Roland Garros 2013: Day 8 02/06/2013

noleisthebest wrote:Next - Tsonga!
What do you think?

If he is not too tired from today, he will win Tsonga.

Tenez wrote:It's very bizarre Fed said he had to stay positive when playing his match today otherwise he woudl have lost very quickly and gone home.

The thing is for me I tend to be very negative on the court and that makes me lose a few matches I coudl win....but likewise as soon as Ihttps://2img.net/i/fa/wysiwyg/text_bold.png am too positive...I lose too.

I am relying too much on my sheer talent!

There's no better way!

I just hope he does not have any dips like today.
A game or two is understandable; I suppose there was not a lot of grinding, and it was not a long match despite 5 sets.

Tsonga is even worse like that.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I look forward to the Federer-Ferrer match and I don't even know why!

Blonde Radwanska with fake eyelashes!!!

noleisthebest wrote:I just hope he does not have any dips like today.
A game or two is understandable; I suppose there was not a lot of grinding, and it was not a long match despite 5 sets.

Tsonga is even worse like that.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I look forward to the Federer-Ferrer match and I don't even know why!

From what I saw today I think Fed has again a good chance for WImby. If they provide faster balls, Fed will win with even more ease than in 2005!

Radwanska is worse than Nadal, what a scrapper and moonballer....

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:I just hope he does not have any dips like today.
A game or two is understandable; I suppose there was not a lot of grinding, and it was not a long match despite 5 sets.

Tsonga is even worse like that.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I look forward to the Federer-Ferrer match and I don't even know why!

From what I saw today I think Fed has again a good chance for WImby. If they provide faster balls, Fed will win with even more ease than in 2005!

I wouldn't mind at all. It would be good if he gets seeded 2nd there.
I don't think Wimbledon are going to change anything though unfortunately, but you never know!

noleisthebest wrote:Radwanska is worse than Nadal, what a scrapper and moonballer....

Errani is the new reference.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Radwanska is worse than Nadal, what a scrapper and moonballer....

Errani is the new reference.

Did you see what she did today?

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:I just hope he does not have any dips like today.
A game or two is understandable; I suppose there was not a lot of grinding, and it was not a long match despite 5 sets.

Tsonga is even worse like that.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I look forward to the Federer-Ferrer match and I don't even know why!

From what I saw today I think Fed has again a good chance for WImby. If they provide faster balls, Fed will win with even more ease than in 2005!

I wouldn't mind at all. It would be good if he gets seeded 2nd there.
I don't think Wimbledon are going to change anything though unfortunately, but you never know!

Good question. I think he has enough grass court point to be seeded 2, isn't it? Especially if he does not lose any point in the FO.

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Radwanska is worse than Nadal, what a scrapper and moonballer....

Errani is the new reference.

Did you see what she did today?

I heard...coming back from a stomach pain...medical time out and everything else....Looks very much like our friend Nadal.

Errani was losing the first set (which she lost anyway), stopped play, bent over and then had a 15 min MTO...

"I started to feel a stabbing pain when breathing," she said pointing under her ribs.

"I knew it wasn't muscular, but I couldn't stand up. So I called the physio and she told me that my diaphragm was totally blocked. She tried to release it a bit and afterwards it was much better.

"It was very strange and has never happened to me. I couldn't breathe and it also made me nervous."


After which she won the match in 3 sets.

1 Djokovic, Novak (SRB) 12,310
2 Murray, Andy (GBR) 8,670
3 Federer, Roger (SUI) 8,000
4 Nadal, Rafael (ESP) 6,895
5 Ferrer, David (ESP) 6,740
6 Berdych, Tomas (CZE) 4,685
7 Del Potro, Juan Martin (ARG) 4,320
8 Tsonga, Jo-Wilfried (FRA) 3,795
9 Gasquet, Richard (FRA) 3,090
10 Wawrinka, Stanislas (SUI) 2,630

I don't know if this chart is showing FO points from last year taken off or not.

yep...a whatever asphyxiating player being .....asphyxiated.

Tenez wrote:yep...a whatever asphyxiating player being .....asphyxiated.

I think fitness levels women's tennis are catching up with men's, terrible!

No. Murray is going to lose 360pts after the FO....while Federer could lose 340 if he doesn't win his next match. If he does win Tsonga then there is only 300 points difference which coudl be made up with Fed winning last year and reaching Halle's final.

If Fed goes on to beat Ferrer and reach the FO final then I think he is guaranteed the number 2 seed.

Me think.

noleisthebest wrote:

Tenez wrote:yep...a whatever asphyxiating player being .....asphyxiated.

I think fitness levels women's tennis are catching up with men's, terrible!

I think they caught up a long time ago. When you see Stosur, Williams, Errani, ect....and it goes back to the at leat the 80s with Navr and others.

To me, they are a lot easier to spot than men.

I hope rotla's internet connection gets fixed soon and he was able to see some tennis today.

hi folks, i recorded Fed-Simon and have seen parts of it. I guess Fed is aware this draw offers him opportunities, so he really wanted to win. It was an OK match, but he needs to do better against Tsonga.

Difficult to say GP. Fed played really well before he lost his footing. He was remarkable under pressure.

My concern is the loss of energy but he managed to keep the rallies short. I think he has a good chance v Tsonga. As I said if he had not fell over, Fed woudl probably have won that match without losing more than 5 or 6 games!

Tenez wrote:Difficult to say GP. Fed played really well before he lost his footing. He was remarkable under pressure.

My concern is the loss of energy but he managed to keep the rallies short. I think he has a good chance v Tsonga. As I said if he had not fell over, Fed woudl probably have won that match without losing more than 5 or 6 games!

True, i knew the result when i watched so i didn't feel the tension i normally would have. But I saw he came up with a lot of first serves when he had to.

Federer talks about "the fall" and how it affected him:

http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/multimedia/2013-06-02/013f067df73000000cb5.html?promo=menu_videos

I'm glad Fed won that match and from what I watched the fall made him lose a bit of focus and confidence a bit later on but he was awesome at volleys all through the match. What a relief!

Otherwise I'm a bit mad at myself about my pick for the Robredo-Almagro match as my first instinct was to pick the former but then I started thinking at how he must have been tired physically and at his age it would be tough... Now I regret my pick, but I'm happy for Tommy!

noleisthebest wrote:Order of play out for tomorrow:

Court Philippe Chatrier 10:00 AM UK time

Francesca Schiavone (ITA)vs.Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [3]
Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1]vs.Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) [16]
Rafael Nadal (ESP) [3]vs.Kei Nishikori (JPN) [13]
Sloane Stephens (USA) [17]vs.Maria Sharapova (RUS) [2]

Court Suzanne Lenglen 10:00 AM UK time

Tommy Haas (GER) [12]vs.Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) [29]
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA)vs.Maria Kirilenko (RUS) [12]
Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) [9]vs.Richard Gasquet (FRA) [7]
Jamie Hampton (USA)vs.Jelena Jankovic (SRB) [18]

My picks (please move them to the appropriate thread):
Schiavone, Djokovic, Nadal, Stephens, Youzhny, Kirilenko, Wawrinka, Jankovic.

Tenez wrote:before this match I was not sure Federer was that motivated.....now it's clear he is .

Exactly. This was one positive from the whole thing. I have seen matches where Fed seemingly cruises in the second gear but when all of a sudden something goes wrong - e.g., the opponent's game picks up - he is unable to respond. Today it was very clear in those last two sets he was going to try very hard to wrestle the control back.

I actually did not think Fed played all that great before his fall. But Simon was so atrocious that Fed was comfortably cruising anyway. Then he fell, became a bit shaky for a few points and all of a sudden that gave Simon wings and he started to play with far more confidence. I do not think Federer played much worse in the third set than in the first, but Simon was unrecognizable. Therefore, it was very nice to see that Fed was able to collect himself and wrestle the control back. By the fifth set, Simon's purple patch was wearing thin, so it became easier, but Fed had to do the critical part - the fourth set win - while playing against red hot Simon. The fact that he managed to do it is encouraging.

That said, he will need to play better throughout against Tsonga.

Tenez wrote:My concern is the loss of energy but he managed to keep the rallies short. I think he has a good chance v Tsonga.

I think he cannot afford a similar blip against Jo, but if he avoids that, I think he should have a good chance (though Tsonga can be dangerous, of course).

I am hopeful on the energy front. He started on Sunday, averaged about 90 minutes per match the first three rounds, and even the five setter today was only about three hours. Also, Tsonga match is unlikely to be heavy on long rallies, so I think he will be good for that. And after that, he would have two days' break before his semi, so definitely the stars have aligned nicely. It remains to be seen whether he can take the advantage.

sphairistike wrote:I'm glad Fed won that match and from what I watched the fall made him lose a bit of focus and confidence a bit later on but he was awesome at volleys all through the match. What a relief!

Otherwise I'm a bit mad at myself about my pick for the Robredo-Almagro match as my first instinct was to pick the former but then I started thinking at how he must have been tired physically and at his age it would be tough... Now I regret my pick, but I'm happy for Tommy!

Difficult to anticipate Almagro throwing the match so many times. He shoudl have never lost that match.

I actually did not think Fed played all that great before his fall. But Simon was so atrocious that Fed was comfortably cruising anyway. Then he fell, became a bit shaky for a few points and all of a sudden that gave Simon wings and he started to play with far more confidence.

mmmhh... you are as good as your opponent let you be. And the match itself tends to support the fact that it's Fed who dictates how Simon plays. It's always going to be down to Fed's shots quality and he was really off track. If he had not fell over, the score would have been similar as in Rome.

Simon, Like Benneteau can be excellent when given the time. Take that time away and they UEs will flow.