Roland Garros, Paris 2020

[stroke]

You have to root for Stephanos today. He's the only shotmaker left in the tournament. Clay isn't a surface for the flamboyant...more the steady Eddie type. Nice to watch that Stephanos...my wife thinks so too...

Yes he has a real swashbuckler vibe going on. Hard not to root for him. And I do think he is a bit not as nice as Thiem, which is a good thing for him. His forehand is looking better all the time. Love the stylish backhand, but as you alluded to, on clay, it seems to just produce more errors than the "steady eddie" 2 handers. He definitely has s stern test in Rublev, who is plenty not nice. And his serve, particularly his 2nd serve with that forehand type grip, is always on the verge of an inopportune double to me.

[don_budge]

Match of the Day...French Open Quarterfinals 2020

Another simple decision that if the mirror image of yesterdays. The match of the day yesterday completely overshadowed a foregone conclusion in Fafa Nadal and that Sinner boy. Diego Schwartzman has something to prove and he made his best impression yesterday when the chips were down. Dominic seemed to be poised to win on the basis of his status...the favoured player. But Diego dug in and dug deep. Deep down into Davey Jones locker he found what it took to take down Dominic Thiem when it mattered most. In the fifth set of a quarterfinal in a Grand Slam. That must have been quite a thrilling feeling but realistically the feeling was dulled by an overwhelming fatigue from playing a match that exceeded five hours. The toughest ask in all of sports. To maintain a skill set and a tactical objective even when all of the fuel is spent and there is nothing left in the tank. Thiem was visibly spent in the final moments of the match as he simply could not muster the energy to overcome a service break in the fifth set. Schwartzman did exactly what he had to do...he kept the ball on the Thiem backhand. Schwartaman's backhand reminded me so much of Aaron Krickstein's backhand which I studied and got to know when he was about ten years old. It never changed all that much and I have never seen a swing that resembled his backhand so much until I watched Diego trading backhands with the more elegant Thiem.

For Thiem's part I think that he needed to go down the line with his backhand more and not the slap shot that he likes to hit with all of his might. He only had to slide a low slice down the line and move Schwartzman off of his comfort zone that he established over in that backhand corner. A few crosscourt then slide one down the line. It reminds me of the advice that I once gave Roger Federer once before he took yet another beating from Nadal on the Parisian clay. He of course didn't listen to me either. Thiem was trapped playing Schwartzman's game much as he was befuddled by the little touchy feely French boy. In a situation like a quarter final over the course of five sets he must dictate how the game is going to be played and he didn't. He squeaked by the nobody from France but the Argentinean dragged him down and beat him at his game of crosscourt backhands. Diego rarely went down the line with his backhand...because he didn't have to. It was a rather amazing win for Diego at this stage of the tournament. More power to him.

We have a similar situation in the top half of the draw. The tournament favorite is playing a player that doesn't realistically stand much of a chance against him. Unless Novak decided to drill another lady in the throat with a brand new Wilson Roland Garros tennis ball. Wasn't this the guy he was playing in New York when Novak let that ball slip...surely he didn't intentionally do that. But Novak will be on his best behaviour and one expects that he will be on his game as well. This guy simply does not have bad days. Virtually the same as Nadal. He doesn't beat himself. So that leaves what is truly the match of the day at Roland Garros today and that would be Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev. This is virtually a toss up but the tournament desperately needs Stefanos to step up here and take this Mick Jagger look alike and send him on his way like a Rolling Stone. Interestingly I went down to Paris one week to check out things and I managed to take in Roland Garros for a day. I saw a very young Andrey Rublev playing Stefan Kozlov. What ever happened to Kozlov? He was supposed to make it to the big show. I remember sitting next to his coach and trying to initiate a conversation about his service motion but the coach wasn't very interested in that conversation. Nobody listens to me. Well that is a bit of an exaggeration. I have my followers.

I think that Stefanos will be faced with a similar tactical question against Rublev and I expect that he is going to handle it a bit differently than Dominic Thiem did against Diego Schwartzman. For one thing Tsitsipas is not nearly as gassed as Thiem was going into his match. Thiem did mention that he didn't even practice the day before his match trying to get his energy level back to where it needed to be. Thiem seemed to be having some sort of mental letdown after winning the ghost U. S. Open. It happens sometimes. Expectations can take their toll. I think that both Tsitsipas and Rublev are well beyond that issue as they are fresh off of a confrontation. Just a couple of weeks ago Rublev stole some of Tsitsipas's thunder defeating him in the finals of a tournament in Germany. They have actually played four times and Rublev has beaten Tsitsipas all three times when playing normal scoring. Tsitsipas won a "Next Generation" weirdo scoring match against Rublev for his sole win. So Stefanos has plenty of motivation and he is rather fine form judging from his results so far. Rublev has been his normal petulant bad boy self and has rolled his opponents in typical Rublev fashion. He's a piece of work this boy is. I remember him in Paris as an eighteen year old. He was just nasty. Stefanos should be humming to himself...

I say, hey (hey), you (you)
Get off of my cloud
Hey (hey), you (you)
Get off of my cloud
Hey (hey), you (you)
Get off of my cloud

Don't hang around 'cause two's a crowd
On my cloud, baby

Don't hang around because two's a crowd...the Mick Jagger is really something isn't he?

[stroke]

The first 6 games have been some great tennis. This loss is going to sting one of them. They both want this one. Rublev thus far appears to be winning the battle of court position, with his much more compact backhand leading the way. One thing I noticed, Stef has never been shy about checking an out call. Rublev is just ignoring him.

[arturohernandez]

Diego's backhand really reminds me of Aaron Krickstein's backhand. David Ferrer...aka the "EverReady Energizer Bunny". Somehow I like Diego more. Maybe because he is shorter. Some of arturohernandez's dead horse theories are in play here. He is really giving Dominic a good tussle. He served for the third set and failed. He just had three set points for the fourth on his serve and failed again. Thiem needs to finish him off and not get involved in a fifth. Save a little for Nadal.

Diego Kurtzman did it!!! Yes, my hero at exactly my height and hanging with the big boys of tennis. His movement is exceptional and we can see when he ventures to the net how much better a smaller player can adjust and move to balls inside the court. He made Thiem look slow inside the court.

BTW, I met Nishikori a few years ago at the US Men's Clay Court. He was a hair taller than me. Kurtzman is a gem of a player but can he hang for multiple matches?

I played a tournament last weekend, Men's 50's. By a miracle I pulled out the Super Tiebreak to win the first match against an old schooler. He hit his groundstrokes like Johnny Mac. Continental grip on both sides that yielded a ball that was flat and fast. I was on my heels the whole time.

I went in a bit dinged up with only a good hour of tennis in me. By the second match, I had a decent first set but had to default in the second.

Both opponents height? 6'1". I have to be tip top and hitting very cleanly to beat these guys. I can do it but it has to be my best and the best has to last for four hours at least.

My hero, the Kurtz man, has his work cut out for him.

Are we feeling him for his only grand slam? A replay of Chang with underhand serves and returns at the service line?

A rule is a rule until it is broken. The 6'1" guy will be favored in the long run. But that is why they play the game...

[arturohernandez]

The first 6 games have been some great tennis. This loss is going to sting one of them. They both want this one. Rublev thus far appears to be winning the battle of court position, with his much more compact backhand leading the way. One thing I noticed, Stef has never been shy about checking an out call. Rublev is just ignoring him.

Will my height rule be broken again? Tsitsipas is tall but maybe not too tall.

He has my favorite shot, the 1hbhb. Funny that shotmakers have one handed backhands.

He looks like he is on a mission.

[stroke]

Rublev was looking great, serving for 1st set at 5-4, got broken and it has been Stef taking over from there. Rublev on verge now of going down 2 sets and really testing his resolve.

[don_budge]

Will my height rule be broken again? Tsitsipas is tall but maybe not too tall.

He has my favorite shot, the 1hbhb. Funny that shotmakers have one handed backhands.

He looks like he is on a mission.

Very clean...very tidy match by Tsitsipas. He had his feet under him the entire way. I was thinking about the height thing. It is a game of balance and energy. Can the bigger man get his weight under control at the moment of impact? It's like boxing...once your opponent gets you off balance you are open for a solid punch. Rublev hits hard and harder. Not too much defence. So the question will be answered in the next round against the "Tour Gumby"...Novak Djokovic. Very rarely do you see this guy off balance. Even at full stretch he manages his weight nearly perfectly. As perfectly as humanly possible. Thus..."Tour Gumby".

Stefanos did his part in living up to "The Match of the Day". He came through in shining colors. He saves a lot of face for this tournament in his play. A bit of variety now. It's good for the game. I still pull for Djokovic in this one...and not because I like him or really want him to beat young Tsitsipas. I believe that Djokovic is the only one that can humiliate the Spaniard and that is what it boils down to now. Hopefully Schwartzman can pull Nadal down to his level but if not let's hope he can drag it out some. Hopefully no cake walk for Nadal. But Djokovic is the only one that can attack the Spanish forehand effectively and consistently. Well we'll just see now. He must be nearly perfect against Novak as Djokovic rarely if ever beats himself.

[don_budge]

Rublev was looking great, serving for 1st set at 5-4, got broken and it has been Stef taking over from there. Rublev on verge now of going down 2 sets and really testing his resolve.

Stefanos turned the tables on him and just started tagging him. Big shots off of both wings. Serve too. He looks like a real, regular d'Artagnan. But tennis has compared to sword play by none other than the magazine "Psychology Today". The racquets represent the swords or rapiers...the balls represent the contestants testicles. The parry and thrust trying to castrate each other. Pretty visceral...eh what? According to "Psychology Today" some forty years ago. Maybe fifty.

[arturohernandez]

Very clean...very tidy match by Tsitsipas. He had his feet under him the entire way. I was thinking about the height thing. It is a game of balance and energy. Can the bigger man get his weight under control at the moment of impact? It's like boxing...once your opponent gets you off balance you are open for a solid punch. Rublev hits hard and harder. Not too much defence. So the question will be answered in the next round against the "Tour Gumby"...Novak Djokovic. Very rarely do you see this guy off balance. Even at full stretch he manages his weight nearly perfectly. As perfectly as humanly possible. Thus..."Tour Gumby".

Stefanos did his part in living up to "The Match of the Day". He came through in shining colors. He saves a lot of face for this tournament in his play. A bit of variety now. It's good for the game. I still pull for Djokovic in this one...and not because I like him or really want him to beat young Tsitsipas. I believe that Djokovic is the only one that can humiliate the Spaniard and that is what it boils down to now. Hopefully Schwartzman can pull Nadal down to his level but if not let's hope he can drag it out some. Hopefully no cake walk for Nadal. But Djokovic is the only one that can attack the Spanish forehand effectively and consistently. Well we'll just see now. He must be nearly perfect against Novak as Djokovic rarely if ever beats himself.

I agree. I think Djokovic is the only one that can take Nadal down on clay. It's by hitting the backhand short to the forehand and then pulling him wide. Nadal can try to counterattack or defend. Either way, Djokovic will make him run again and again.

Tsitsipas has finally made it to a Semi in a major. This may be the boost he needs to go over the top. But beating a player that does not lose his balance is a tough ask on a surface where balance is everything.

The great players do not just have offense or defense. They have offense, defense and counteroffensive moves. The shots where it looks like they are out of position and then hit a ball that is offensive enough to create an opportunity to attack on the very next shot.

This might be Djokovic's biggest asset. His ability to counterattack to create offensive opportunities in defense/neutral situations.

Kurtzman and Nadal will be interesting. Not sure he can stay with Rafa for five sets.

The final should be Djokovic-Nadal if height is the determining factor. The last time the rule was broken was when we got Cilic and Nishikori.

A Stefano-Diego final would be really interesting exception to an otherwise predictable major winner world.

[stroke]

I don't think height is determining factor. The determining factor until proved otherwise is Nadal and Novak(and Fed) and what they have done GS wise and just as impressively to me, Master's 1000 wise. The only thing that can beat them is age. We will see if that time is upon us.

[stroke]

I will say athletically, Stef is at 6'4 is the best I have seen in tennis, speed, athletic dexterity, and endurance wise. Monfils is probably closest athletically, but his endurance was questionable at best and his movement was haphazard, not athletically efficient. Tsitsipas actually reminds me most athletically of Michael Jordon, who even though was listed at 6'6" tall, was actually about 6'4 3/4". Obviously. Stef does not have Jordon's 48 inch vertical jump or his massive hands(which would not be of use in tennis). I am just referring to Jordon's overall movement at his height. I had never seen that before. Tsitsipas brings that look to tennis to me.

[stroke]

https://www.actionnetwork.com/tennis...-roland-garros

To me, very interesting article on Nadal and FO prowness.

[stroke]

And if not injured and entered into the 2004 FO, I expect he would have won it as an 18 year old.

[stotty]

I still think Borg would have won the FO infinitely had he played to the end of a full length career. Such a shame he quit so young. He was outstanding on clay and had no opponents on the surface. One record Rafa will never beat is Borg's winning the whole event for the loss of just 32 games. Frew McMillan agrees with me on all counts.

Great to see Stephanos won today. He's a breath of fresh air and has a chance against Novak if he goes all out and gets it right...no easy task but it is doable.

Diego and Rafa won't be pretty. I can't see Diego doing it. Novak is the only man on earth who can take down Rafa at the FO. If you are a Roger fan and want him keep his 20 slams unequalled, you are going to want Stephanos to lose and Novak to prevail right to the end. Stephanos has to be defeated for the greater good if you are a Roger fan.

[stroke]

Borg did lose 2 out of 3 matches at US Open on clay(I know not red clay) to Connors(the best player of the 70's to me). Borg was a great clay courter no doubt. To me, he retired early mainly because he had a very difficult time dealing with McEnroe being better than him. Anyway to me, Nadal is simply unparalleled on clay. Borg was a tremendous athlete though, to me in his day, the best ever.