French Open

[stotty]

Shame for Ruud. His service speed seemed to plummet and he was certainly impaired. So Zverez gets an easy passage. He'll have a tough job on his hands in the final, however.

Carlos looked pretty good today. He hits heights at times like no one else ever has...even greater than Roger.

[stroke]

Shame for Ruud. His service speed seemed to plummet and he was certainly impaired. So Zverez gets an easy passage. He'll have a tough job on his hands in the final, however.

Carlos looked pretty good today. He hits heights at times like no one else ever has...even greater than Roger.

I still would take a 20's Nadal over him every time at RG.

[stroke]

Alcaraz wins 1st set pretty comfortably. Oddsmakers had him as the favorite of course at an implied winning percentage of 73+%. Certainly 1st set did nothing to make anyone that placed a bet on Zverev feel good about their wager.

[stotty]

Strange opening game of the second set but Carlos comes through it. When Carlos is good he's head and shoulders above everyone else. You can't see Zverez winning this match unless he starts red-lining it and Carlos has a wobble.

[stroke]

Well this is something. Zverev up now 2 sets to one. Zverev probably just played the single best set of tennis of his life, totality of the circumstances, in that 3rd set. This is a classic RG match, so physical in the most physical test in tennis(at least mens tennis).

[stotty]

Zverez is playing well. He's being assertive and very consistent with it...and huge serving. Nothing less will do of course and he knows that. Carlos has had his wobble and now needs to right the ship. I am expecting him to step it up from here.

[stroke]

After 3 hours 23 minutes, they are going to 5th set.

[stroke]

Alcaraz just held to 3-1. On a break point for Zverev in the 4th game of this set, Alcaraz double faulted(per Hawkeye), but the Chair Umpire ruled it good for a play over. Alcaraz went on to hold for 3-1.

[stotty]

Alcaraz leads 3-2

Zverev is just about still in this, saving break points at 1-3 with some amazing backhands.

[stotty]

Alcaraz leads 5-2

Alcaraz has really taken off...hitting crushing forehands and moving like a bullet. It's as good as in the bag.

[stotty]

In the bag it is...

[stroke]

https://open.substack.com/pub/hughclarke/p/alcaraz-vs-zverev-roland-garros-final?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1t7zzc

[stroke]

https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Inside_Tennis/145314/jannik-sinner-got-a-painful-data-like-roger-federer-did-in-2019/

[jimlosaltos]

Some quite different views on the tactics in the men's finals, from Craig O'Shannessy, Mats Willander, and Zverev himself.

As for tactics, Craig O'Shannessy of BrainGame is a stats guy so he sees numbers: "Thirty-nine forehand winners to 24. Look no further for the difference-maker. Carlos Alcaraz hit 15 more forehand winners than Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s Roland Garros final, while only winning 14 more total points (153-139) en route to a gruelling 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 victory. The forehands provided the separation he desperately needed to erase a two-sets-to-one deficit and secure his first Grand Slam title on clay in Paris."

Perhaps a better take is from Mats Wilander, although he was referring to the Sinner-Alcaraz semifinal: “But that is his strength, he is much better than Jannik Sinner at defending to me. Much better at defending from far back, not from the baseline like Novak Djokovic, where Sinner is brilliant. But on a clay court that is hard to do, and on a clay court, Alcaraz is a much better defender than Sinner.”

Zverev: “He changed his tactics in the fifth set, higher and deeper, so I could not create as much power. I need to look at myself and at my team to see if I can get to the same level.”

[jimlosaltos]

Good news for anyone that is not a fan of NBC and the dreaded Peacock. Per Chris Clarey ex-NYT:

Confirmed that TNT sports has signed a 10-year deal to broadcast #RolandGarros in the US, beginning in 2025. Ends NBC's long-standing role as #FrenchOpen broadcaster, also sidelines Tennis Channel Reportedly for $65 million per year: big raise for the French and dovetails with existing Eurosport coverage in Europe.