The Tennis Thread

[MyNameIs]

I woke up yesterday morning just to see Maria down a set and 0-4. I was like, oh no, she's back to her old tricks. Then she made the comeback and pulled ahead in the third and I had basically anointed her the winner, lol. And then again BAM, Li Na came back. Props to both for being able to fight back when they were behind at certain points. And of course congrats to Maria for winning.

Also congrats to Nadal. So happy to see him defeat Novak again. It's just the kind of serving of humble pie that Novak could use.

 

[anaa lpz]

Let the fun begin!

Women's draw



Men's draw



@rolandgarros's twitter

 

[Scott]

kvitova and li na certainly have a nice looking section. both have a wonderful opportunity to genuinely sneak through to the semis fairly comfortably. the only real potential threat i see would probably be li na possibly meeting the dangerous mona barthel in the 3rd round. and JJ,zvonareva and schiavo are just not the players they were.

i just hope that stomach muscle tear is healing fast enough for kvitova because it really affected her serve at rome.

in the bottom section of the second half....so sad for sharapova....she's got serena looming. it's funny,the media is so quick to dub favorites before the draw is announced and both women were tagged as forerunners.....thus something like this happens. and frankly serena just looks better in this regard. for azarenka she has stosur possibly looming in the QF too. that bottom first half though to me looks a bit more dodgy in terms of these early rounds....radwanska,venus,kerber,bartoli,ivanovic,kuznetsova and the dark horse in sara errani.

i can't wait though to see the young frenchwoman caroline garcia again. she's been working with amelie mauresmo the last year so it'll be interesting to see how much she's developed since her near upset of sharapova last year. especially once again on a big stage.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Nadal has a very soft draw, whereas Djokovic and Federer have difficult ones. I expect the men's side to be predictable - Nadal will win.

The women's draw is more interesting: what a shame, though, that Serena and Sharapova are slated to meet in the QFs. I would've liked to see them on opposite sides. I could see a few people winning this: Azarenka, Sharapova (if someone helps with Serena), Serena, Li Na, who else? Kvitova? Stosur? Kuz?

 

[Chaky]

Nadal has a very soft draw, whereas Djokovic and Federer have difficult ones. I expect the men's side to be predictable - Nadal will win.

Sadly this seems likely. Fed has Nalbandian and maybe Delpo/Berdych later on. Murray's been doing poorly so I'm not sure he'll make it out of his quarter.

I'd like to see Raonic do well and get to a match with Nadal.

Women's draw looks a touch bottom heavy. I would have said Serena or Sharapova were the favourites but they're schedule to meet in the QFs! And then you've got reigning champ Li, former champ Schiavone and Kvitova down the bottom as well.

Azarenka has an absolute cakewalk to the quarters. And then poor Radwanska, who is trying to get to a slam semi for the first time to essentially justify her world ranking, gets Venus second round, then maybe Sveta and Ivanovic.

 

[Scott]

i dunno,chaky....i think even azarenka and stosur have a slightly tougher section than li and kvitova do.....vika's got safarova & cibulkova(both whom you never know what to expect,but tough nevertheless) at the top,and then at the bottom makaraova,petrova(who always has the potential to be dangerous plus recently she pushed serena to three sets at madrid) and of course sam possibly in the QF.

 

[Scott]

btw,i was going to add,with schiavo's win at strasbourg today,hopefully that might boost her motivation again. she's been struggling mightily since RG last year. i still don't know....she would likely face kvitova if she were to progress that far and i think with kvitova's heavy deep balls,it will give frankie trouble.

 

[constanceMafioso]

Well actually I do find Li's opening match is a though one : Sorana Cirstea. I'm really sensing the upset. They'll be facing tomorrow at 11:00 to me.

The men's draw especially Nadal's section is a total cakewalk so I expect him to make another final. I just hope Djokovic makes the final and wins, also it would be an absolute cracker for men's tennis to see a player hold all four majors at once.

Imagine then if he could manage a second consecutive Wimbledon that would be totally crazy, 5 majors in a row but I'm getting a little bit way toward ahead of myself.

I'd like Victoria and Djokovic as the champions.

 

[kournikov]

@scott What's the problem for putting Sharapova and Serena as the forerunners of this tournament?, if they ARE the forerunners although they might be meeting in the QF's.

Serena, Sharapova, and Azarenka are the favorites this year, I can't wait to see who wins this one, with women's tennis these days it's really unpredictable, especially at Roland Garros. Hopefully Venus does well in this tournament, I'd really like to see her do well, also to qualify for the Olympics.

Nadal, Djokovic, and Federer!!!, I'd like to see Nadal win, and break Borg's record, it'd be so cool, and if it were to be a Djokovic-Nadal meeting that'd be a really good match, Nadal trying to defend, and to beat Borg's record, then Djokovic trying to win his first Roland Garros, and to have the "Djokovic" Slam.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Razzano!!! She played a great great match.

 

[Chaky]

Wow! Razzano vs Serena was the craziest match I've seen in a long long time. So much drama! I wanted Serena to win just because of the potential match-ups later on, but then I'm also happy for Virginie who had such a horrible year last year. Fantastic for the French crowd too. But I doubt Virginie will win another round as she looked in all sorts of pain.

And Eva Asderaki at the centre of controversy again with all those hindrance calls.

Looking forward to tomorrow. I'm gonna try to get home from work as early as I can to see some of it. Brian Baker who's had a remarkable comeback gets to play Gilles Simon on Chatrier and then Aga vs Venus. Sounds good.

 

[Scott]

you know,i defended that woman last year because well i had never seen her do such a thing before that.....and now again,we see this happening? i apologize if i ever defended her antics. what a shame that she had to involve herself in the drama when she needn't....a distraction,really. especially hypocritical when there is so much obnoxious screaming.....extended....happening on a daily basis and nothing is ever done about it. the multiple warnings and point penalties were excessive and over-stepping her duties just a bit. i mean if you are going to employ a rule like that,be consistent. first she all she gave razzano was a soft warning....serena at the open got an automatic point penalty the first time. there is something a bit unfair about that.

anyway,although like chaky,i was stunned to see serena go out,i am absolutely ecstatic for virginie razzano. easily one of the most pleasant players i've ever watched. but with everything she's been through with her fiance passing away only days before RG last year and just her overall struggle on the tour the last couple years,this is such an inspiring thing to watch unfold. a stunning victory and i hope a great run.

 

[kournikov]

I AM IN SHOCK SERENA LOST!!!!!!!!!!!!, I bet Azarenka and Sharapova feel a whole lot better right now. Serena was the main one favorited to WIN THIS!!!, not since 2002 she was the favorite here, I was so sure of it!!!, HUGE upset.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

^ I think Serena was totally overestimated by most pundits. I didn't see her winning. Sure she had been on a good stretch but not versus top players and mainly on BLUE clay which played like a hard court.

Radwanska, meanwhile, is playing EXCELLENTLY versus Venus; I love Aggie's game. Azarenka looked back on form today too.

The women's bracket is shaping up to be very exciting imo!

 

[Scott]

^and that's precisely the point rennae stubbs made last evening when they did the reviews of the day's actions. she,of course,commentates on the tennis channel here. anyway,people don't realize that RG courts are vastly different to that har-tru she won on at charleston and madrid always has a reputation for being a faster clay court already which totally feeds into serena's style of game. RG is the kind of place that forces players to grind out matches....it's heavier,it slows the pace down considerably,the movement is even a bit different.

that said,i think people are surprised mostly because this was a first round and against somebody like virginie razzano who really hasn't played very well in quite a while. i mean if it had been a r16 or QF against say a maria sharapova,li na or petra kvitova,it wouldn't have been such a shock.

i think what strikes me most as unusual is how the tables have sort of reverted for serena. with all the criticism she's got for so long for not participating enough on the tour level and succeeding at the majors instead,now she's playing and succeeding at the tour level but looking completely fragile at the majors.

 

[Scott]

and i completely agree with you NPJ.....stupendous performance today from aga! she really has a legitimate chance here,imo. and even though it was a comfortable victory,i can't gauge a whole lot from today's match from azarenka since her opponent was an inexperienced qualifier and nowhere near as highly ranked as brianti,it remains to be seen what her level will be going forward. in general,vika's form has taken a bit of a dip and i think that could potentially give aga an opening,especially with she coming off a title win on the clay.

btw,what the heck has happened to bartoli? ever since she upset vika at miami,her form has disappeared. she lost today to the very talented young croat petra martic. highly disappointing given how she performed at RG last year and with all the buzz about her not being able to qualify for the olympics,this would have a been a great moment to send a very friendly F-U to the FFT.

 

[Chaky]

Weird tournament huh? Lots of big names struggling or knocked out.

Federer has been dropping sets in every round. Djokovic was on the brink against Seppi. Nieminen nearly had Murray's number until he choked and somehow Andy is getting through despite clutching his back after every error.

And the women's field seems decimated. Li Na gone yesterday. I watched Radwanska take care of Venus easily but didn't see her match against Kuzzy where she was almost annihilated. Azarenka sent packing by a plucky Cibulkova who managed to not choke this time! And even Sharapova who appeared to be in the best form of anybody really had to grind her way past Zakopalova.

Picking any winners at this stage? The only certainty seems to be Nadal at this point.

 

[Scott]

meanwhile,after everything that happened yesterday with li and sharapova,kvitova demolished her opponent 2/1. and still she is floating under the radar. why is no one is talking about her chances whatsoever? shame.

the sad thing is,we still haven't learned anything from the last year or so and many continue overestimating certain players and that history has shown what that's created. and so many players at this point are being completely overshadowed unfairly. this isn't a tour event,this is a major tournament....we have two other recent major champs still in the mix. they should not be taken for granted because surprises have happened. and just the same....serena,li and vika were all picked by the pundits and are all now out. that's why i did not pick a fave and i will not pick one especially on this surface. it's too unpredictable and the fact that we don't have a standout clay court player like a justine henin these days,makes it very hard to choose certain players. the only thing i made certain was that sara errani will be a dark horse force.....and now she's into the semis.

good match today from sam. her spin proved too difficult for domi to handle,and sammy looks great and confident. errani played a very fun second set with kerber.....i think there like 13 breaks of serve for the match.....but kerber lost some steam toward the end after leading 6/5. but good performance this fortnight from kerber....this will push higher in the top 10. and errani will be the no.1 italian come the new ranks next week....she'll be inside the top 15. talk about two players who've suddenly maximized their talents.

 

[Not Plain Jane]

Nole and Fed were marathon men today. Fed coming back from 2 sets down; Nole fighting off 4 MPs and the FO crowd. Tough men!

I am glad we get to see them again in the semi, though they are probably fighting for 2nd place as someone recently tweeted.

Still, I felt sad for Del Potro as his knee was clearly a factor and he just hit a wall. And I felt sad for Tsonga as he just couldn't get it done. Mind you, he played well, fought hard on those MPs, but Nole was a mad man.

Fabulous tennis!

I missed the ladies today. Getting down to the wire - who is everyone picking? I can't see past either Kvitova or Sharapova winning this? Who else could do it?

 

[kournikov]

Well there's no problem with picking favorites before the tournaments starts?, yeah Serena and Sharapova were the favorites, but you can't knock on Serena like that, she was the favorite because she won two clay tournaments, granted they weren't the red clay of Roland Garros, but still they were clay, AND she beat Azarenka, Wozniacki, and Sharapova at Madrid, the "fast" clay court of Madrid is good for Azarenka and Sharapova's game and they lost badly to Serena. Serena beat really good players. It's a shame that she lost in the first round though.

I think people are looking past Kvitova because she didn't do too well in the pre Roland Garros tournaments, but still, I believe she's a factor in this tournament, she's a really good player, AND SHARAPOVA!!!, she's been playing unbelievable, she had a hard one in the last match she played against Zakopalova, if Kvitova and Sharapova reach the semis, it'll be really good, but we'll have to see how the quarters play out. I pick either Sharapova or Kvitova to win...but I want to see Sharapova win!!!