2019 Roland Garros...ATP 2000...Paris, France

[gzhpcu]

Jim Courier agrees with you. He says you get a better impression of pace, net clearance and spin. You get to see the game, he says, through the eyes of the player. When he asked the network why they don't predominantly film at court level, they told him it was because the camera angle wouldn't be wide enough cover the further reaches of the court, so when the players run for wide balls, they will go off your screen. A fish-eye lens would be too distorting so they can't use that either. It's only the higher. more elevated view that will encompass the whole court for the viewer.

Well, I like this... (I have posted it many times....)

[stotty]

We are only watching this for Roger.
Nadal is 112-2 in best of 5 set matches on clay. The only man that can beat him is Djokovic. If not for Novak, Nadal will be raising his 12th Roland Garros trophy.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

He is...Novak that is...the only man that can do it. But he can only do it by getting there efficiently so as not to use up too much gas. Nadal's half of the draw looks easier. He will likely be fresh as a daisy in the final. It's hard to see him not making the final.

I think we would all be shocked if Alex ended up deep in this tournament. You are right of course, him playing last week(because he went out early in the 1000's) and then a 5 setter 1st round, does not bode well for his chances here. It is going to be very interesting to see how the 3 greats do. Fed has to know this may be his last chance at the FO and he would love to take it to Novak and Nadal here. He has set the table perfectly for his best chance here. Novak has this unprecedented opportunity to hold all 4 Majors for the 2nd time and he knows it. And Nadal, he seems to feel almost insulted if he does not win on his beloved clay. Clearly, he is not satisfied with his 11 titles here. If anyone else wins this tournament, it will be great viewing to see how they do it.

Nadal is going to take some stopping. He seems held bent on winning this one like none of the other previous 11 for some strange reason. Whether it's because he wants Novak put in his place - on clay at least - or he's chasing Roger tally, who knows.

Alexander off to a very poor start per usual in his Grand Slam experience. Five setter against an opponent who is ranked #56 compared to his own #5. True...sometimes it doesn't always go true to form but if you look at the leading players they are taking care of business no muss, no fuss. If you waste energy unnecessarily on opponents you should be dispatching you are only setting yourself up for a struggle later in the tournament. But he is really struggling. He did win a ATP 250 last week but he really wasted a lot of energy there as well. Now he is tired. Mentally you have to wonder how much does he have in the tank?

McEnroe has more than once criticised Alexandre's efficiency in slams. He claims you cannot win slams if you are inefficient in early rounds unless you are super human like Borg or Rafa. He's right. That first round match will prove costly. But at the moment it's not about winning slams for young Alexander, it's about winning a few matches and steadying the ship.

[bman]

No American men into the second round.

[don_budge]

No American men into the second round.

One Swede through. The younger Ymer. Ethipian descent. Shame on American tennis...although the French is not traditionally an American thing.

[don_budge]

I think we would all be shocked if Alex ended up deep in this tournament. You are right of course, him playing last week(because he went out early in the 1000's) and then a 5 setter 1st round, does not bode well for his chances here. It is going to be very interesting to see how the 3 greats do. Fed has to know this may be his last chance at the FO and he would love to take it to Novak and Nadal here. He has set the table perfectly for his best chance here. Novak has this unprecedented opportunity to hold all 4 Majors for the 2nd time and he knows it. And Nadal, he seems to feel almost insulted if he does not win on his beloved clay. Clearly, he is not satisfied with his 11 titles here. If anyone else wins this tournament, it will be great viewing to see how they do it.

Roger that...regards Federer. He has been accidentally or not ducking Djokovic for a year. Nadal he has owned five straight times. Although not on clay. So as you say he has set the table just as perfectly as he could have for a last hurrah. Man it's a long ass haul to the finals and the two that have the best chance at doing it are of course Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal. It's going to be fun to watch it play out. I would actually like Zverev to get his act together and right the ship.

The winner takes it all. Isn't that ironic? A tournament filled with ups and downs. The losing finalist is barely remembered two years down the road barring some great, great performance in the finals. But this thing is going to play its self out. Sure Rafael Nadal is the bully of Roland Garros. I don't care. I wish I could go out there and kick his ass myself.

I had a dream about Nadal last night. Somehow he and I were on the same court...I don't remember actually exchanging any shots with him. But he had to go retrieve a ball I hit in the corner and while he was there I rifled a ball that zoomed by him and ricochet off the wall and back to me and I picked it up. He came over and got in my face a bit...never said a word but we started sort of wrestling over the ball that I cranked by him. I have to tell you that I realised what a tiger I had by the tail...immediately I was impressed by his strength and absolute resolve to tussle over that ball. He was a maniac in his resolve. You are right...he will not believe that he will not win this thing until he doesn't.

I hoping beyond hope that Stefanos and Dominic step up in this thing. I mean really man up.

[don_budge]

One Swede through. The younger Ymer. Ethipian descent. Shame on American tennis...although the French is not traditionally an American thing.

Ethiopian. Spelling error. What a relief none of you guys jump on that. Alexander Zverev next up for Mikael Ymer. This kid has to be thanking his lucky stars for this opportunity. I wonder if he has enough fire power to make a dent in Zverev.

[don_budge]

We are only watching this for Roger.
Nadal is 112-2 in best of 5 set matches on clay. The only man that can beat him is Djokovic. If not for Novak, Nadal will be raising his 12th Roland Garros trophy.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Great to hear from you.

[stroke]

Great to hear from you.

Copy that. Along with Novak, to me the only players that have really physically bested Nadal on clay are Soderling and Fabio

[klacr]

Great to hear from you.

I'm here and read the forum and at least 1 article everyday. Life is a little hectic right now but amazing. I'm always here.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[don_budge]

Take a Chance On Me...ABBA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-crgQGdpZR0

So it is going to play out for two weeks now. A beautiful story. A blurb in the Bible of tennis. It will be what it will be. I feel like Solomon in saying that. Nothing new under the sun. But it amuses us. It distracts us from the big picture. Which seems to devolve into a mere virtual scope of what once was reality. We slowly descend into an abyss of virtual morality. A place where the wooden tennis racquet is replaced in plain sight of everyone and nobody says a peep. Except little old don_budge who has rumoured to be don_quixote in disguise waving his little wooden sword at the windmills of the "military industrial complex". These events are heavily guarded these days...protected against "terrorist" attacks. So the French Open will help us to manage the dysfunction of modern dystopia.

Every picture does tell a story...get the picture?

https://apnews.com/6152801851684d879999dbcdc62c1e0f

As the draw sheet develops from round to round the story develops. newyorktennisaddict likes the drama. Who doesn't? But as I alluded to in an earlier post it is all one big...make that huge distraction. If you read the article I have referenced and I suggest you at least peruse it, you will see that I am not exaggerating the truth when I say that this is getting "Biblical" in Europe these days. Ah...the winds of change. Just what will they blow into our future? They are calling it the "Trump Effect".

But the French Open is developing nicely after a couple of a first round of jockeying early on in the race to the finish line. It seems to Stotty that we might just skip these formalities but it is a necessary phase. Like the opening chapter in a great book...you have to wade through it to get to the meat of it. The first hundred pages sometimes are tough to get through but in the end you go back and reread them. You realize how it "set the table" for the big picture. Because now you can see that the draw has become that much more interesting after only one round as we round up not only the usual suspects but the emerging talents are struggling to make their mark.

Case in point was a match that didn't really get off the ground between Jan-Lennard Struff and Denis "The Menace" Shapovolav. Struff advances with barely a whimper from Shapovolov. Shapovolv has a flashy game but he doesn't have any clue about how to switch gears. There is no ebb and flow. Just full on onslaught. He is disorganised in his thoughts and unable of weaving any sort of tapestry on the tennis court. Struff...while not exactly artistic did manage to serve and volley on match point. Good for him. In a couple of rounds he just may play Borna Coric. You can see the thing developing. It's a big part of the story even though neither of these two culprits will probably figure in the final outcome. They are supporting cast players.

For instance if we truly want to get ahead of ourselves a bit lower in the draw are Dominic Thiem and Fernando Verdasco. Verdasco is capable of one truly stunning upset per tournament. He rarely follow up this upset with another great performance which is why that, he too is only a supporting cast player. Dominic lost to Verdasco a week or two ago and it was stotty once again who noted that Thiem doesn't actually change gears much either. Interesting nonetheless.

The stars of the show more are less are sharpening their blades while tuning up their games. For me though it is all about Roger Federer. Until he is gone. The French Open is a different animal this year just because of his presence and no other player has the ability fo do that. The immediate question regarding Federer is who will he play in the third round...assuming he beats Oscar Otte in the second. Opposite Federer's match is Matteo Berrettini and Casper Ruud. This is an interesting match in a most uninteresting manner. Surely it will be hard fought by two players who regard themselves as "clay courters" but just how much coffee can one drink in the Parisian sun while waiting to find out who will play Roger? Get my drift...sure you do. Just as you are surely by now starting to realize that the "Trump Effect" is in its early stages of development...where will it all end?

There is still a lot of minutia left in the draw. Sixty-four players remain to play out their parts. Permutations and combinations. But it won't be long now. It's starting to take shape. Haven't we seen this one before? Is it possible that this is merely a distraction from the really big picture? You should here the buzz here in Europe. It's like a muffled roar. Those in control are acting like nothing is going on...the media fairly quiet about the real story as usual. But my finger is on the pulse...as usual. It's on the pulse of this tournament as well.

[stroke]

One Swede through. The younger Ymer. Ethipian descent. Shame on American tennis...although the French is not traditionally an American thing.

Taylor Fritz with almost a bye against a disinterested Bernard Tomic. I actually like a lot Fritz's game. He hits a very big ball and has very good technique, even by pro standards.

[stotty]

Taylor Fritz with almost a bye against a disinterested Bernard Tomic. I actually like a lot Fritz's game. He hits a very big ball and has very good technique, even by pro standards.

The question he needs to ask himself is, is there any point walking into the stadium? Why not quit the game and go home? Put us all out of our misery. Why not give up his place on the tour to someone else? Nothing brings the game of tennis down more than a professional player not trying in front of aspiring youngsters.

[klacr]

Huge win for Dimitrov today over Cilic in 5 sets. His 2nd 5 setter in a row but it sets up a great clash with Wawrinka. One-handed backhand players going at it. I know don_budge will be watching. I have always enjoyed Dimitrov's game and thought that much like Federer, he would eventually figure out how to use all of his options. But it still seems as though he struggles with selection and which option to choose. A complete game is a blessing and a curse...but mostly a blessing.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

When is it going to end?

TV commentator Samantha Smith commented will the BIG 3 era ever end! For 15 years these players have pretty much dominated every ATP event and grand slam. It's been relentless. The next gen, she says, have been humiliated and she fears the next next gen could suffer the same fate. Only Tsitsipas can save us, she insisted.

Roger and Rafa executed two nobodies again today. Novak was supposed to play half a somebody the other day but ended up dispatching him like he was nobody. I mean it's just routine demolition over and over again.

Can someone wake me up when the last eight starts and maybe put the percolator on?

The talented Benoire Paire wins 11-9 in the fifth. Perhaps I should have watched that match.

[stroke]

When is it going to end?

TV commentator Samantha Smith commented will the BIG 3 era ever end! For 15 years these players have pretty much dominated every ATP event and grand slam. It's been relentless. The next gen, she says, have been humiliated and she fears the next next gen could suffer the same fate. Only Tsitsipas can save us, she insisted.

Roger and Rafa executed two nobodies again today. Novak was supposed to play half a somebody the other day but ended up dispatching him like he was nobody. I mean it's just routine demolition over and over again.

Can someone wake me up when the last eight starts and maybe put the percolator on?

The talented Benoire Paire wins 11-9 in the fifth. Perhaps I should have watched that match.

I can understand her sentiment, but to me, it just reiterates that those 3 are the best ever. Like Michael Jordon, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson, that is as good as we are ever going to see.