Roland Garros 2014: MOTD Day 4 Wed 28/05/2014

I am not sure how the scoring would work but here are the match for tomorrow as ROTLA might be busy.



Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [13]
vs.
Jurgen Melzer (AUT)



Benoit Paire (FRA)
vs.
Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) [27]


Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) [15]
vs.
Radek Stepanek (CZE)


Milos Raonic (CAN) [8]
vs.
Jiri Vesely (CZE)


Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) [31]
vs.
Sam Querrey (USA)


Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ)
vs.
John Isner (USA) [10]


Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)
vs.
Jerzy Janowicz (POL) [22]

Good luck!

My daring take!
Tsonga

Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) [27]


Radek Stepanek (CZE)


Jiri Vesely (CZE)


Dmitry Tursunov (RUS) [31]

Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ)


Jarkko Nieminen (FIN)

Thanks, T.
S E V E N    P I C K S !!!  
Btw, you forgot to pick the winner of Tsonga-Melzer, so don't forget to add that one, as well.

Tsonga, Agut, Isner, Nieminen, Tursunov, Stepanek, Raonic

Thanks. Yes 7 gives a chance to make up some ground.....or to widen the gap!  

Melzer
Agut
Youzhny
Raonic
Tursunov
Isner
Nieminen

Tsonga
Agut
youz
Rao
Tursu
Isner
Niemi

Tenez wrote:
I am not sure how the scoring would work but here are the match for tomorrow as ROTLA might be busy.

Haha, I am not even sure, how you chose the matches.   

Anyway, looking into my magic glass (hope it's working this time around   ):

1. Tsonga will make the French crowd happy and send Melzer packing.
2. Love Paire, but it won't be enough vs. Bautista-Agut. Paire could snatch a set though.
3. Between those two clay giants, I see Youzhny coming through.
4. Vesely lost against Karlovic in Düsseldorf, don't see how he could break Raonic who has had rather stable results this season.
5. Tursunov won't give a chance to S. Querrey
6. I remember Kukushkin from the DC matches, don't believe in his chance to upset Isner on clay.
7. Nieminen with the only upset of today's choice of matches.

Autumnleaf wrote:4. Vesely lost against Karlovic in Düsseldorf, don't see how he could break Raonic who has had rather stable results this season.

Good point...I m starting to regret my choice....but will stick to it.   

Come on, rotla, get your predictions out!
You haven't given up on the game, have you?
Don't worry....Stan will be back!

Tenez wrote:Thanks. Yes 7 gives a chance to make up some ground.....or to widen the gap!  

Yes, it's definitely going to shake the "rankings" today

Tenez wrote:

Autumnleaf wrote:4. Vesely lost against Karlovic in Düsseldorf, don't see how he could break Raonic who has had rather stable results this season.

Good point...I m starting to regret my choice....but will stick to it.   

I was going to pick Vesely, too, but since I never saw him play and was too groggy (had just woken up from a nap on the sofa) to look at him on Youtube and get some idea, I went the safe route...but will definitely be a close one, just like the first round match against that Aussie teenager Kyrgios.

Wow, matches already started, I'm so slow these days.....Dolgo demolishing his anti-pod Granollers, yesss!

Paire a set down, I'd better start watching,  ALLLEEEEEEZ!!!!  

Does anyone have a working link for Paire - Agut?
I've paid two one-off month subscriptions with ITV4 and balkaniyum, and all I can get right now is women's matches

The from sport streams are just taking me into the add loops and opening millions of screens...I may end up looking at Eurosport if they have an ipad app, should've done it straight away....

Can I make my choices now? Some matches might have started, but I haven't looked at anything at all. Rain and Storm yesterday evening. Internet at home was down since then. I'm at work now so can make it.

1. Tsonga
2. Agut
3. Youzhny
4. Raonic
5. Tursnov
6. Isner
7. Nieminen

noleisthebest wrote:Come on, rotla, get your predictions out!
You haven't given up on the game, have you?
Don't worry....Stan will be back!

Yes.. Stan will be.. And Fed still in the game  

No, probs, rotla!
Fed will be playing soon, so sneak out to some remote office to watch it.
Make sure you look VERY busy!

I don't mind Agut as a player at all, but can't stand his yelling/grunting during the engire trajectory if his shots.
It's nothing short of disgusting!

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Can I make my choices now? Some matches might have started, but I haven't looked at anything at all. Rain and Storm yesterday evening. Internet at home was down since then. I'm at work now so can make it.

1. Tsonga
2. Agut
3. Youzhny
4. Raonic
5. Tursnov
6. Isner
7. Nieminen

You can Rotla! Sadly no-one fears your predictions!

Agut wins TB    such an annoying grinder!


Paire still has fitness issues with his knee, so sad for him, his mobility is clearly impaired.
I love his serve. And game, just a wonderful player when in flow and fit.  
I really hope he gets back to his best soon. He is my hope for next French RG winner.

Tenez wrote:

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Can I make my choices now? Some matches might have started, but I haven't looked at anything at all. Rain and Storm yesterday evening. Internet at home was down since then. I'm at work now so can make it.

You can Rotla! Sadly no-one fears your predictions!

    
Someone's in his French mood today!

Tenez wrote:

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:Can I make my choices now? Some matches might have started, but I haven't looked at anything at all. Rain and Storm yesterday evening. Internet at home was down since then. I'm at work now so can make it.

1. Tsonga
2. Agut
3. Youzhny
4. Raonic
5. Tursnov
6. Isner
7. Nieminen

You can Rotla! Sadly no-one fears your predictions!

At your peril Tenez. Who is the defending champion from Aus open.. remember? Me  

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:
At your peril Tenez. Who is the defending champion from Aus open.. remember? Me  

Indeed. Glad you have more sense of humour than Mahut!

Wow!
I finally know who Johnson is...and Lokoli - he's the "other" guy dancing with Monf in that clip!

Everyone, Eurosport online is BRILLIANT!!!!!!!
7 courts on tap....PURE HEAVEN!!!!!!!!  

Stepanek through...

Dolgo losing it!

Sad, looks like Dolgo had to retire.

Tenez wrote:

raiders_of_the_lost_ark wrote:
At your peril Tenez. Who is the defending champion from Aus open.. remember? Me  

Indeed. Glad you have more sense of humour than Mahut!

Now you're back into the English mode...   

Idemo Nole, MAJSTOREEEEE!!!!!

Finally got to see Vesely!
Not bad at all. The crowd behind him. Frenchies do know their tennis  

Great forst set from Noke 6:1. Clinic.
Feel sorry for Chardy, not as lucky with his draw as Nadal, not even in his home tournament...

Major upset alert on Lenglen!
Serena a set and 0:3 down against "Murgunza" !!!

Switching to watch that one now...looks very windy.
Serena is a great view when losing, such a drama queen!

Vesely looks like the real deal! Not a fan but he will be very tough to beat ....by the end of the year!!!!!!

he's got as good a serve as Rao....but LH making it much tougher to handle.
he has extremely solid and powerful ground shots, and safe thanks to his tall frame.
he moves very well already.

He is the only player I can see dominating in the future amongst the younger generation. I will be routing for Thiem more likely but Vesely is probably better equipped....if he keeps injury free!

vesely will make the nadal/Djoko era look weak! Watch my words.

and 10 minutes after my above post he breaks Rao!

Impressive prospect!

Muguruza does it, Serena's out!

To me, Vesely looks a more natural player/mover than Raonic.

Berdych a TB set down to Nedsve....ev!

noleisthebest wrote:To me, Vesely looks a more natural player/mover than Raonic.

It's also much more solid groundstrokes.

I think Vesely could beat Nadal today!

Rao is actually not playing badly, he game is nice to watch, more than before even. he looks more fluid!

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:To me, Vesely looks a more natural player/mover than Raonic.

It's also much more solid groundstrokes.

I think Vesely could beat Nadal today!

Rao is actually not playing badly, he game is nice to watch, more than before even. he looks more fluid!

He's all yours
I don't like either, but Vesely is surely more instinctive, will be deadly on grass, although despite the power looks a bit slow with general reflex time. I like Raonic's aggressive, attacking mindset, but his game is non-existent without the serve.
To me, if he lost a bit of weight and improved his footwork/transition game, he'd be much better to watch.
Base-line tennis really doesn't suit him.

One of the really nice things about RG, you hear a lot of children in the crowd, that os NEVER the case in England.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Vesely-Raonic is more exciting to watch than Nole-Chardy!
No-nonsense, full on adrenaline madness!  

vesely must be fuming! He was abreak up and had 2 more PBs/SPs on Rao's serve. Then he failed to serve it out and just lost the TB.

Sign of nerves? Defining moments in a young career. you could tell the difference of having experience at this stage.

I have only heard of Vesely recently so he must have been playing the junior and satellite tour up to recently. But he certainly seems to learn quickly.

As you said, the height and the safety of ball-striking is giving him huge advantage, not to mention the serve.
Very good, strong, balanced build, and doesn't seem to be a grunting nutcase!
Bearing in mind this is probably his first big 2nd round match, he is quite impressive.
Raonic won 1set on pure experience. Vesely clearly choked when he was serving for the set, he didn't need to go for the drop-shot on his second shot when he was 15:00 up. Very, very costly and stupid mistake.
One to watch for sure!

With these super-tall players (compared to say, the 90s), and some very good returners now, do you think that clay is better surface for them than grass?

Wow, Nole's already finished!
And Fed a set up!!!
I'd better see him before he wraps his match in a hurry, I don't take Maestro for granted!

Vesely wheels are coming off. He is a bit young still I guess.....he could have won the first 2 sets (he was also a break up in the second).....but looks like he is going to go in 3!

Rao fitness and experience is showing now.

noleisthebest wrote:With these super-tall players (compared to say, the 90s), and some very good returners now, do you think that clay is better surface for them than grass?

Good point. I think it is certainly not as clear cut as then. Especially at Wimby where they have tried to minimise the serve as much as possible. I still think that rao will be deadly on grass first week!

Fed is ruling the net beautifully, so good to see him there, can't wait for Wimbledon!

terrible play from fed!

noleisthebest wrote:Fed is ruling the net beautifully, so good to see him there, can't wait for Wimbledon!

..but his return game and ground shots are so inconsistent.

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:With these super-tall players (compared to say, the 90s), and some very good returners now, do you think that clay is better surface for them than grass?

Good point. I think it is certainly not as clear cut as then. Especially at Wimby where they have tried to minimise the serve as much as possible. I still think that rao will be deadly on grass first week!

I think with Raonic, bar his serve, he is a bit slow for grass, if he doesn't get the point won in 3 shots, he panics; he is not a rally-er, and neither should he be.
His BH is quite limited.
If he was completely relaxed, I think he'd play much better, but I don't think it's his make-up, despite his youth.
JJ looked much better on grass than Raonic last year, he just has more belief and cuts out base-line shots to minimum.
Will be a very interesting Wimbledon this year!

Tenez wrote:

noleisthebest wrote:Fed is ruling the net beautifully, so good to see him there, can't wait for Wimbledon!

..but his return game and ground shots are so inconsistent.

Yes, too many shanks. Still far from his 100% tuned edition. But I see this match as just one to win and move on to the next round.