2021 Roland Garros...ATP 2000...Paris, France

[stroke]

Great performance from Tsitsipas. I only saw he third set but Tsitsipas' superior forehand seemed to make all the difference...just a heavier weight of shot. And what a super attitude he has.

Not sure what the last point was all about....

To me, Medvedev had lost all hope. I think he finds it very annoying that Stef has not only a way easier on the eye game, he is so much more attractive. I know if I were Medvedev, I would find that extremely annoying. BTW, I agree, the Stef forehand is so superior to Medvedev's. As BG might say, it is a model type 3 vs a WTA type 2.

[stroke]

Oddsmakers have Novak as a solid favorite, but I have the match vs Berrettini as a toss up, not that Nadal cares.

[stroke]

Eurosport COM: French Open tennis - 'Immense' Stefanos Tsitsipas blows away Daniil Medvedev to reach semi-finals.

https://www.eurosport.com/tennis/roland-garros/2021/french-open-tennis-immense-stefanos-tsitsipas-blows-away-daniil-medvedev-to-reach-semi-finals_sto8364338/story.shtml

[stroke]

Tennishead: Analyst suggests strategy for overcoming Rafa Nadal at Roland Garros.

https://tennishead.net/analyst-suggests-best-strategy-for-a-very-small-chance-of-overcoming-rafa-nadal-at-roland-garros/

[stotty]

As usual Rafa gets the earlier match to aid maximum recovery time before the next round. He always gets the favoured scheduling...always.

[stotty]

Diego's chances of winning I feel are incredibly small. Novak has the far tougher match on paper and very losable if he doesn't turn up with his A game.

[stotty]

I heard an amazing stat about Rafa. If a players wins the first point on their serve against Rafa, they will go on to hold serve 70% of the time. If a player loses the first point on their serve, then 2 out 3 times they will be broken.

[stroke]

I heard an amazing stat about Rafa. If a players wins the first point on their serve against Rafa, they will go on to hold serve 70% of the time. If a player loses the first point on their serve, then 2 out 3 times they will be broken.

That is very interesting.

[don_budge]

One stand up guy...glacierguy. Go ahead and drill him between the eyes. Jerk! Roger is nobody's waiting post! Neither are you or anybody else for that matter. It was the best drama I have seen in ages from the ATP. Hawkeye removes all of the edginess...and that is what Roger implied about injecting some "energy" into the match.

On a similar line the commentating has been just abysmal. Mark Woodbridge has been embarrassing himself terribly with his walks down memory lane provoked by his stupid moronic partner. Right now there are two WOMEN announcing the Tsitsipas match and it left me no choice than to turn off the volume. The shrill insights were too much to bare. Not a single announcer knows when to just shut up and let the play work on its own. Aways trying to hype something or other. The most guilty have been announcers for Nadal and Serendipities Williams. They just couldn't gush enough over either. The stupid endless remarks about the wonderful fashion sense of Serendipities makes me throw up. The gushing of Nadal adoration is particularly galling. Somebody should drill him between the eyes over his obsessive compulsive routines. He subjects not only his opponent if that isn't bad enough but he ropes in anybody watching. I cannot watch him...unless his opponent shows that he is going to beat his ass. Which doesn't happen very often at the French...once in a blue moon.

Two British fellows absolutely butchering the match between Nadal and Schwartzman. The fawning over Nadal is nauseating. Puke worthy. Schwartzman for his part cannot seem to make up his mind if he wants to win this match or not. At times he looks fully engaged but there are moments when he seems to lose concentration. He has a chance...please Lord.

[stroke]

Vintage totally engaged Novak wins 1st set 6-3 with 14 winners and 9 errors. Berrettini played well, just not as well as Novak.

[jthb1021]

Novak is dominating this match especially on second serve returns. Berretinni is currently winning 27% of his second serve points. That’s gonna lead to a quick demise!

[stroke]

An in the mood Novak continues in lockdown mode winning the 2nd set 6-2. He had 5 winners and 2 errors.

[stotty]

Novak would like an efficient win here. He would like to conserve all the energy he can. A long match would scupper his slim chances against Rafa.

Let's see if Berritini can make some kind of impact here in the third set. Novak looking better in every facet of the game so far.

[stotty]

Well it's a fourth set after two uncharacteristic errors from Novak in the tiebreak. Shame, Novak will have to work for it now, and the crowd, as usual, are totally against him.

[stroke]

Well that is about as good example of the minuscule margains in men's tennis as one will see. Matteo wins 3rd set in tiebreaker. Novak had 14 winners and 5 errors in the set and won more total points. He also, serving at 5-4 in the tiebreaker, made 2 of the 5 errors. He then lost the tiebreaker 7-5.