2014 French Open...Roland Garros, Paris, France

[GeoffWilliams]

My mind is stained from the red clay, and Nadal, winning yet again. When are his drug ped cheating going to be called to task? How many more are we going to see him win, 4? He'll have 13 frenches, and five other slams. And when the drug thing comes to pass, as it did with Lance A., there will be hell to pay. Floyd Landis lying and claiming no cheating, with 17 times the testosterone levels normal. Give me a dose like that, and I might win a tournament! Hey Floyd, how is your lying retirement coming along?

[GeoffWilliams]

My mind is stained from the red clay, and Nadal, winning yet again. When are his drug ped cheating going to be called to task? How many more are we going to see him win, 4? He'll have 13 frenches, and five other slams. And when the drug thing comes to pass, as it did with Lance A., there will be hell to pay.

[klacr]

You can read a lot into statistics and it is not only what is "most obvious" that is the telling story.

It's very interesting when you see a trend such as this than seems to hold true. Not that it tells the whole story.

I watched Novak Djokovic play Milos Raonic the other day at Roland Garros...and while he was impressive there seemed to be something lacking in his resolve. That being said it is hard to establish any sort of rhythm against a player like Raonic. It is also hard to establish any real interest as a spectator...I had to run out for coffee a couple of times to stay awake. Literally.

It didn't appear to me that Novak was up to his usual stuff at this tournament and he made a pretty good showing to get to the finals so routinely. I didn't see the whole match with Nadal but I saw some it on a replay. I saw enough to see what the real problem was...and it was more or less a problem the whole tournament even though Djokovic rather routinely maneuvered himself into the finals. I don't think that Djokovic was playing his backhand nearly as aggressively as he has in the past including the last four matches he has played against Nadal.

He certainly was not able to knock the Spaniard off balance by playing aggressive to the forehand first to open up the backhand side. As a result Nadal was much more effective running around his backhand to pound the reverse cross court forehand or when he was hitting his backhand he was able to be much more aggressive because of the lack of aggressive tactics by Djokovic.

So the statistic that klacr is citing is extremely interesting and if he would please clarify as to exactly what this statistic means it might be interesting to pursue this line of reasoning. As for now I am exhausted...you don't want to know. Yesterday was a day of planes, trains, busses and automobiles. Now I must tend to cutting the grass and I still have the Ugly American with me. He's as mean as a bear and eating everything in his path. Paris and Amsterdam are in ruins...left in the rubble of his aftermath.

I have so much to write about...some of it about the tennis. Stay tuned...my friends.

They say that you are only as good as your second serve. But really, you are only as good as how well you defend your second serve. Through the course of a match, you will not make 100% of your first serves. It's in the 2nd serve where opportunity lies for the returner and danger lurks for the server. Applying pressure and winning a fair number of points on the 2nd serve puts more pressure on the server to make more first serves by playing safer, serving slower, giving more opportunity to the returner. If still missing the first serve, even more pressure on the 2nd serve to make it great knowing that returner will make you pay for a weak serve. Pressure paralyzes right?

I find it interesting that Nadal won 50% of his 2nd serve points, but Djokovic only won 36% of his. Rafa really made him pay and what's intriguing...Nadal won match point on a Djokovic double fault down the T. A 2nd serve that Djokovic normally shys away from but in that moment he felt the pressure to distance from his comfort zone. Pressure paralyzes. knowing you've lost 64% of your 2nd serve points and you have to hit one on match point down can torture many souls. Game set match Rafa.

Can we start this Grass Court Season Now? Pretty Please! My socks are stained from this red clay. Bring on the perennial rye grass: 33 percent Pontiac, 33 percent Melbourne and 34 percent Venice.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

The court and the human factor

You can read a lot into statistics and it is not only what is "most obvious" that is the telling story.

Once all the forehands have been ripped and all the backhands stung down line and both players have cancelled themselves out, it all comes done to the court and the human factor.

The court is a massive factor. It has a higher, longer bounce than any other clay court, more so than the other courts at Roland Garros or any clay court anywhere come to that. This ekes things just slightly over the edge in Nadal's favour. He can retrieve balls he otherwise wouldn't reach on other clay courts and defend high and deep, inviting Djokovic to another big risk. Djokovic can almost do it enough times to pull off the victory...but falls just short...probably by just a few balls here and there.

The human factor is that Nadal is a better match player than Djokovic. He has no mental lapses, none. Once he has his head stuck in a match his concentration never wavers and he is completely resolute. Borg was exactly the same. Another thing which I may be right or wrong on is that Nadal learns slightly better than Djokovic. Nadal learned last year that he can beat Djokovic at Roland Garros no matter what if he sticks to his plan. He may have doubts at other events but no longer does he in Paris.

[don_budge]

Statistics...Paris and "The Ugly American"

Stotty, Not saying result is all about 2nd serve, but it is interesting to see that the stat held up. Nadal is 10 for 10 vs. Djokovic when above 50%. Just find that interesting.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

You can read a lot into statistics and it is not only what is "most obvious" that is the telling story.

It's very interesting when you see a trend such as this than seems to hold true. Not that it tells the whole story.

I watched Novak Djokovic play Milos Raonic the other day at Roland Garros...and while he was impressive there seemed to be something lacking in his resolve. That being said it is hard to establish any sort of rhythm against a player like Raonic. It is also hard to establish any real interest as a spectator...I had to run out for coffee a couple of times to stay awake. Literally.

It didn't appear to me that Novak was up to his usual stuff at this tournament and he made a pretty good showing to get to the finals so routinely. I didn't see the whole match with Nadal but I saw some it on a replay. I saw enough to see what the real problem was...and it was more or less a problem the whole tournament even though Djokovic rather routinely maneuvered himself into the finals. I don't think that Djokovic was playing his backhand nearly as aggressively as he has in the past including the last four matches he has played against Nadal.

He certainly was not able to knock the Spaniard off balance by playing aggressive to the forehand first to open up the backhand side. As a result Nadal was much more effective running around his backhand to pound the reverse cross court forehand or when he was hitting his backhand he was able to be much more aggressive because of the lack of aggressive tactics by Djokovic.

So the statistic that klacr is citing is extremely interesting and if he would please clarify as to exactly what this statistic means it might be interesting to pursue this line of reasoning. As for now I am exhausted...you don't want to know. Yesterday was a day of planes, trains, busses and automobiles. Now I must tend to cutting the grass and I still have the Ugly American with me. He's as mean as a bear and eating everything in his path. Paris and Amsterdam are in ruins...left in the rubble of his aftermath.

I have so much to write about...some of it about the tennis. Stay tuned...my friends.

[stotty]

Stotty, Not saying result is all about 2nd serve, but it is interesting to see that the stat held up. Nadal is 10 for 10 vs. Djokovic when above 50%. Just find that interesting.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

I am sure you could well be right. But for me Nadal could get 100% of his first serves in and the scoreline would be much the same.

It came down to Djokovic pressing and eventually missing under strain...same last year.

[klacr]

Stotty, Not saying result is all about 2nd serve, but it is interesting to see that the stat held up. Nadal is 10 for 10 vs. Djokovic when above 50%. Just find that interesting.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

I don't think the result has anything to do with second serve stats or any stats come to that.

It came down to repeatedly having to pummel shoulder-high and often paceless balls to the corners over and over again. It's a big ask against the world's greatest retriever. This happened last year. Countless times Nadal scooped forehands back from wide positions and ended up winning the point. It's tough for Djokovic to play one great shot after another over and over again, brilliant though he is at it. In the end it's the straw breaking the camels back situation.

On any other court it's doable for Djokovic, but the Philippe Chatrier court has a long, slow bounce that can be exploited to good effect - and Nadal does just that.

The TV pundits were banging on all day about how the dry conditions suited Nadal's forehand - which it does. But he didn't use that benefit all that much. The crux of it came down to the good old hacker versus the attacker syndrome.

We had some excellent TV coverage here showing many rallies at court level. It tells the story so much better.

[klacr]

Today's the day! Nadal vs. Djokovic.

I think a overlooked stat in this match and a key to winning will be those 2nd serve points.

Nadal and Djokovic have met 20 times since beginning of 2010 (including today's final). When Nadal wins over 50% of his 2nd serve points he's won 9/9 matches. When Nadal is under 50%, he's 1/10. Let's see if Djokovic can keep that Nadal 2nd serve from doing damage.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Nadal's 2nd serve points won...50%.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[gzhpcu]

Rafa does it again! Is now tied with Sampras in the number of Grand Slam titles: 14, closing in on Roger...

[klacr]

Today's the day! Nadal vs. Djokovic.

I think a overlooked stat in this match and a key to winning will be those 2nd serve points.

Nadal and Djokovic have met 20 times since beginning of 2010 (including today's final). When Nadal wins over 50% of his 2nd serve points he's won 9/9 matches. When Nadal is under 50%, he's 1/10. Let's see if Djokovic can keep that Nadal 2nd serve from doing damage.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stroke]

No big surprise: Nadal is oddsmakers favorite vs Djokovic in final. Nadal is -130, Djokovic is +110.

[klacr]

The match was over at 2-0 in the first set for Murray. He had nothing in the tank and Nadal ran rough shot over him. Nadal in very good form.

Djokovic-Gulbis match was a bit of a snooze as well. Djokovic went away tye last two sets but woke up when he needed to in the 4th set to close the door on Gulbis.

Djokovic was complaining he wasn't feeling well during last two sets and he pushed back his post match press conference a few hours

Nadal vs. Djokovic. This is what they want. Nadal looking healthier in Djokovic. Djokovic may need to hope for wet and cool conditions to limit the pace and bounce of that Nadal ball.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

Rafa demolished Murray. Looks like he found his form just on time...

I knew after the first handful of games that Murray wasn't feeling it and was never going to either. He needed those flat backhands to work well but it was one of those days where his ball control was on a knife-edge and it wasn't going to happen. He became tactically confused once he realised his assertive game wasn't there. Sure, Nadal played well but when Murray has days like that he'd lose to anyone in the top 20. I know Murray. I've been watching him all his life.

It was inevitable, wasn't it? Nadal versus Djokovic. Who will win this time?

[gzhpcu]

Rafa demolished Murray. Looks like he found his form just on time...