2018 Roland Garros. The French Open

[stroke]

Gasquet in a nightmare matchup vs Nadal. I remember Gasquet once said about Nadal beating him on clay was a near impossible task and his body language reflects that. Gasquet has a beautiful game but just a terrible matchup for him.

[stotty]

Gasquet v Nadal is the one match you never want to happen. Gasquet might as well go out there and wave a white flag and have done with it. I wouldn't even bother to switch on the TV for it.

Fognini defeats Edmund. I might watch the replay. I bet it was a good one.

[stroke]

It was. Fognini to me definitely should have won a major or 2. That Fognini forehand probably belongs in the top 5 forehands also.

[stotty]

Djokovic nicks the first set against Verdasco. Not the best set of tennis you will ever see. I would like to see the stats on Djokovic's success with the drop shot. I swear he gifts so many points away with ill placed and poorly selected drop shots. His disguise on the shot is poor and the opponent gets there more often than not with time to spare.

[stotty]

Djokovic takes a 2 sets to love lead. It's not the game I was hoping for. Verdasco is making so many errors.

[klacr]

Been away in Orlando for past several days for a tennis coaches conference so my apologies for not chiming in or moderating the thread I started. I will be in Northern California this week on a much needed vacation so hopefully will have time to enjoy the forum.

Zverev being pushed this early and still coming out on top may be a good thing for the youngster. Making his first grand slam quarterfinal, what is sure to be the first of many, he is coming into his own.

I saw most of the Djokovic-Verdasco match today on my flight to San Francisco. (Thank you to JetBlue for giving me the opportunity!) Nothing better than live tennis while traveling at 35,000ft. Even though it was a straight setter If there was one player, outside of Berdych, that I would love to work with, it would be Verdasco. That forehand alone is something that should be marveled at. An absolute cannonball. Djokovic is slowly getting back into Djokovic form but I still give him another two full slams before he is having epic battles with Nadal again.

But let me say what everyone else is thinking...I mss Federer.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

Another hapless opponent bites the dust as Nadal romps into the quarters. Schwartzman has nothing to hurt Nadal and will doubtless suffer the same fate as Marterer. I just wish someone would come up with a tactic. I don't see any tactics at all when players walk on a clay court to take on Nadal. Did anyone notice anyone employing tactics against Nadal?

I remember Andy Murray beat Nadal once by giving him junk and taking pace off the ball. Andy is smart like that. Trying to whack Nadal off a clay court is nye on impossible.

[stotty]

It's a shame Serena pulled out today. Sharapova had her in her sights this time and looked the likely winner. Williams is carrying an extra stone in weight and slower round the court these days. I really felt Sharapova had a great chance to win this time. I was actually looking forward to watching the contest.

[gzhpcu]

David and Goliath. What a comeback from Diego Schwartzman. 13 inches diffference in height. Blasted away the first two sets. Down a break 4-5 in the third, and turns it all around to win it in 5. Little guy with a big heart. Inspirational.

[stroke]

Another hapless opponent bites the dust as Nadal romps into the quarters. Schwartzman has nothing to hurt Nadal and will doubtless suffer the same fate as Marterer. I just wish someone would come up with a tactic. I don't see any tactics at all when players walk on a clay court to take on Nadal. Did anyone notice anyone employing tactics against Nadal?

I remember Andy Murray beat Nadal once by giving him junk and taking pace off the ball. Andy is smart like that. Trying to whack Nadal off a clay court is nye on impossible.

Murray beating Nadal on clay was just a bit of an anomaly to me. I don't think there is any tactic to beat Nadal on clay, someone pretty much has to outhit him and work as hard as him to beat him. Fognini, who has a great forehand and can take it consistently pretty early, at times has made Nadal look beatable. Of course, Fognini has great movement and variety also. I do not think Novak has it going enough to beat Nadal. I think Zverev has the best chance match up wise. He can hit well enough and do damage off both sides and he is much younger(which is probably his best asset/advantage vs Nadal at this point in Nadal's career). Of course, Zverev has already played 3 5 setters and he has Thiem today. That one in itself is close to a toss up.

[stotty]

Thiem wins the first set 6-4 against Zverez. McEnroe said he cannot see Thiem losing this match, and frankly, having watched the first set, Stotty can't see Thiem losing either. Thiem is a tad better on clay and Zverez knows he can't play yet another long match and hope to progress.

Tennis is a funny game so I will keep watching, but, so far, Thiem has it in the bag.

[stroke]

yes, McEnroe said the same thing yesterday. He is spot on as he often is. Way too many long matches for Zverev going into a match later in the tournament vs a top tier clay courter like Thiem.

[stotty]

Zverez now two sets down. Doesn't look like he has anything in his legs to me. Shame...

[stotty]

Thiem prevails. He looks the second best player in the tournament to me. It was just a match too far for Zverez.

[stroke]

all of us have felt for a couple of years Thiem would win FO, probably more than once. And we all know what he is up against. Thiem has a shot I guess, but he is certainly not the prototype for beating Nadal on clay, a right hander with a one handed backhand. Like Zverev, he has youth on his side, his only advantage over Nadal.