2017 French Open...ATP 2000...Roland Garros...Paris, France

[don_budge]

Here is the draw and the one thing that stands out is the one thing that is missing...Roger Federer. It is an odd omission at this point in his schedule. I know that the mantra of a tennis player is...preparation, preparation, preparation. But this is carrying things a bit too far in this regard. Rarely has there been a precedent for the kind of scheduling that Roger has opted for this year. It's strange...it's odd. It smells funny. It's suspicious for the obvious reasons. There is no way that Roger misses this tournament except for an explanation that cannot be talked about. Too bizarre...but these are modern times. It's the new normal that everyone talks about.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/scores/current/roland-garros/520/draws

Zverev has moved into the #4 favorite for FO title per oddsmakers, just barely behind Stan.

That is an interesting development stroke. Right behind Stan Wawrinka. I wonder if Wawrinka shows up to play this tourney. I suppose he will as he warmed up against Alexander's older brother, Mischa, yesterday in a come from behind win in the finals of the Geneva tournament. Stan showing a bit more fight than usual in an ATP 250 event. I guess he couldn't let Mischa go home and tell his up and coming little brother what a pussy Stan is. Stan has afterall won this tournament before...and not so long ago as that. He played in his pajamas as I recall.

Alexander Zverev could have his hands full against Fernando Verdasco though. It might not be a stretch to see him as the #4 favorite though. The field isn't so overwhelmingly strong these days.

It will be interesting to see how interesting this tournament becomes though. We are looking at the post Roger Federer culmination point in tennis history. We are looking at it dead in the eyes. The ATP appears to be up to some devilish tricks though...looking to "speed" the game up. Don't they realize that all they have to do is speed up the courts a couple of notches and it changes everything. I guess they are too smart for their own good.

[stotty]

Murray's end of the draw could produce an early test for him....against Del Potro. And then of course young Zverez is in the top half of the draw too. I am convinced he will be world number one one day....maybe one day soon.

It's going to be tough to defeat Nadal over five sets on clay. There has only ever been one player capable of doing that and that is Djokovic. If they were to meet in the semis, and Djokovic could resurrect himself fully by then, I would have a small wager on that game. By this time last year Djokovic had reached pretty must the same lofty heights as Nadal on clay. But I must not get ahead of myself. That possibility remains some way off yet.

Murray hasn't carried the world number one jersey too well so far. Roger and Novak loved that top little spot in the game and had little trouble living up to it. Murray needs to pull his socks up or he will be relinquishing that jersey before he knows it.

Let the games begin....

[stotty]

I like the Djokovic/Agassi match up. I can see it working.

[don_budge]

I like the Djokovic/Agassi match up. I can see it working.

I never cared for Andre Agassi. "Image is Everything"...that was his motto in the old Canon camera commercials he endorsed. Rebel my ass...more of a puppet than anything else. A marionette. A Nick Bolletieri android. Andre was one of the first beneficiaries of the Prince Graphite racquet which automatically earns him a spot on my hit list. His battles with Pete Sampras will always be supremely overrated in any realists book knowing he was using 108 square inches of racquet compared to Pete's 85. There should have been a law against shit like that.

But it's a perfect matchup...one fake aligning himself with another. Djokovic being the most one-dimensional number one player in the world ever. That defensive game of his would never stand alone in the world of real tennis. With real conditions. He is the single biggest beneficiary of the new engineered game...well he and Fafa Nadal. I can do without Agassi. If he never resurfaced I wouldn't miss him. Another suspect in the PED game. They're perfect for each other. A couple of real hot dogs.

On another note the number one seed on the women's side of the draw has disappeared. Kerber...the German gal took a real butt-kicking from a Russian. The other lefty just thumped her from the gitgo. I was tuned in on Eurosport momentarily and watched the open three or four games. It was pretty obvious what the result was going to be. The women's game is very weak. Very, very weak. It's best of three for the ladies...but it wouldn't surprise me if they get equal pay...whether they deserve it or not.

[klacr]

The French Open. Roland Garros. The most artful of the slams. Also, the most boring of this year as Roger is a no show. It will probably come down to a Nadal-Djokovic match-up in the semis that will determine the champ. People talk about the "Next Gen" players but can they handle the rigors of best of 5 for 7 straight matches? We know Nadal and Djokovic can.

People talk about Dominic Thiem as a possible favorite and they should. A semi-finalist last year. His progressive development over the last few years has been impressive. He excels on the clay courts, he's Austrian, has a one-handed backhand. Perhaps reminders of Muster, the difference of course is Thiem has a lot more power on all shots.

Sad to see Kerber out. I take a liking to all the German girls. Kerber, Lisicki, Goerges, Petkovic...Graf. Kerber is lacking confidence taking the offense. Clay is her least favorite surface and it shows. She becomes just the second top seeded player to lose in the first round of the French open, the first was Stefan Edberg in 1990. However, this upset is not as surprising when you see her opponent, Makarova is a former top 10 player and has beaten Serena at the Aussie Open before. She plays best against the top players.

Is it Wimbledon yet? Wake me up when we get to SW19

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[faultsnaces]

One (minor) thing I'm curious about: how does Fed get a pass from the ATP for simply bailing on the French? I was under the impression that ATP (and WTA) players had to appear at all of the Slams, along with a minimum number of other tourneys, etc, lest they be fined - and the only valid reason for missing a mandatory appearance is a medical excuse. While Rodger is Rodger, I don't see that they should give him a pass just so he can play better at Wimbledon....

[stotty]

One (minor) thing I'm curious about: how does Fed get a pass from the ATP for simply bailing on the French? I was under the impression that ATP (and WTA) players had to appear at all of the Slams, along with a minimum number of other tourneys, etc, lest they be fined - and the only valid reason for missing a mandatory appearance is a medical excuse. While Rodger is Rodger, I don't see that they should give him a pass just so he can play better at Wimbledon....

Klacr will likely know the correct answer here, but I think it might be an age thing. I think once a player is past a certain age they don't have to commit to as many tournaments.

[don_budge]

One (minor) thing I'm curious about: how does Fed get a pass from the ATP for simply bailing on the French? I was under the impression that ATP (and WTA) players had to appear at all of the Slams, along with a minimum number of other tourneys, etc, lest they be fined - and the only valid reason for missing a mandatory appearance is a medical excuse. While Rodger is Rodger, I don't see that they should give him a pass just so he can play better at Wimbledon....

Minor thing? It's the elephant in the living room that everyone is choosing to ignore.

[don_budge]

People talk about the "Next Gen" players but can they handle the rigors of best of 5 for 7 straight matches? We know Nadal and Djokovic can.

People talk about Dominic Thiem as a possible favorite and they should. A semi-finalist last year. His progressive development over the last few years has been impressive. He excels on the clay courts, he's Austrian, has a one-handed backhand. Perhaps reminders of Muster, the difference of course is Thiem has a lot more power on all shots.

Is it Wimbledon yet? Wake me up when we get to SW19

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Oh yes...the rigors of three out of five. Right now I think Zverev has his hands full with Verdasco. Now it is best of three. Dominic Thiem is progressing one step at a time. He has steadily been upping the ante over a period now.

Alexander Zverev looks to have a real good shot at climbing the ladder. He's focused...he has a big brother in the driver's seat. How important is that? I don't like his game...not a little bit. Of course he has a good forehand. Of course the backhand is great. There is no denying it. But once he is pulled off the baseline and forwards he is pretty unsteady as in he is pretty much clueless except for the rudiments. The bare basics. Unlike the Big Brother.

If the ATP were serious about "speeding up the game" they have to look no further than speeding up the courts and implementing a shot clock of 20 seconds. Yep...20 seconds and then bump it down to 15.

[stroke]

Here is the draw and the one thing that stands out is the one thing that is missing...Roger Federer. It is an odd omission at this point in his schedule. I know that the mantra of a tennis player is...preparation, preparation, preparation. But this is carrying things a bit too far in this regard. Rarely has there been a precedent for the kind of scheduling that Roger has opted for this year. It's strange...it's odd. It smells funny. It's suspicious for the obvious reasons. There is no way that Roger misses this tournament except for an explanation that cannot be talked about. Too bizarre...but these are modern times. It's the new normal that everyone talks about.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/scores/current/roland-garros/520/draws

That is an interesting development stroke. Right behind Stan Wawrinka. I wonder if Wawrinka shows up to play this tourney. I suppose he will as he warmed up against Alexander's older brother, Mischa, yesterday in a come from behind win in the finals of the Geneva tournament. Stan showing a bit more fight than usual in an ATP 250 event. I guess he couldn't let Mischa go home and tell his up and coming little brother what a pussy Stan is. Stan has afterall won this tournament before...and not so long ago as that. He played in his pajamas as I recall.

Alexander Zverev could have his hands full against Fernando Verdasco though. It might not be a stretch to see him as the #4 favorite though. The field isn't so overwhelmingly strong these days.

It will be interesting to see how interesting this tournament becomes though. We are looking at the post Roger Federer culmination point in tennis history. We are looking at it dead in the eyes. The ATP appears to be up to some devilish tricks though...looking to "speed" the game up. Don't they realize that all they have to do is speed up the courts a couple of notches and it changes everything. I guess they are too smart for their own good.

Certainly agree that Alex does not have the hands/feel of his older brother(nor does Novak) . Alex to me has a game most like Novak. His bh if anything is better than his very, very good fh. He is taller than Novak and has a better serve. Movement is about as good as it gets for a 6'5 or 6'6" guy. I agree with Stotty, soon to be #1. He could very well get to the final and take on the winner of the Novak/Rafa match.

[stotty]

Certainly agree that Alex does not have the hands/feel of his older brother(nor does Novak) . Alex to me has a game most like Novak. His bh if anything is better than his very, very good fh. He is taller than Novak and has a better serve. Movement is about as good as it gets for a 6'5 or 6'6" guy. I agree with Stotty, soon to be #1. He could very well get to the final and take on the winner of the Novak/Rafa match.

As don_budge suggests, Zverev has a tussle on his hands in his tricky first round encounter. Verdasco can go toe-to-toe with anyone in a slug fest. Zverev will have to play his best to come through that match.

[stroke]

Zverev out to Verdasco. It is tough out there from 1st round. Verdasco fh has always been one of the best in pro tennis.

[stotty]

I only saw around two sets' worth but Verdasco seemed to be up for it and playing well. Zverev seemed a little short on ideas on how to turn things around. However, it's tough to take on an old fogey when the pressure is heavily on you to win. Verdasco proved he can still play and played smartly to to win. And yes Verdasco's forehand is a beauty; one of the great sights in modern tennis.

[stotty]

The Passing of Frank Deford....

Frank wrote the book BILL TILDEN. I wasn't a fan of that book. I found it poorly structured and a choppy read. But it was a goldmine of well researched information, which was much needed and helped us see Tilden warts and all.

Here's an interesting excerpt...one of Deford's asides:

“I think there are more good sportswriters doing more good sportswriting than ever before,” he wrote in “Over Time.” “But I also believe that the one thing that’s largely gone out is what made sport such fertile literary territory — the characters, the tales, the humor, the pain, what Hollywood calls ‘the arc.’ That is: stories. We have, all by ourselves, ceded that one neat thing about sport that we owned.”

[1alexander]

Sacha has time on his hands he will make it number 1 I'm sure but he just played too far back behind the baseline and verdasco is far too experienced for him.