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.

Thiem does hold from 0-30 down and Schwartzman to serve for the fourth set leading 5-4.

Schwartzman had three set points in this game but back to deuce as Thiem hits a forehand winner from the gods down the line.

Thiem is still alive. He trailed 40-0 and came back to steal the game. It is 5-5 back on serve.

Sounds like a heck of a match, unfortunately this could spell disaster for the winner if they face Nadal next. The last thing you want is a 4-5 hour marathon slug fest ahead of playing Rafa

That was the shot of the Championship from Thiem, especially if he goes on to win this in four sets.

Agree with the above. Nadal's grin must be getting wider and wider, even more so if Thiem is the one to pull through after this epic.

Thiem holds serve to lead 6-5. Schwartzman to serve to stay in the match and force a fourth set tie-break.

I think CC used the word ‘brutal’ earlier ....... and that really is the most fitting description for the particular brand of tennis we are seeing here.

I’m only sitting on a sofa and am close to exhausted. A truly amazing contest.

Imagine coming through this match and thinking worst case scenario you face Nadal and then Djokovic back to back. That is the stuff of nitemares

Absolute battle this.

Schwatrzmann seems to be the best claycourter right now outside of Nadal, Djokovic, Theim and if he was seeded accordingly would probably make the semi-finals.

Schwartzman digs in, fends off a Thiem assault and holds serve to force a fourth set tie-break after 4 hours 24 minutes. Epic game.

slashermcguirk wrote:Imagine coming through this match and thinking worst case scenario you face Nadal and then Djokovic back to back. That is the stuff of nitemares

Takes me back to Murry in his heyday.

Thiem gets the first mini-break to lead 2-1.

Schwartzman though fights back again. At the changeover its 3-3.

Thiem forges another mini-break.

Struggling to recall too many Slam contests - including Finals - with this level of absorbing quality ......

But again Schwartzman bites back with two mini-breaks of his own. He leads 5-4.

But back on serve we are at 6-5. Set point Schwartzman.

And Schwartzman takes the fourth set and we go to a fifth.

With 4 hours 34 minutes played this is a certainty to go over five hours. The schedule getting pushed back further and further.

Quite amazing from both players.

Traditional fifth set for the French Open, isn't it? No tie-breakers. Could go on for a little while yet.

Got to question the running order. Literally no need for the middle of the road ladies to have played on main court today - especially the fourth round match.
The French probably knew Thiem:Schwartzman would drag on so they could ice Nadal’s match - so the winner of this one can get extra recovery

A comfortable hold for Schwartzman to lead 1-0.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Got to question the running order. Literally no need for the middle of the road ladies to have played on main court today - especially the fourth round match.
The French probably knew Thiem:Schwartzman would drag on so they could ice Nadal’s match - so the winner of this one can get extra recovery

Definitely the women's fourth round match should have went onto Longlen. Maybe they felt obliged to put them on Chatrier as they were messed about so much last night and kept waiting all day. In that case put one of the other QF's on Longlen and then everything sorted. At present Longlen is not being used and has floodlights.

Thiem holds without any real fuss and we are at 1-1 in the fifth.

And as with my above point Nadal probably isn’t as affected with his 12 Roland Garros titles, but Sinner will be going through the roof waiting to get on court. Could end up getting trashed as a result.

Schwartzman holds to 30 and edges back ahead at 2-1.

Rain rain go away ..... come again another day

And Thiem also holds to 30 and levels at 2-2 as the five hour mark is minutes away.

Thiem pressing for a break at 30-30.

But he can't take advantage of a second serve and Schwartzman holds to 30 again to lead 3-2.

A chance for Schwartzman who gets to 0-30 on Thiem's serve.

And he has three break points.

And with five hours played Scwartzman breaks to lead 4-2 in the fifth set.

Schwartzman holds to 15 and he leads 5-2. One game away from the semis.

Schwartzman has a match point on Thiem's serve.

And a tame drop shot into the net and its all over Schwartzman wins in five sets lasting 5 hours 8 minutes. An epic match that.

Well done both players. That was thrilling sport.

Its a shame the scheduling killed Thiem's chances. Asking someone to win two slams virtually back-to-back is asking too much.

Schwartzman probably deserves that as he fought back from 2 sets to 1 down and he might’ve regretted it forever had he lost.
Thiem eventually ran out off gas but he’s Roland Garros time will come

It's a win that will do a heck of a lot for Schwartzman. It will instil a new level of confidence and self-belief in future big matches when things get tough.

Well done Schwartzman, always admired him as a player for his fighting spirit

Took Swiatek time to get going and was a break down but she takes the first set 6-3 after 41 minutes against Trevisan.

Yes, the scheduling and tough draw didn't help Thiem.

But he really does need to work on getting some free points on his serve to avoid these long matches.

I must say I thought he would come through today. But a number of commentators, including you guys on this thread, thought it would be very difficult for him at RG after his US heroics.

Interesting how a lowly-ranked player, Trevisan, is causing Swiatek far more problems than Halep did. But the Pole is a set up and you have to fancy her, which means that another of my pre-match predictions is going to be wrong.

Thiem himself hinted at concerns about fatigue in pressers prior to the tournament starting and you could see he looked physically and mentally shattered at the end of his fourth round match and it was by no means a marathon. Schwartzman is a very accomplished clay-courter and tenacious and reminds me of Ferrer. He can stick around and make rallies last and that was the kind of opponent Thiem did not want to face just now.

CaledonianCraig wrote:Its a shame the scheduling killed Thiem's chances. Asking someone to win two slams virtually back-to-back is asking too much.

In broad terms I would certainly agree ...... but worth remembering that around 40 odd years ago, this was essentially what the fabulous Borg was doing ..... regularly winning both RG and Wimbledon back-to-back, and in an era when a) there was much less of a gap between the two events than there (normally !) is today, and b) the two surfaces played very, very, differently. Bjorn famously never bothered with any of the customary grass warm-up tournies, although one year he even managed to squeeze in a couple of Davis Cup matches between his Slam title runs

But hey this is 2020 and we are where we are. Rarely have two men worked as incredibly hard - and with such jaw-dropping talent - as did Thiem & Schwartzman today, and all in a quest for “just” a SF spot. The match was more than equal to the very best of Finals.

At the risk of trying to put the genie back in the bottle ...... am I alone in thinking, after the sort of five-setter we saw today ..... stretching over five hours of consistently high quality ..... it is fair to question whether the women’s game is fully deserving of the very same prize money as the men’s ....  Or, to put it another way, are they delivering the same product ?

Swiatek a double break up at 4-1 in the second set.

Yes, there used to be, until quite recently, only a couple of weeks between the French and Wimbledon.

But what makes this year different is that players such as Thiem have had no chance to play any clay-court matches before RG due to the US.

Some of the lower-ranked players playing heroically at the French this year did not play in the US and got match fit and clay-court ready by qualifying.

Well that is down to the tennis authorities. But in other sports shorter formats of a sport can be more financially rewarding without any questioning. Cricket springs to mind where the most lucrative format of the sport in Twenty-20 which lasts four about three hours whereas Test match over five days cricketers I am sure get nowhere near as much payments.

Swiatek wins in straight sets and once she got over her slow start and worked her way back into the match there was only going to be one winner for me.

Just looking at the results and past comments Swiatek looks unstoppable.

Swings and roundabouts.  Thiem benefitted by the absence of Federer and Nadal at the US Open.  Djokovic's issue was self inflicted but maybe he had Covid hysteria.