Roland Garros 2013: Day 8 02/06/2013

Quickly posting MOTD for today. I'm not sure my internet at home will be up today.

Values for players have been raised as we move ahead in the 2nd week and clases of the top seeds are nearing.

1.

Gilles Simon (FRA) [31]
vs.
Roger Federer (SUI) [18]

----
My pick Fed

2.

Kevin Anderson (RSA) [31]
vs.
David Ferrer (ESP) [12]

My pick: Anderson

3.
Tommy Robredo (ESP) [32]
vs.
Nicolas Almagro (ESP) [11]

My pick: Robredo

4.
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) [33]
vs.
Angelique Kerber (GER) [8]

My pick: Kerber


5.
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [20]
vs.
Ana Ivanovic (SRB) [30]


My pick: Radwanska

-----

From Sphair:

My picks are (please transfer them to the appropriate thread):
Kuznetsova, Williams, Tsonga, Federer, Ferrer, Almagro, Errani, Ivanovic.

Federer, Ferrer, Almagro, Kerber, Ivanovic

Hope things get back to normal soon where you are rotla

Another milestone for Federer today: playing for his 900th win

Interesting comment from JJ after losing to Stan yesterday:


"I'm pleased with myself. Wawrinka played fantastic. If I could compare all guys from Top Ten I played against, his performance was the best."

This may explain why Paire lost yesterday


France's Benoit Paire is furious with chair umpire Enric Molina for hitting him with a point penalty for receiving coaching in the second set of his 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-1 defeat to Kei Nishikori at Roland Garros today. Paire had previously been warned for smashing a racquet. He was given a point penalty at 5-4 in the second set.

"I think the chair umpire wanted to get a promotion," Paire said. "Because at 5-4 advantage for me on set point, to put a warning for coaching, it's unbelievable. I think if Nadal or some good player do the same thing, for sure he doesn't put a warning. It wasn't coaching, it was just encouragement to remain focused on the match. He said just to stay aggressive, stay in the game, like everybody says. All the trainers know that the umpires know that.

"What I found difficult to accept is that he didn't go beforehand to say, 'Lionel [Zimbler, Paire's coach], calm down with the coaching,' as the umpires do. They go to the trainers and say, 'Be careful, calm down.' They don't get any warning. And then on the advantage point for me, 5-4, I received this warning. And they would never do this to the top five players."

noleisthebest wrote:Interesting comment from JJ after losing to Stan yesterday:


"I'm pleased with myself. Wawrinka played fantastic. If I could compare all guys from Top Ten I played against, his performance was the best."

Yes when Stan is good...he is very good.

It should be a great match v Gasquet.

LOL! Messing things up between edit and quote.

Seems pretty unfair form the referee. Molina has been pretty poor of late.

Yes, just noticed, looks cool, though

edited: looked cool.

Roger Federer (SUI) [18]
David Ferrer (ESP) [12]
Nicolas Almagro (ESP) [11]
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) [33]
Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [20]

noleisthebest wrote:Yes, just noticed, look cool, though

Yep....I can edit any one post. I should use it to improve my game's results.

I saw a few games of Stan JJ, Stan really was superb; I have never seen him play with that kind of flair before.
He seems to have matured in his game and gained new confidence on his BH, which has become really versatile and a potent weapon now ( always has been but now an extra 30% I'd say).
I think that AO performance against Nole and the world recognition of him ( larger part of it, not jut close followers) grew wings for him, he deserves to win something big, and I hope he perseveres with this form and continues to grow in confidence.

Tenez wrote:Seems pretty unfair form the referee. Molina has been pretty poor of late.

I am actually furious with him ( isn't he Spanish?)

To mess up with a player known for volatility on such a crucial point, call me the queen of conspiracies, but I'm sure Nadal is happy he is not having to play Paire in the next round.

And poor
Paire, he was really flying high in his breakthrough slam, on his favourite surface, in his country, in front of his fans....worked for it all his life and dreamed about it and then have one incompetent idiot shatter it all like that!

I have seen him play amazing v Federer a year or 2 ago. I always thought it was ashame he had Fed in his draw cause already then he had teh tennis to do some damage. And this why Fed he hwas not surprised by his perf v Djoko at the AO.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Yes, just noticed, look cool, though

Yep....I can edit any one post. I should use it to improve my game's results.

You wouldn't!

I am hoping that Stan beats Richard and then we get to see him play Rafa. Stan has been perhaps in the form of his life this spring and I think he can give Rafa a good fight. He was knackered in that Madrid final so he did not do himself justice there.

noleisthebest wrote:This may explain why Paire lost yesterday

Did not see the match but if something like that is enough to unhinge him then just as well he lost. I doubt it though. I suspect he just lost to a better player. He won that set anyway, and then lost the next two.

He played up to his seeding and no better; why assume this cost him the match?

Eight SHBHs in the round of 16; very impressive.

This bottom half looks so weak compared to the top half - especially Ferrer's quarter. Roger really ended up with a great draw and then even Berdych lost early. If Roger plays well (not a given these days), then Tsonga should be the only danger, albeit possibly quite a big danger.

Yes the number of SHBH is pretty high...really bizarre....especially for clay!

Even Brands showed it coudl be a weapon on this surface v Nadal.

summerblues wrote:I am hoping that Stan beats Richard and then we get to see him play Rafa. Stan has been perhaps in the form of his life this spring and I think he can give Rafa a good fight. He was knackered in that Madrid final so he did not do himself justice there.

Who knows....Gasquet and the French crowd could be quite a challenge for Nadal.

summerblues wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:This may explain why Paire lost yesterday

Did not see the match but if something like that is enough to unhinge him then just as well he lost. I doubt it though. I suspect he just lost to a better player. He won that set anyway, and then lost the next two.

He played up to his seeding and no better; why assume this cost him the match?

I haven't seen the match so can't judge who the better player was.

Bottom line is the ump stuffed it up and obviously unsettled Paire. And I don't think one should lose the match because of bad umpiring however emotional or inexperienced. On the contrary, umpire should have shown some understanding. But as Paire said afterwards, that umpire would not have the same guts to warn Toni who regularly coaches Nadal, would he?

summerblues wrote:I am hoping that Stan beats Richard and then we get to see him play Rafa. Stan has been perhaps in the form of his life this spring and I think he can give Rafa a good fight. He was knackered in that Madrid final so he did not do himself justice there.

I don't think Stan is ready for Nacal. Neither is probably Gasquet, but you never know...

I think if you are a player relying on timing and thin edges like Paire is, then a very bad referee decision can have a huge effect. The examples are plenty across many sports and at all levels even amongs champions losing suddenly a lead cause something unsettled them. It's different if like Djoko and Nadal you rely on lungs to win, emotions there intervene much less.

The referee made an a terrible decision...whether it's had an impact or not on the outcome.

Tsonga wins the first set, silly me I thought it was Trocki's score
I suppose I can be forgiven for TSO vs TRO...

Ferrer through with an easy win, Almagro 2:1 up, 4 all in the 4th.

Disagree on Paire. Bad decissions happen all the time. What a whiner he is too. If this unsettles him enough to lose the match (in spite of having won the set in question) he has a problem.

I think I said some time ago that his game strikes me as rather amateurish. It would appear he has a mindset to match that.

summerblues wrote:Disagree on Paire. Bad decissions happen all the time. What a whiner he is too. If this unsettles him enough to lose the match (in spite of having won the set in question) he has a problem.

I think I said some time ago that his game strikes me as rather amateurish. It would appear he has a mindset to match that.

I am surprised you are happy to be annoyed at Paire and not the umpire. Try to put yourself in player's shoes.
And just try to imagine how Nadal would have reacted...

Agree on Stan though, to some extent at least. I doubt he would beat Rafa (someone reminded me on another forum that he never even took a set off Rafa - ouch) but I would still like to see them play to see where he stands.

I think Stan lacks belief, which is really tragic!
A big win would maybe change it.

Oh no, I can see why Paire would be annoyed; but he needs to be better at keeping his cool. If he really lost those the last two sets because of something that happened in set two (which he won) then he will have hard time getting anywhere. He is not 19 to be so hot headed.

Ferrer has certainly had the easiest draw in a slam. For his 1/4F he will have a tired Almagro or Robredo's corpse.

summerblues wrote:Oh no, I can see why Paire would be annoyed; but he needs to be better at keeping his cool. If he really lost those the last two sets because of something that happened in set two (which he won) then he will have hard time getting anywhere. He is not 19 to be so hot headed.

SB, in a tennis match things go really, really fast, which is why focus is the key.
Once your focus is disturbed, you can easily lose a game, any one can, even the king of focus - Nadal.

Umpire mistakes like this don't happen often at all, and when they do they always affect the result.
It's easy to say Paire should have kept his cool, he probably did cool down reasonably fast, but that disturbance will have taken his momentum away and momentum in such an attacking player is very hard to return quickly, esp if he is not that experienced which he isn't.

Robredo-Almagro fighting in the 5th set for the "privilege" of facing fresh Ferrer....

Tsonga plays such "un-French"tennis, more like an American.

Tsonga still plays too far back but he has so much power he can afford it. If his BH keeps improving he has a good chance to challenge the top 3. A very good chance in fact.

noleisthebest wrote:Tsonga plays such "un-French"tennis, more like an American.

I know what you mean but he plays creative tennis too. It's not pure ball bashing.

noleisthebest wrote:Tsonga plays such "un-French"tennis, more like an American.

He has been pretty impressive in todays match,of course Trocki isnt much of a challenge but he looks like he could give Federer some serious trouble.If anyone is going to stop Roger from making the final its him

What does everyone make of Robreto coming back from being down 2 sets for a 3rd straight time...
Bet he is part of of the Spanish armada

Yes, unlike Americans', Tsonga's tennis has soul.
Good and easy win over Troicki today, amazing all these 3 set flat matches at this stage of the tournament...either that or the 5 setters...
Hopefully, it will be better in the next round, although top half of the draw is a bit more interesting.
Federer should really have no trouble getting to the final.

It would be interesting to see him play Ferrer on clay at this stage, don't remember seeing them on clay, but 14:0 H2H says enough...

Robredo beat Almagro!!! this is his third match in a row he's won from two sets down here. Really happy for him

ITV showing the last few games of Robredo Almagro....
Almagro looks so 1D, I just don't get it why he never goes forward....(rhethorical question, of course )

Tommy (Robredo) in tears after the match, according to Courier, this time last year he was playing challengers trying to come back to tour from the injury.

Fed-Simon time

Simon started with a bit more pace on his shots, I suppose he's learnt his lesson in Rome.
But on Fed's serve, it's foot of the gas and light counter-punching.

noleisthebest wrote:ITV showing the last few games of Robredo Almagro....
Almagro looks so 1D, I just don't get it why he never goes forward....(rhethorical question, of course )

I woudl not say 1d actually. I think he is a great talent but certainly refuses to play ugly. It's make or break but doesn't want to lower himself to play the right crap shot.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:ITV showing the last few games of Robredo Almagro....
Almagro looks so 1D, I just don't get it why he never goes forward....(rhethorical question, of course )

I woudl not say 1d actually. I think he is a great talent but certainly refuses to play ugly. It's make or break but doesn't want to lower himself to play the right crap shot.

Come on, with that serve and those ground-strokes to be so scared of playing in the court and approach the net, no heart and grit in him.
His game is so predictable, which is why he is where he is with his "talent".

There are never been such a great shot maker as Federer. He is still amazing to watch....despite watching him for 10 years.....it's still a "special" experience.

Yes, true. I noticed that Alma refuses to go to the net despite great opportunities.

Fed is making Simon looking absolutely pathetic and helpless.

Some stunning FHs and BHs so far....and everything else...

Did you see THAT!!!!

Yes I saw that. And was so cool.

GP are you watching? beautiful game from Fed again. More UEs than on a perfect day but still beautiful tennis.

Having seen both Novak's and Federer's form, I think they'd play one fantastic final

Baby Federer has lots to prove to be compared to Federer yet.