the David Cup along the likes of Mike Sangster and Billy Knight.

Thiem under way against Ruud. I take Thiem to win here in three tight or four sets.

Early break for Casper Ruud. He leads Thiem 3-1 and serving.

And Thiem breaks back immediately and we are back on serve at 3-2.

Why don't Thiem's opponents try short balls/drop shots more often? Dom stands so far behind the baseline.

If I was playing him I'd so badly underhit my shots that he would have no chance!

sirfredperry wrote:Why don't Thiem's opponents try short balls/drop shots more often? Dom stands so far behind the baseline.

If I was playing him I'd so badly underhit my shots that he would have no chance!

I think its harder to do though since Thiem is such a hard ball-hitter. He hits with pace so it takes some doing to play drop shots from them.

Some really physical rallies in this first set but Thiem looks set to take it.

Thiem takes the first set 6-4 after 58 minutes. A top notch set closely contested.

sirfredperry wrote:Away from RG, I've just seen that GB tennis player Bobby Wilson has died, aged 84.

The older among us will remember Wilson for some sparkling Wimbledon displays and some stirring performances for GB in the David Cup along the likes of Mike Sangster and Billy Knight.

I hadn't heard of him.  I just checked the BBC website - tennis section.   Nothing, but I guess this is not the type of news that interests the BBC nowadays.  His wikipedia page says he died on 21 September, so more than ten days ago. I wonder if any British newspaper covered it?

Thiem wraps up the second set and leads 6-4 6-3. Ruud with a mountain to climb now. He has played well but failed on the big points and has not been helped by erroneous line call at a key time.

Thiem gradually ground down the Norwegian and won 6-4 6-3 6-1.

Wawrinka getting underway against Gaston.

NNB - I saw about Bobby Wilson in the Daily Telegraph obituary section.

My main memory is of Wilson being two sets up in a vital DC match for GB v Sweden in 1963....and losing.

Mike Sangster then went two sets up in his match only to be pegged back before winning in five. I got so nervous I couldn't watch.

Back to the French. Thiem did well to wrap that up in three after a difficult start. Cilic, Sock and Ruud for his first three matches has been a tough start for him.

I see Stan is a set up, while Halep is a double break up at the start of her match.

(ATP official website now has a nice tribute to Bobby Wilson)

Bit surprised to see Stan the Man has lost the second set against very lowly-ranked Hugo Gaston.

Slightly more plain sailing for Petr Korda's son Sebastian who is two sets to love up.

Hi SirFredPerry if you wrote a memoire I would probably buy it. Things seem to be changing so fast that "local history" is vanishing along with various trades, values, standards.

A quick look on Google News reveals that there WAS some coverage of Bobby Wilson's death a few days ago. Nice obit in one of the Scottish papers.

At RG, Halep dropped just one game in her victory. And there was me thinking she would have a close match.