2013 French Open...Roland Garros, Paris, France

[stotty]

And then there were four...

And then there were two...tomorrow, perhaps none.

[lobndropshot]

And then there were four...

NO 4.5 if you include Tsonga

[stotty]

SCC and timing

I watched Fognini play Nadal, and for such a small guy he surely hits many forehand winners and to my surprise it seems to me, that he plays almost upright, not much knee bending and very little backswing.. any comments on how he derives so much power? thank you

I, too, was amazed at his shot making, off both wings, not just the forehand. As we now know from Brian Gordon's studies, compactness is a desirable part of a good forehand. Fognini certainly seems to tap into the SCC perfectly. On top of this his timing must be superb.

[alexandrafranco]

Fognini's forehand

I watched Fognini play Nadal, and for such a small guy he surely hits many forehand winners and to my surprise it seems to me, that he plays almost upright, not much knee bending and very little backswing.. any comments on how he derives so much power? thank you

[don_budge]

Nadal vs. Nishikori...first set

They showed a replay on Eurosport here of the Nadal vs. Nishikori match. I watched some of the first set and Nishikori had a very nice tactical plan going on but apparently he was unable to sustain it. He played the first set right out of the Novak Djokovic book of tactics versus the left handed Nadal. He had Nadal playing a good part of the time over on the backhand side where Nadal is unable to come with the commanding type of presence that he can muster on the forehand side.

At the same time after exchanging backhands when he got the shot that he liked he moved Nadal to his left and played it aggressively. It seemed to be working rather well but he lost the first set in spite of his tactics. Perhaps he got discouraged and lost sight of his game plan...surely Nadal has a lot to do with this. Even if the opponent is playing his best tennis and playing smart too...if they get behind it is easy to get to discouraged.

I wonder how many points a set being left handed is worth on the Nadal ticket. Even though his serve doesn't look to be the potential weapon that it could be he gets a lot of mileage out of it and it is really tough to break him.

[stotty]

The last eight brigade

Interesting day ahead. Federer could well lose to Tsonga unless he's at his near best. I wonder if Haas can produce some tactical magic to derail Djokovic...

[don_budge]

Gay Paris...and the heart of the matter.

So it goes. In the end it all boils down to one thing...as in life. It's the survival of the fittest. The heart of the matter is that it's a dog eat dog world...just outside of the perimeter.

I watched the beginning of Phillipp Kohlschreiber and Novak Djokovic and it looked as if Djokovic had it in "round of 16 gear"...he played well enough to win and he got to hit some extra balls in the process. Novak was also playing with a heavy heart...grieving the loss of his first tennis coach and his "second mother" Jelena Gencic. Maybe as Federer did in his round of 16 against Simon. Perhaps these big guns purposely put themselves under a bit of pressure to steel themselves for the trauma to come. There is some real trauma to come...trust me.

I wish that I could have seen some of Nadal's straight set win over Kei Nishikori. He sent him a stern message it appears regarding entrance into the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event where there is no mercy for weakness. Samurai's understand this kind of message.

But the match of the day belonged to Stanislas Wawrinka who is the only real contender at this point for an invitation into the top four...The Big Four. He has a mean look on his face that I saw in his match against Jerzy "Joe" Janowicz. I also saw the same look on his face against Grigor DiMitrov a week or so ago when they were slugging it out in Rome. That is the sort of tough guy attitude that it will take to challenge a fit to fight Rafael Nadal at the French Open...where he more or less believes he owns the turf...the dirt. Wawrinka came from two sets down to win in five against "Cocaine Lips" in front of a hometown Parisian crowd. No easy task. If he brings the right tactics to the Nadal match give him a chance...give him a fighting chance.

I watched Tommy Haas completely decimate Mikhail Youzhny. Youzhny broke Haas in the opening game to start the match then he packed his bags and went home. Mission accomplished...I guess. Djokovic vs. Haas? It is a tough prospect for Haas facing the best return of serve in the game and the younger legs. That says it all. But that being said...his win over Djokovic was technically a tactical achievement. Some smart, sound tactics can level the playing field...somewhat.

Without the Wawrinka/Gasquet match the day may have been a bit boring. Things are about to heat up a bit with the real fireworks just a round away. As fate would have it...the luck of the draw and everything that has transpired from the start to this point...we have four match-ups of one handed backhands against two handed backhands. As it stands...it doesn't look all that promising for the one handed guys.

[stotty]

Anyone else loving the 8 one-handers left on the men's side?

And then there were four...

[stotty]

Wawrinka

I missed the best game! Damn.

Djokovic looked shaky today. He isn't great in windy conditions. He pulled through in the end but it wasn't impressive.

I saw the first set of Nishkori/Nadal which was decent. But it's a shame Benoit Paire didn't perform better against Nishkori and get through to play Nadal. He has a lot more to bring to the table than Nishkori...capable of doing something different at least. Players like Nishkori are soooo easy for Nadal.

From what I've heard the Wawrinka/Gasquet game was a thrilling match with excellent shot making. I'm glad Wawrinka won. I know his record versus Nadal isn't great, but whose is? Wawrinka has a different attitude about him these days. You can bet he'll try his utmost and go for it against Nadal. I am really looking forward to the game...just hope he has something left in the tank.

[lobndropshot]

at 4-4 in the Fourth they hit 8 winners in a row! It was only broken by a forced error!

[tennis_chiro]

Wawrinka/Gasquet - absolutely fabulous!!

I only got to see it from the end of the 4th set, but it was amazing tennis, especially if you like one-handed backhands. If you can find a way to see a replay or a youtube version, you won't be disappointed. 92 winners for Wawrinka. 57 for Gasquet. Must be some kind of record on clay.

don

[stotty]

Anyone else loving the 8 one-handers left on the men's side?

I'd missed that....well spotted.

[johnyandell]

Anyone else loving the 8 one-handers left on the men's side?

[stotty]

jerzy

that's really a shame. there must be some comparable service. a lot of matches end up on youtube. maybe someone will put this one up.

don

It will doubtless come up on youtube...not there yet. The pundits in the UK say it was a comprehensive win for Wawrinka, and that Jerzy looks promising but still has a way to go. Wawrinka has got better in the last few years. I guess you can still inch your way forward even at 28. I liked what I've seen of Jerzy thus far. He has raw power and you have to have power these days, lots of it.

It's still hard to see past the top four. There is talent beneath but no one seems to be able to break the stranglehold the top four have...it's like Fort Knox.

Time to stick our necks out. I'm going for Djokovic to win the whole thing.

[don_budge]

But the second and third...

Tsonga is dangerous, so it's no certainty. The pundits stated from the outset Federer's draw is easy this year. But if Simon can push him, then so can Tsonga and Ferrer. That said, Federer is favourite to get through for me too.

I only saw the fifth set today...but he played a good set; looked commanding, nice touches, moving as fluently as ever.

I would like a Djokovic v Federer final....

It's three out of five...and that is exactly what it was for Roger Federer today because he absolutely disappeared for the second and third. He looked lethargic and complacent. But he seemed to come to life...it's as if he wanted some extra practice playing from behind. Tilden used to do some rather dramatic things in his matches.

It's one match at a time...this one against Simon proved that. He cannot afford to look ahead one little tiny bit. Fortunately for him...and us...he came to life when he did. His body language wasn't looking too positive. Almost as if he wouldn't have minded going home a bit early to work on his grass court game.

But the story of the tournament so far emerges as Tommy Robredo who for the third match in a row came back from two sets down to win. This is unheard of. Playing best of five from two sets down is a monumental task and this guy has done it three matches running. Next up is David Ferrer who will be unimpressed and curious as to just how much fuel Tommy has left.

Tsonga versus Federer next. Roger goes for the French trifecta...a win over the third straight French opponent. Tsonga has been beating up his opponents with no monkeying around. Roger had better be advised that anything less than a killer attitude is going to make things tough for him. He just looked anything but killer in the second and third sets against Simon...but we have seen that from him in the past where he just comes to life and runs the table on his opponent. Leaving them shaking their heads asking themselves...what the hell just happened?

Great serving in the final game from Federer...it pulled him through.

He did serve out the last two sets exceptionally well after he had the break...this is another of the attributes that you look for when searching for Roger. The Roger of old.