Correja on FO

[stroke]

Tennishead: 'Thiem can make Nadal suffer most at French Open' - former world No. 2.
https://tennishead.net/thiem-can-mak...er-world-no-2/

I like Corretja but I am not seeing Thiem taking out Nadal. My picks in order to possibly beat Nadal: Tsitsipas, Sinner, Karatsev. It appears Novak may have lost belief than he can beat Nadal on clay, and not coincidentally, Nadal has gained even more confidence in beating Novak on clay. Nadal is better than even money to win his 14th. That does not hardly ever happen that a player has those kind of odds going into a Major.

[jimlosaltos]

Tennishead: 'Thiem can make Nadal suffer most at French Open' - former world No. 2.
https://tennishead.net/thiem-can-mak...er-world-no-2/

I like Corretja but I am not seeing Thiem taking out Nadal. My picks in order to possibly beat Nadal: Tsitsipas, Sinner, Karatsev. It appears Novak may have lost belief than he can beat Nadal on clay, and not coincidentally, Nadal has gained even more confidence in beating Novak on clay. Nadal is better than even money to win his 14th. That does not hardly ever happen that a player has those kind of odds going into a Major.

Good calls. Not sure if you make them pre or post draw, but Tsitsipas' draw is quite favorable. As for Djokovic vs Rafa, when boyhood friend Carlos Moya took over as head coach from Uncle Toni, Rafa seemed to go back to hitting run around forehands from anywhere vs Djokovic and the Serb seems at a loss in how to respond. I can't see Novak beating Rafa in a semi, then having enough in the tank for the final, but I can see Rafa finishing.

Tough call on Thiem. For years everyone has been telling Domi that he plays too much. He finally listened, Cut back his schedule. And hasn't played worth a darn since. Guess he shouldn't have listened to us

[stroke]

I noticed that also Jim. Nadal seems to save his classic game, the runaround forehands, for certain opponents. Novak is on the very short list. That being said, Nadal as I am absolutely certain you know, knows he does not have the stamina to play his preferred game day in and day out at this point in his career. All the more impressive. As Al Davis might have said, just win baby.

[stotty]

I have never lost faith that Novak can overcome Rafa at the FO. Last year's final was a revelation in how aggressively Rafa played from start to finish and how he never took his foot off the gas even for a second. He took Novak by surprise with his aggression. He'd saved his best performance for that last match and threw in the best curved ball of his career.

But that's the way the Big 3 are playing it right now...holding back...saving the best until last and chucking in ridiculously good performances for their age. Novak showed Medvedev a clean pair of heels in the Aussie Open final in an immaculate performance that Medvedev never knew Novak had him. Novak at his best simply floored Medvedev...not even close.

I think Novak might be ready for a similar performance from Rafa should they both get there. My concern, like Jim's, is whether Novak would have enough in the tank, should he beat Rafa, for the final.

Like stroke, I think Rafa might be more vulnerable to a big hitter than to Novak. A Karaetsev or a Rublev having a purple day could sink him...but the draw has to pan out for that to happen. A lot is riding on this FO for Rafa and I am expecting him to rise to it. I think it will be his one and only chance to surpass Roger in the grand slam tally. I cannot see him winning the other slams while Novak is around, or indeed a few others come to that.

[stroke]

Nadal's winners to unforced errors are a constant on clay. Always very tidy numbers, more winners that errors, particularly low on errors. And we all know what happens if he gets a forehand from inside the baseline. In one of his 2 losses at FO, Soderling had a massive amount of winners. It will probably take a very good looking winners and errors tally to take out Nadal, and particularly heavy on the winners.

[don_budge]

Tennishead: 'Thiem can make Nadal suffer most at French Open' - former world No. 2.
https://tennishead.net/thiem-can-mak...er-world-no-2/

I like Corretja but I am not seeing Thiem taking out Nadal. My picks in order to possibly beat Nadal: Tsitsipas, Sinner, Karatsev. It appears Novak may have lost belief than he can beat Nadal on clay, and not coincidentally, Nadal has gained even more confidence in beating Novak on clay. Nadal is better than even money to win his 14th. That does not hardly ever happen that a player has those kind of odds going into a Major.

Ex-tennis players don't necessarily make great tennis coaches and the jury is still out on their ability to exist in the world of journalism. Alex Corretja made a major blunder.