Roland Garros, Paris 2020

[stotty]

I was rather hoping Novak and the handsome Greek would be first up today as I have a few hours off then but unfortunately Nadal and the Little Geezer are playing first....shame. It would be a sensation if the Greek could pull off a victory today. The downside of course is that he would have to do it all over gain on Sunday. Just wondering if anyone has ever beaten Novak and Rafa back to back in a slam? Where's a stats man?

Were Rafa to win the FO he would have the luxury of defending his title in around 7 months time.

[stroke]

Well not much drama in the Nadal mstch really. Same ol. The match of the day clearly Novak vs Stef. Hopefully, it will be a good one.

[don_budge]

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.

Tsitsipas had a 40-0 lead at 2-2 and lost his serve. "Tour Gumby" pulled off two or three just impossible saves/shots to pull even and take the Tsitsipas serve. They don't call him "Tour Gumby" for nothing. Way out of position and seemingly off balance...yet he pulls it off. A real Houdini act. If Djokovic finishes off young "Zorba" I like him against Nadal. Speaking of Señor Skunk...he pulled off all of his antics without a hitch. Bouncing the ball 22 times at one point on a second serve. Why do the players just stand there and wait for him? Think creatively and do something...something to throw off his rhythm.

[stroke]

Well, not that we needed any more information here, but it is here anyway. Thiem, Tsitsipas, Medvedev, Berenttini, Rublev, Zverev, will all know for the rest of their lives they were simply not as good at tennis than the 3. This is to me a 1st. No baton being passed(or taken, as it has always been). No matter, eventually, they will be too old or lose interest. That being said, all these non 3 guys still have a great life.

[stroke]

Stef super impressively somehow dodges a match point and wins the 3rd. That is how it is done. We have a match now. We will see.

[stotty]

Wonderful, aggressive clay court tennis from Stefanos in the fourth set. If he can keep it up an stay positive, he has a good chance to take this to a fifth set. He's a great shotmaker...exciting to watch.

[stroke]

What a match now and what a comeback for the swashbuckling Stef. All even now going to a 5th. The announcer just said Novak is 215-1 when leading 2 sets to 0 in Majors.

[stotty]

Great play from Stefanos to win the fourth. His is strutting around like a peacock, his confidence is up...all to play for.

The bad news is this is taxing for both men....not good for the final where Rafa will be fresh as a daisy.

[stotty]

He's getting the break points Novak but returns too tentatively when they come around. He's looking to break and go on lockdown but Stephanos keeps playing his way out of trouble. Could get interesting from here....

[stotty]

Lockdown it was in the end...same ol', same ol'.

[stroke]

Lockdown it was in the end...same ol', same ol'.

Copy that Stotty

[arturohernandez]

Copy that Stotty

“My body was not ready,” Tsitsipas said wearily

[stroke]

“My body was not ready,” Tsitsipas said wearily

He still has a great life. He will just never be as good of a tennis player as the 3.

[don_budge]

All Sizes Matter...the curious match between Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas

That's funny arturohernandez...it was you telling me that I was beating a dead horse. I wouldn't beat a horse dead or alive. My horses would kill me if I did. But seriously, the question of height is very, very interesting. I love it when you site the ideal height as 6' 1" because that is exactly what I am. But that height has to be qualified too as hockeyscout will no doubt attest too. Certain athletic features have to be present to make that the golden rule in tennis.

But it is an interesting discussion about how tall a man is and how it is related to how he plays tennis. I think too that the ideal height is right around there too. In fact, in all of sports some of the best athletes are 6'1" tall. Probably the best combination of speed, agility coupled with desired outcomes of athletic endeavours. Surely in tennis for the past fifty years ago this has been the median height and one would surely have to be really ignorant or stupid to argue against. But now the case is being made for a taller player to break through.

The game has been "engineered" in a manner that has changed desired outcomes and these changes have allowed taller players to compete in a game that was "traditionally" optimally being played and championed by arturohernandez's dead horse argument for the player 6' 1" in height. Now the standardised surfaces all bounce the same. Even the grass at Wimbledon has been "engineered" to a velcro like quality that causes the ball to not only sit up but to actually stand up. Stand up tall. Now most shots are being played at shoulder high for a 6' 1" player or waist high for the Jolly Green Giant's. This engineered hybrid of tennis fits right into the wheelhouse of the tall man.

But even so we have yet to see the big man break through in a Grand Slam event even though they have won at lesser levels. Why? Because of the five set format. A big man cannot sustain what is necessary to attain the desired outcome over the course of five sets. To this point. It cannot be ruled out of course but so far it has yet to happen. The 6' 1" inch bar is a good one. Stefanos Tsitsipas exceeds this bar too and it the end he may be shut out of Grand Slams because of it. Milos Raonic comes to mind. Long ago I was critical of his game because of his build. For a guy like him to try and grind it out from the baseline like the smaller man is just plain stupid. Over the course of time joints become fragile from the wear and tear of the grind and it is evident that it has taken its toll on him and other big players who showing great promise have come up short in the three out of five format. They might be able to sustain it over two out of three sets but we have yet to witness one sustain it over three out of five over the course of seven matches.

Speed and agility are two of the most important attributes of a tennis player but a third comes to mind as well and that is one of endurance. I don't think too many athletes over a certain height can overcome the natural deficits they face at their enhanced height. The example of Usain Bolt was brought up earlier and besides being totally irrelevant to the performance of a tennis player it also might be noted that he is trained to run in a straight line and not to zig zag over every square inch of a tennis court. Which is another point that I have frequently discussed in many posts and that is the taller men should play a game that fits more into their natural mode of operation and that would be one of straight and forwards motion. Instead of grinding out at the baseline they might be well advise to the serve and volley brand of tennis as this fits into their natural attributes.

I watched Pierre-Hugues Herbert playing around with Alexander Zverev. Herbert played a lot of drop shots that exploited the taller baseliner changing direction and he was quite successful at it. Herbert is also a skilled doubles player and made better use of the whole court than did Zverev on the whole. Zverev did manage to prevail but now he takes his long, lanky, tired and sore body into the next round and perhaps into the round after that. But if you look at his physique you can almost predict that it is going to catch up with him at some point. Just a hunch. Based on past performance.

So it will be interesting from your point of view arturohernandez who will prevail in this years French Open. Not that there is much of interest so far. Traditionally the French Open is the most boring of all of the Grand Slams. The monotonous play on the clay will take its toll on anyone attempting to watch one of these snooze fests. I really wonder if anyone watches any of these matches from beginning to end. I think you would have to be incredibly dull to do so. Like isn't there anything else going on in one's life to have the time to sit and spectate a three, four, five or even six hour snoozer. This game has been engineered beyond recognition. The state of the game is rather dismal. The story of Rafael Nadal is surely an indication that something is rotten in Denmark.

Carry on boys. Tsitsipas is watchable? We'll see. He is only watchable if he is playing. He hasn't really evolved much in the past two years or so. Just a bigger version of. Is that enough? Being bigger? We'll see.

Well we saw. It played out according to script. Novak Djokovic in full command after two sets decides that he needs a bit more match play to hone his instincts before his final with Fafa Nadal. Nadal also according to script remains the single most annoying idiot in professional sports. Let me just say that instead of running the ball kids around like chickens with their head cut off chasing his damn towel for him he has more time to play...bouncy, bouncy, bouncy. Has there ever been a more self absorbed athlete in all of sports who is so oblivious that everyone is watching him go through his psychotic tics and idiosyncrasies. The answer is no. Don't strain your brains. He is not so much a psychopath as he is just plain stupid. Apparently you don't have to be a genius to play tennis. It doesn't hurt mind you...it just isn't a prerequisite.

So Novak may or may not be aware of the idea arturohernandez flails on like a dead horse but he surely took advantage of it. By the way arturohernandez...I'm on board with your idea but that is just short of saying I agree with you. It's better to make more arguments than to just saddle up with a partner. It's more interesting...don't you think so? But clearly I had a handle on the situation before it played out. Stefanos Tsitsipas is watchable. You cannot argue that he is not handsome. Dashing even. But it doesn't make any difference in the fifth set of a Grand Slam semifinal. It was like Dominic Thiem trying to get the horse in the barn on his status against Diego Schwartzman in his fifth set attempt in the quarters. It doesn't fly.

"Speed and agility are two of the most important attributes of a tennis player but a third comes to mind as well and that is one of endurance."

Once in a great while I even impress myself with something that I wrote...but wasn't this a white light moment? Let's just imagine that Stefanos actually won the third and fourth sets from Novak and Novak wasn't giving it a bit of a limp leg. He didn't have his legs under him in the fifth. Where were they? They were gone...that's where they were. All of those long rallies chasing down everything Novak was throwing at him. Oh...and those drop shots. All of those drop shots. I wonder if those had anything to do on the toll of the Tsitsipas body...his legs. His endurance. He did show the agility and the speed but he really showed a glaring weakness in comparison to Djokovic in the final set. He didn't have what it takes. He lacked endurance.

So here is the thing. Somebody in this thread said something about coaches having fixed ideas and implying that that was a mistake. Well certain truths are self evident. Aren't they or are you in denial? Both Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev are playing the wrong tactics 98% of the time and that is being generous. Guys of that height are designed by the good Lord to go forwards and not to scurry around the baseline with the likes of Diego, Rafael and Novak. Sooner or later the odds are going to catch up to you. As Stefanos found out in the fifth set yesterday. In fact he probably knew earlier than that even though he soldiered through. He had shot his wad long before the match was at the finish line. Like the 800 meter runner who is overtaken in the last 200 meters. He knew he didn't have it in him and nearly threw in the towel in the fifth. That is what you get when you play Novak on his terms.

With a little better service motion and perhaps ten years of doubles he might have had the acumen to make more of it that he did. As it stands...arturohernandez is sitting there in Texas somewhere saying to himself..."I'm a pretty smart guy". Tstisipas is watchable but Djokovic is impenetrable. You just cannot knock him off balance enough times in the course of a five setter from the baseline. Now if it was Tsitsipas dominating the play in the forecourt it might just be another story. If Stefanos is pressing the action in the forecourt then it would have been him playing the ball short and getting Novak to play the forecourt on his terms. But that is a hypothetical. Plus it isn't going to happen the way the game is engineered now. Stefanos relies on his father for his coaching decisions. He said as much. He may as well listen to his mother. Aristotle or whatever his name is has taken his boy as far as he can. Time to hand off. I liked young Korda's coach. He was talking x's and o's like he knew what he was talking about. Deep six the French idiot who is keeping Daddy company in the coaches box. I've heard his nonsense before. Serena's coach/ex-lover. That alone is enough to DQ him.

On to the finals. I may or not post before. It's been fun though. I was forced to be present because of mitigating circumstances. I love this place. It all seems like deja vu now. It's as if I was here before. There was guy named Roger who used to play for us. He was about 6' 1" tall too. Tilden, Gonzalez, Budge, Hopman and Roger. All roads lead to Rome...or in this case Paris. The axioms apply. Size does matter. Fundamentally speaking.

[don_budge]

By the way hockeyscout...the above rant about the play of tall athletes goes for women too. In fact it goes double. If you are taller than average you don't want to play them at their game. It's all in "The Art of War". It's all in "Match Play and the Spin of the Ball". Dictate play. Make them play your game. Perfect service motion and full command of every permutation and combination inside of the service line. There is your paradigm...for the taller than average athlete.